Rachel Nuwer is an independent American journalist and author of the 2018 nonfiction book ''Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking'' (

Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional offi ...

). She has covered the issue of poaching from the perspectives of criminals, activists and science for years in prominent publications, including the '' Smithsonian'', ''

BBC Future BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

''.

Early life

Nuwer grew up in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and studied biology at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the nam ...

, where she researched

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

fish. She earned a master's degree in

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

and attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. Her master's thesis for her East Anglia degree was published by the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. Nuwer says that her education in biology helped shape her career.

Career

Nuwer has written for ''Smithsonian'', ''BBC Future'', ''The New York Times'', and ''National Geographic''. She is well known for working under cover to access

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

s for wildlife. Nuwer's 2023 book, '' I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World'', examines the cultural and scientific aspects of

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

, commonly known as Ecstasy. A review of the book in ''Reason'' said that Nuwer "mostly prefers to explore the positive potential of ecstasy and the forces, such as MAPS, seeking to unleash it" and that her book "covers a little too briefly" adverse events like

suicidal ideation Suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, is the thought process of having ideas or ruminations about the possibility of dying by suicide.World Health Organization, ''ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics'', ver. 09/2020MB26.A Suicidal i ...

of in some trial participants.

Awards and honors

Nuwer won the Abe Fellowship for Journalists in 2017. Her book ''Poached'' won the

American Society of Journalists and Authors The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is the professional association of independent nonfiction writers in the United States. History The organization was established in ...

general non-fiction book award, a Nautilus Book Award, and the Santa Monica Public Library Green Prize for Sustainable Literature.

Bibliography

* * Online version is titled "Fish eggs survive journey through a duck". *

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuwer, Rachel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American online journalists Scientific American people Journalists from Mississippi 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers Loyola University New Orleans alumni Alumni of the University of East Anglia New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni