GSAS alum Arielle Duhaime-Ross set out to become a zoologist, but ended up finding a love for reporting along the way. After combining their newfound passion with a love of science to pursue environmental journalism at NYU, Duhaime-Ross broke barriers in the field as the United States’ first climate change correspondent on nightly television news.
Now, Duhaime-Ross is a freelance science journalist, podcaster and TV host. They have continued to shape the science media landscape through long-form reporting, podcast hosting and even a foray into comics journalism. Their work has been featured in numerous publications like The Verge, Vice News, Quartz and Scientific American.
In an interview with WSN, Duhaime-Ross discussed studying journalism at NYU, incorporating visual art into their career and looking to the future of the field.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: What made you decide to pursue science journalism?
Duhaime-Ross: I didn’t set out to become a journalist. In my undergrad, I studied zoology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. I wanted to be a scientist. I thought that would be where I would end up. Along the way, I was in the lab, writing lab reports and doing work, in addition to the undergraduate thesis I was writing on salamanders. I just got the sense that I wasn’t enjoying myself as much as I thought I would. I love science and I love learning about science, but doing the work wasn’t as fulfilling as I thought it was going to be. As I was listening to science podcasts late at night, I realized, ‘Wait, somebody must be writing this stuff.’ I remember going home and looking up science journalism, thinking I was inventing this term and that this could not possibly be a thing that exists. But sure enough, an NYU program popped up on the first page, very high up.
Duhaime-Ross had begun writing for the student newspaper at the University of Guelph, where they started the publication’s column on popular science. This experience provided Duhaime-Ross with a foundation in science journalism, including published articles that they sent to NYU for their application to NYU. A year later, they were accepted into the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting program at the Graduate School of Arts and Science.
As an NYU student, Duhaime-Ross said the most impactful part of the program was the internship opportunities they found. They worked three internships over the course of the program at the business publication the Quartz, the Scientific American magazine and the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
WSN: What did you learn about the journalism industry while at NYU?
Duhaime-Ross: I think a lot of journalism or learning how to be a journalist is actually doing journalism. It was a huge deal for me and NYU gave me access to these internships. I also think the SHERP program really pushed students to follow their interests, but also step outside of it. In the first semester, they would have us pick a beat that was outside of our expertise. I had studied zoology, so the other beat I chose was health. I did actually end up writing a lot about health as a staff journalist but it was very nice to get pushed in that direction as well.
During their final semester at NYU, Duhaime-Ross attended a “Meet the Editors” event hosted on campus. There, they connected with Katie Drummond, who currently serves as global editorial director of Wired, directly earning the up-and-coming journalist their first staff role as a science reporter at The Verge. They went on to work at Vox and Vice News, covering climate change, tech and science. These experiences allowed them to expand their reach — working with digital stories as well as full-on broadcast segments.
In 2016, Duhaime-Ross made history as the first-ever climate change reporter for American nightly TV news. In the role for Vice News Tonight — an Emmy-award winning HBO show — and covered topics including climate change, environmental contamination and effects of global warming. This marked a turning point for both their career and climate journalism overall. They have also received recognition from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Association of Science Writers and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards.
WSN: How have your identity and experiences influenced your work?
Duhaime-Ross: My identity has given me access to communities and conversations that I would not have been privy to were I somebody different. In that sense, it absolutely has shaped the types of stories that I’ve told, the way that I’ve told those stories and even the quotes that I’ve been given. Right now, I’m very interested in writing about the issues that disabled people face — I’m part of the disability community. I’m also very interested in research on Alzheimer’s just because it’s fascinating. Having these sorts of specific interests and observations has always been helpful to me in my career because you fall down a rabbit hole of that, and then you come out of it with a bunch of great stories.
In recent years, Duhaime-Ross has transitioned into freelance journalism after over a decade as a staff reporter. They described that freelancing was more similar to running a business than working on a staff, and although it was challenging at first, it allowed Duhaime-Ross to have more access to a wider variety of journalistic mediums. They have since released two seasons of two different podcasts, called “The World as You’ll Know It” and “Altered States.”
Duhaime-Ross is the host of “Altered States”, a podcast that explores the science, politics and culture surrounding psychedelics. The first season aired in 2024 and the podcast aims to feature a wide range of voices in the upcoming season that will explore mysticism and religious aspects of psychedelics from a scientific perspective.
Beyond audio storytelling, Duhaime-Ross is also pursuing a certificate in comics from the Sequential Artists Workshop to broaden their journalistic expertise and explore another sector of their interests professionally. As both a journalist and visual artist, they said they see comics as a useful tool to increase accessibility to content and hope to merge their passion for reporting and illustration in future projects.
WSN: What advice do you have for students looking to pursue science journalism?
Duhaime-Ross: Journalism is in a really weird place right now, in terms of the jobs that are available to young folks coming into the business and in terms of the work environment. I’m hopeful that all of you are resourceful and it will be easier to navigate. It is important to have a ton of perseverance and grit and be so creative. I think to anybody who comes from different parts of the country and is currently studying at NYU — keep your ties to where you came from. Keep in touch with the people there, with those communities. It is incredibly important that we keep telling stories from everywhere in the country, everywhere in the world. You own your life experience, and don’t shy away from letting yourself dive into that and keep trying. Some of the best ways to find stories is by going places and doing things and speaking to people — that has never changed.
Correction, April 3: A previous version of this article stated that Arielle Duhaime-Ross founded the “Altered State” podcast and that it launched its first season in 2023. The article has been updated and WSN regrets the error.
Contact Lekhya Kantheti at [email protected].
