Annie Roth
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annieroth.bsky.social
Annie Roth
@annieroth.bsky.social
Journalist, filmmaker & children's author focused on science & nature. Words in NYT, Nat Geo & more.

🎥 Hellbent (2023)
📖 Amazing Oceans (2023)
🎥 Little Penguin Love Island (2024)
📖 Earth's Incredible Habitats: Ocean (2025)

RothReporting.com
Pinned
My latest children's book is here! Available online and in stores.
Reposted by Annie Roth
No one has ever photographed a will-'o'-the-wisp, and their origins have been shrouded in mystery. Until now! @annieroth.bsky.social has the spooky season tale for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/environment/... #halloween #spookyseason #chemsky
Spooky will-o’-the-wisps finally explained
A newly discovered molecular phenomenon is responsible for the spectral balls of light seen in swamps and cemeteries
cen.acs.org
October 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
cen.acs.org/environment/...

At long last, scientists have figured out what causes will-o’-the-wisps. It’s not ghosts or ghouls, but a newly discovered phenomenon called “microlightning.” Learn more in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social
Spooky will-o’-the-wisps finally explained
A newly discovered molecular phenomenon is responsible for the spectral balls of light seen in swamps and cemeteries
cen.acs.org
October 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
AWS is (reportedly) the company behind Project Blue, the huge data center that's going forward outside Tucson, AZ, despite community opposition.

Read all about it in my @theguardian.com feature.

#awsoutage
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘The city that draws the line’: one Arizona community’s fight against a huge datacenter
Questions grow over water and energy costs of warehouse of computers in Sonoran desert – but will Project Blue be stopped?
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
“being an otter is not a crime”

Great reportage from @annieroth.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/s...
Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in California. Again.
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/s...

An unknown sea otter was spotted stealing surfboards at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz this week. Is 841 back to her old ways or have other otters learned to hang 10? Check out my latest for @nytimes.com
Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in California. Again.
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
TL;DR: Shout out to microbes, our tiny, invaluable allies!

Learn how scientists plan to protect them in my latest for Nat Geo
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
Save the microbes? The world’s smallest species may soon get protections.
Researchers are calling for the conservation of teeny tiny organisms that normally get overlooked, and conservationists are listening.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 6, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Idk who runs the @amnh.org social but they are crushing it.
October 2, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
October 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
#DidYouKnow some electric rays can emit over 200 volts to fend off predators like tiger sharks? This effective self-defense strategy highlights the incredible adaptations of marine life.

Dive into the topic with @annieroth.bsky.social : www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
This animal has a built-in taser to stun sharks
Electric rays are staying out of the stomachs of sharks by shocking them—with up to 200 volts.
www.nationalgeographic.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Hey biologists and ecologists! I'm a science journalist looking for recently-published and/or soon-to-be-published studies to cover! If you've got one, please send it my way!
September 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
In Kenya, the Pokot & Ilchamus communities set aside years of conflict to rescue endangered Rothschild’s giraffes stranded by flooding.🦒 Their collaboration created a safe sanctuary to save these majestic animals. 🧪🌏

Full story w/ @annieroth.bsky.social 
How former foes worked together to help save these rare giraffes
To move giraffes in Kenya from a flooding island to a safe new home, onetime enemies cooperated—and built a modern-day ark.
bit.ly
August 14, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Annie Roth
"Finding large-sized spiders with such bold behavior and such unique features, that doesn’t happen every day," our author @alirezazamani.bsky.social told @annieroth.bsky.social of National Geographic.

A great juicy story to complement his ZooKeys paper!

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
These tarantulas may have evolved huge genitalia to fend off bloodthirsty females
Tarantulas, like all spiders, don’t have penises; they have palps. And these ones are massive.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
A Trump administration plan to build 25 miles of wall along a remote stretch of rolling grasslands and mountains on the Arizona-Mexico border would block one of the largest and most important remaining wildlife corridors on the state’s border with Mexico.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/c...
Trump Wants a New Border Wall. It Would Block a Key Wildlife Corridor.
www.nytimes.com
July 31, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
"But as a slew of recent studies show, animals have the potential to make our increasingly scorched planet more resilient—if we let them."

Read the rest of:

It’s Time for Nature’s Fire Brigade by @annieroth.bsky.social

www.biographic.com/its-time-for...
It’s Time for Nature’s Fire Brigade - bioGraphic
When it comes to restoring land and preventing wildfires, some animals—like pangolins—have a lot to offer. Can helping them help us?
www.biographic.com
July 20, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Loving this dynamic duo!

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/s...

Fabulous story by @clarissabrincat.bsky.social
Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship
www.nytimes.com
July 16, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
Oregon has passed the 1st bill protecting beavers in degraded watersheds on federal lands.

All trapping on public land should be banned, but by highlighting the ability of beavers to restore waterways & rewild ecosystems, it can at least be a start for other areas.

westernlaw.org/oregon-lawma...
June 17, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Stills from a film I made when I was 8. Needs a sequel tbh
May 17, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
I spoke with Dustin Mulvaney about losing two grants studying Moss Landing, and who gets hurt:
May 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
Every U.S. government Instagram account seems to be posting about deep-sea mining today, from USGS to NOAA. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills
April 25, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I support women’s rights AND wrongs. My latest for @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/s...
These Apes Are Matriarchal, but It Doesn’t Mean They’re Peaceful
Females reign supreme in bonobo society by working together to keep males in their place.
www.nytimes.com
April 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
My first film, Hellbent, is finally online for free! www.hellbentfilm.com/the-film

This is the story of ordinary people who refused to stay silent—who challenged power, rewrote the rules, and stood up for their land, their health, and their future—because no one else was going to do it for them.
THE FILM | Hellbent Documentary
www.hellbentfilm.com
April 24, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by Annie Roth
This is a lovely video about a project that supports Mexican wolf populations in the US: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/video/go-ins...
Go Inside a Mexican Wolf Recovery Project Whose Future Is Now Uncertain
The critically endangered Mexican wolf was mounting a comeback, thanks to a conservation program that dropped fostered wolf pups into wild dens. Then politics happened.
www.scientificamerican.com
April 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
Pangolins! Beavers! Bison! Lyre-birds! All of them can help us reduce the impact of wildfires... if only we'd let them.

Story by @annieroth.bsky.social for @biographic.bsky.social! 🧪🦊🦉

www.biographic.com/its-time-for...
It’s Time for Nature’s Fire Brigade - bioGraphic
When it comes to restoring land and preventing wildfires, some animals—like pangolins—have a lot to offer. Can helping them help us?
www.biographic.com
April 7, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Annie Roth
It's incredible what animals can do if we just let them, instead of fighting nature every step of the way.
April 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM