Sabrina Imbler

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

Madyson Miller's Florida childhood was almost like a crash course in marine biology. She grew up going to the beach and going with her grandparents to see Shamu—"which I obviously realize now is not the kind of value system I have when it comes to animal care," Miller caveats. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue science—she dreamed of being on Broadway—until a teacher told her she had what it takes. Miller, a first-generation college student, initially struggled in university.

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

When Matt O'Malley was forced out of his position at the National Resources Conservation Service, he didn't just lose a job: He lost a job he'd worked toward for 15 years. O'Malley first learned about the NRCS as an undergraduate. The agency, which is a part of the United States Department of Agriculture, helps landowners conserve their natural resources.

3 weeks ago | defector.com | Sabrina Imbler

After weeks of receiving insulting emails from the federal government, Sarah Boim learned she was fired from her dream job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at 8 p.m. on a Saturday. The email, which adhered to a template sent to all probationary workers, cited Boim's performance as the reason she was being let go.

1 month 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.

1 month 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.