Olivia L. Dobbs
Goal: Journalist (Ecology & Bio)
Current Role: Technical Writer / Content Marketing Director
Topics: Ecology & Evolution, Conservation and Sustainability, Futurology, Nature, & STEM Education.
Check out my science! -> bit.ly/DobbsEtAl
Biology is Grief
Biology has become a science of grief. It’s studying the life of a loved one from the perspective of a cell of the cancer that’s killing them. It’s a desperate attempt to hold back the growing tumor just long enough to understand organs before they’re overtaken.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 13 days ago in Earth
Pandemic Abroad
Departure, February 2020 As mutterings of a far-off illness spread in microbiology lecture halls, fifteen ecologists gathered in the early hours of a Los Angeles morning. In the Tom Bradley International baggage check lines, undergraduates sleepily exchanged notes on tropical insects and compared binocular specs.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 17 days ago in Journal
I Wanted to Be an Astronaut
“I want to be an astronaut” was often thought in the quiet evenings of a childhood spent looking up. My youth was rough beach towels on a dewy grass lawn. Watching clouds pass with endless interest and pointing out shapes and animals. I waited for awakening stars with written lists of wishes.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 21 days ago in Motivation10 Books Every Aspiring Biologist Should Read
Ah... biology textbooks. They weigh a ton, cost an arm and a leg, and they're as boring as watching a puddle evaporate. Even the most passionate budding scientist's eyes can glaze over during long study sessions. After so much cramming, interest in nature can start to fade if you're not careful.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished about a month ago in EarthHow to Defeat Writer's Block Once and For All
It's the perfect day to write a new Vocal story. You've scheduled out the morning; the coffee-filled ceramic cup feels warm in your hands as you glide to your desk. Sparrows chirp in the distance as excited fingers place themselves on a colorful keyboard.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 2 months ago in MotivationSomeone Like You
Brin saunters to a dim kitchen. It's dawn; she checks and double-checks that the metal blinds are tightly shut. Yesterday's stale, cold coffee separates in a plastic pot. Dishes rot. The faint hover of fruit flies hums. A wet mass of hand-ground dark roast slumps into a torn green bag that smells of bagels and decay. Brin flicks the kitchen switch, industrial light flickers from a 20-year-old lamp.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 3 months ago in Fiction
Gay Pride Made Science Smarter
In February of 1911, the Terra Nova Expedition landed at frozen Cape Adare, Antarctica. From a ship of 65 of Britain's finest sailors and scientists, six men came ashore, intent on becoming the first ever to reach the South Pole.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 3 months ago in Pride
The Recycling Industry is TRASH
You've gathered a trove of plastic this week. Triumphantly, you parade over to your blue bin and plop it inside with a satisfying thwack. You dust your hands and pat yourself on the back - you're a good person; you care enough to recycle.
Olivia L. DobbsPublished 4 months ago in Earth
