Usha Lee McFarling is an American

science reporter ''Science Reporter'' is a monthly popular science magazine that has been published in India since 1964 University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Department of Communication. She won a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.Faculty - McFarling, Usha Lee
" University of Washington Department of Communication.

Biography

McFarling was born in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to an

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

family.In the Green Room: Usha McFarling
(November 2, 2009). Zócalo Public Square. She attended elementary school in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. McFarling received a B.A. in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1989 (where she was a science reporter for the '' Brown Daily Herald'') and an M.A. in

biological psychology Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology,Psychobi ...

/ animal behavior from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1998.2007 Grantham Prize Winner
" Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. McFarling reported for

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

Washington Bureau, ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', and ''San Antonio Light'' prior to joining the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', where she was a national science reporter. McFarling has reported on a wide variety of science news, including topics such as

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. McFarling joined Stat News as their Los Angeles correspondent in April 2016 and was named national science correspondent in 2021. McFarling was a 1992 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT). McFarling and fellow reporter Kenneth R. Weiss won several prizes for their five-part series "Altered Oceans" for the ''Los Angeles Times'', including (with

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

Rick Loomis) the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the same pieces. The citation read: "for their richly portrayed reports on the world's distressed oceans, telling the story in print and online, and stirring reaction among readers and officials." For the same series, McFarling and Weiss received the 2006

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for Environmental Reporting, the 2007 Grantham Prize of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the 2007

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism the 2007 Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science, and the National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award. McFarling won first place in the beat category for her reporting for STAT on health disparities and structural racism. She showed how systematic racism exists at every level, from medical school admissions to faculty hiring in orthopedics. In 2023, McFarling and Angus Chen were recognized for three stories on inequality in medicine for STAT with the national Edgar R. Murrow Award for excellence in diversity, equity and inclusion in the large digital news organization category.

References

External links

Profile
from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Department of Communication
Altered Oceans
- five-part ''Los Angeles Times'' series on the state of the world's oceans * {{DEFAULTSORT:McFarling, Usha Lee Living people University of Washington faculty Brown University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American women journalists American science journalists George Polk Award recipients Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners American women science writers Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics 21st-century American women