Sabrina Imbler

Staff Writer at Defector

creature beat @defectormedia, How Far the Light Reaches with @littlebrown, they/them

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Articles

An Interview With A Fired USDA Program Coordinator

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

Jules Reynolds grew up on a corn and soy farm in Iowa. Growing up, she imagined all agriculture looked like this—a monoculture of rows and rows of corn in one year, followed by rows and rows of soy the next. "To me, that was really beautiful," Reynolds said. "That was my backyard. That's what I played in."When Reynolds went to college at the University of Iowa, she took classes that taught her about how monocultural farming systems impacted the environment.
This Leaf Tip Ain't Big Enough For The Two Of Us

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

The two-lined hooktip moth lays its eggs in even rows on twigs and leaves of birch and alder trees. When the eggs hatch, almost inscrutably small larvae emerge, some as short as half a millimeter. But the newborns, called warty birch caterpillars, have a serious task at hand. Despite not even being snack-sized, the caterpillars are easy pickings. Unlike other caterpillars, they do not build shelters, live in groups, or live inside leaves like the extremely flat larvae or some other fliers.
What It Means To Fund Studies in Transition "Regret"

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

After a month of dismantling more than $180 million in national research on trans health, meaning research in support of the health of trans people, the White House has reportedly directed the National Institutes of Health to conduct "research" on the "regret" people may feel after transitioning, Max Kozlov reported Friday in Nature. I say "research" because this directive will not actually fund any research, but rather spawn propaganda.
An Interview With An Epidemiologist Who Lost Her Job Because Of The DOGE Layoffs

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

The Trump administration is going full steam ahead on its terrifying project of dismantling the country's defenses against HIV. In February, it gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development, which plays a crucial role in supplying other countries with HIV treatments.
An Interview With A Fired EPA Public Affairs Specialist

4 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

When Veronica Correa started college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she knew she wanted to pursue some kind of science, but traditional paths—such as medicine or research—didn't feel right to her. She sampled different classes, at one point signing up for a class about water management and human rights to fulfill a philosophy requirement. This class helped Correa realize she wanted to enter the environmental field, which combined many disciplines.
An Interview With A Fired USFWS Fish Biologist

1 month ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

Chinook salmon start their lives high upstream in the rivers of western North America. The young fish linger in the safety of freshwater until they are big enough to head out into the open ocean, where they can live for up to five years. At sea, the salmon shine blue-green and glint silver. When the fish head back upriver, however, they flush into warmer hues: olive browns, reds, and purples. The jaws of the males lengthen and hook.
An Interview With A Fired USDA Specialist

1 month ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

Consider the sugar beet, a sweet and tapered tuber. Unlike tropical sugarcane, sugar beets grow in temperate zones, enabling colder regions of the United States to farm their own sugar instead of relying on imports. From the late 19th century through the late 1970s, Utah abounded with sugar beet farms, and the crop's presence influenced the state's food culture.
An Interview With A Fired NOAA Director

1 month ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

In 2006, by the time the scientist Sarah Cooley finished graduate school in marine science, oyster larvae in the Pacific Northwest had already begun dying mysteriously and dramatically—unable to form shells. By 2008, the largest oyster hatchery on the West Coast suffered losses of 80 percent. Hatcheries spent thousands of dollars stamping out any possible pathogens. But scientists eventually realized the killer was not bacterial, but chemical.
The Hummingbirds Brought Me Around

1 month ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

LAS VEGAS — For as long as I can remember, I have felt drawn to creatures often described as uncharismatic: deep-sea fish; an ugly bunch of bugs; maggots with faces on their butts; any creature with "blob" in its name. As I've grown older, this interest has felt increasingly moral, as these creatures are less likely to bask in the glow of a spotlight in conservation with the power to lift a species out of the trenches of endangerment, or even extinction.
An Interview With A Fired NOAA Budget Analyst

1 month ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

Growing up, Sabrina Valenti felt like she was genetically predetermined to work for the government. Her dad's father was in the Navy. Her dad was in the Air Force. Two of her uncles served in the armed forces, one eventually moving to a job at NASA and the other leaving for the postal service. Her mom's father was a state senator in Maine. One of Valenti's sisters is a teacher, and the other works for a transit agency in a major American city.