Julia Travers


I'm a writer with experience in journalism, communications and creative fields. I cover science, the arts and social justice, and I often practice solutions journalism. Find my work with NPR, Discover Magazine, YES! Magazine, APM and Earth Island Journal, among other publications.

Discover Magazine •

All Water Is Connected: Citizen Scientists Monitor Virginia Water Quality (PDF)

When we visit the beach, water quality is the last thing most of us want to worry about. Virginia Beach receives more than 15 million tourists each year, and both the state Department of Health and a local branch of the Surfrider Foundation are checking water quality to make sure visiting beachgoers and locals alike are safe. Surfrider is a nonprofit that works to protect oceans and beaches, and its Blue Water Task Forces (BWTF) conduct local water testing to augment government data collection.
Food Tank •

Tracing the Rain: Can Measuring Evaporation Help Farmers?

Accurately capturing a raindrop’s journey to the ground is tricky business. Evaporation can cause a raindrop to shrink between the time it is captured by radar in a cloud and when it hits a farmer’s field, and this can make it hard to rely on radar-based rainfall estimations in some areas. Researchers from the University of Missouri in Columbia are taking a closer look at evaporation. With the use of specialized weather algorithms ...
Ms. Magazine •

We Are Unstoppable: How Female Philanthropists are Turning Giving Circles into a Movement

Giving circles bring people together to practice collective philanthropy. In the same spirit, representatives of giving circles and giving circle networks across the U.S. are now convening to build power. And this past April—when 82 members of dozens of giving circles in the U.S. met for two days in Seattle, Washington, to share stories, hopes and plans for building a stronger giving circle movement—women were leading the conversation.
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