I’m an independent health and science journalist, a former media company executive who led the launch and growth of several health, science and technology publications. Prior to that I was editor-in-chief of LiveScience and Space.com.

Now I write motivationally about physical health and mental wellness, aiming to put the latest scientific research into plain language with ample context to help you improve your well-being, no matter how old you are. If this sounds interesting, you can sign up to get an email each time I publish (once or twice a week). If you're not a Medium member yet, you can sign up here, directly supporting me and other writers and giving you full, unlimited access to all the great content across the site.

A little more about me…

Long ago, in this very galaxy, I appeared in nine episodes of The Universe for the History Channel, which means I have an IMDb page and am occasionally surprised by seeing myself on Netflix.

I've also written some fiction. Kirkus Reviews calls my science-based thriller 5 Days to Landfall “A vigorous tale in which a violent, inescapable storm terrorizes everyone, even the villains. Perspectives from multiple characters are a worthy setup for an exhilarating final act, with a relentless hurricane and a frighteningly high body count.” I also wrote the Eli Quinn mysteries, a series of novellas.

My first journalism jobs were in newspapers, back when a typo could be fixed with an X-acto knife between press runs. In the late 1990s, I left newspapers and launched one of the world's first science news websites, which I later sold to an online publisher. So began a journey of many different roles, leading the launch of new websites covering science, health and technology, and managing media teams small and large.

Before all that, and starting around age 10, I did a lot of manual labor in the family sawmill (endless summers and countless after-school hours painting, shoveling sawdust and stacking lumber) and later oversaw production—all great grounding in the realities of life outside the media world.

Now I’m back doing what I love most: writing. I live in Arizona with my wife and two dogs, while our three grown children are scattered around the world. When not writing, I’m happiest when hiking, mountain biking or camping in remote mountain and desert locales with my wife, in search of solitude and the amazing restorative powers of being out there.

Cheers!

Rob