I'm a scientist and science communications practitioner. I write about water, wildfire, and climate change. My work has been published at New Republic, On Being, Bay Nature, and more. My book Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Engagement is forthcoming from Island Press in Spring 2021. You can find me on Twitter @frkearns and Instagram @fkearns, and sign up for my periodic newsletter The Hard Stuff.
NEW: Check out Water Talk! Mallika Nocco, Sam Sandoval, and I finished
up the first season of our new podcast focused on all things water in California.
RECENT POPULAR WRITING
Why we need to treat wildfire as a public health issue in California | The Conversation
Loss for words: Art, language, and life on a changing planet | The Conversation
Fighting climate change will take more than science | New Republic
California's water paradox: Why enough will never be enough | The Conversation
The art and science of waiting (for rain in drought) | Hippo Reads
RECENT ACADEMIC WRITING
Disasters Happen: Supporting Cooperative Extension Personnel for Disaster Management in California Communities | Journal of Extension with V. Koundinya, C. Chiarella, and S. Kocher
Supporting sustainable groundwater management | California Agriculture with D. Parker
Climate change trends and impacts on California agriculture: A detailed review | Agronomy with T. Pathak, M.L. Maskey, J.A. Dahlberg, K.M. Bali, and D. Zaccaria
Building climate change resilience in California through UC Cooperative Extension | California Agriculture with T. Grantham, S. Kocher, T. Pathak, and L. Roche
RECENT MEDIA
When blazes spark, ‘Fire Twitter’ heats up | San Francisco Chronicle
A pandemic meets fire season: How California will fight wildfires amid coronavirus | Sacramento Bee
How climate change primed California’s power shutdown | National Geographic
The weight of the world | Mother Jones
Why it's so hard to live in California | Slate
California's dry winter means much of the state is in drought again | Salon
Deadly, destructive fires happening to more Californians, over and over again | Ventura County Star
Last day in Paradise: the untold story of how a fire swallowed a town | Guardian
Wildfire scientists brace for hotter, more flammable future as Paradise lies in ashes | CNN
Living on the edge | Slate
Don't blame storm victims for this | Earther/Gizmodo
Lack of snowpack leaves the West hung out to dry | Grist
California agriculture faces serious threats from climate change, study finds | Desert Sun
California's climate emergency | Rolling Stone