Who am I?

I’m a scientist and journalist. My work focuses on people coping with a changing ocean and a warming world.

I won the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications, the largest prize in science journalism.

Currently, I’m covering oceans and offshore wind for Canary Media, a U.S.-based non-profit newsroom. I’ve been a staff reporter for POLITICO covering the green energy transition. Prior to that, I was an investigative reporter covering environmental issues in the South for The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.). I’ve also done writing and photo assignments for National Geographic, NPR, Vox, Grist and The Washington Post.

I’m a National Geographic Explorer and maintain an unpaid research appointment at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. I’m currently collaborating with museum curator Nick Pyenson on a National Geographic Society-funded project combing research and visual storytelling.

Science + Journalism

This 2022 profile of me does a pretty good job explaining how I make a hybrid career work for me.

I earned a PhD in ecology at UNC Chapel Hill, where I researched coral reefs and climate change in the Caribbean. I then taught courses on biodiversity and climate change at Georgetown University. From 2021 to 2022, I served as the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution studying marine mammal populations in the Arabian Gulf, the world’s hottest sea.

I’m often asked how I went from science to journalism. In 2019, while still on the faculty at Georgetown, I spent the summer working as a reporter for The Washington Post on the health and science desk. I highly recommend this summer fellowship — the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship — to any scientist interested in expanding their career into communications and reporting.

Get in touch email: clare.fieseler [at] gmail [dot] com

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Photo credit: Greg Kahn