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kategevans.bsky.social
Nature writer & science journalist New Zealand Geographic Www.Kateevans.org Words also in Scientific American, the New York Times, bioGraphic, among others. Author of FEIJOA: A STORY OF OBSESSION AND BELONGING
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What a joy to review Auckland’s Forest Restaurant’s deep friend Feijoa dessert for @thespinoff.bsky.social - it’s pure Kiwi nostalgia in a dish thespinoff.co.nz/kai/19-04-20... 🇳🇿🌱

Well, this is an example of bad science: a one-off survey of people's self-reported eating habits going back an unspecified amount of time. No info on how closely people followed each diet. This doesn't show causation in the slightest. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Hi friends! Want to listen to my Kiwi accent telling you all about feijoas (and so much more)? The audiobook of Feijoa: A story of obsession and belonging is out now on Spotify (free if you have premium) and Audible (where it’s on sale rn) Links to follow 👇 🇳🇿📚🌱 open.spotify.com/show/2Nb2Vhu...

In Auckland and have too many feijoas? Learn how to make the most of them at this free event on April 12: ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/events/2025/...

Tis the season!! #feijoa @kategevans.bsky.social 😋

And another for the annals of “whyyy did I not pitch this to the NY times when I heard about it weeks ago”

Wow, I had no idea pheasants weren't native to the UK. I guess that fact wasn't in Danny the Champion of the World, the sole source of my pheasant-based knowledge. I do know how to perform sleeping-pill and sultana-based poaching of them, however. This whole practice seems nuts!

For months I've been thinking about the ways in which the norms of journalism aren't up to the task of reporting on people who won't accept the norms of reality. So I've written about my thoughts there, and how the lessons of reporting about disinformation apply to everything now.

West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits & Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory. All are products that contain palm oil. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

PSA for other writers -- I've just switched from Otter to Scroll.ai for transcription, it's free and it's doing a better job of my interviews than Otter was.

I accepted a Side Quest from Solomon Hendrix (a Hemipteran scientist) over the weekend to find and collect a rare piglet bug, a creature which is known but probably does not belong to its current genus. So this afternoon I found 6. Here's 3 of them. For science!

A pleasure to talk on @abcaustralia.bsky.social with the Science show’s Robyn Williams about my Kavli-winning piece on the red billed gull www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/th...

My latest for @nzgeo.bsky.social, thanks to @catherinewoulfe.bsky.social for the fun commission! I learned so many amazing facts about tree ferns, including their TOTALLY WILD sex lives, and got to see one poked into an MRI. I know. Full story here: www.nzgeo.com/stories/in-a... 🌱🌴🇳🇿 #scicomm

A strange thing happened… after years ambling in the bush contemplating tree ferns, @nzgeo.bsky.social decided that my meanderings were worth an article! And brought on the epic @kategevans.bsky.social to write it: www.nzgeo.com/stories/in-a... Enjoy this ferny delight…

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/24-...

I went to AAAS this weekend and talked to lots of scientists about how they're feeling In These Times www.sciencenews.org/article/defu...

Extremely honoured to receive a Gold Kavli award for Science Journalism this week in snowy but beautiful Boston at the #AAASmtg Thanks @kavlifoundation.bsky.social and @nzgeo.bsky.social for commissioning my winning story about red billed gulls.

I heard that some of you people prefer to receive your snarky science fact-checking of viral news stories in meme format, and I am here to help.

A plant scientist I know wants to find a couple of very old feijoa trees in Auckland for tests on their root microbiome — anyone have any leads? #feijoa #science

“Moa also has Kate Evans’ irresistible natural history book Feijoa in the nonfiction longlist.” Stoked! #theockhams 📚🇳🇿https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/01/30/ngahuia-on-track-to-win-ockhams/

On here with some other legends @lilobrien.bsky.social

Calls/emails from reporters asking for a comment on last's years temperature are coming earlier than normal this year. Time to dust off my "last year was hot" auto-response.

🧪 Perfect weekend to learn about the house of slime, bogong moths and indigenous emojis!!!! The Best Australian Science Writing anthology is available here: unsw.press/books/the-be... Also if you love it leave a Goodreads review because it's SO HELPFUL (www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...)

"If a woman fancies that she looks better or feels better in men's clothes, there is no reason why she may not indulge in so harmless a fancy." The illustrated book of manners: a manual of good behavior and polite accomplishments by R. De Valcourt, 1866. archive.org/details/illu...

Today’s blue sky for @bsky.app 🇳🇿🐟💙

I've been a grateful recipient of 5 Voyager awards over the years, I'll be ok if I never get another. But I fear what it says about priorities that individual awards remain for Sport, Business, Lifestyle, Politics While reporters in science, environment, crime, education fight for a single award.

20 years ago I knew a guy who worked part time, minimum wage, as a dishwasher. He was able to afford rent and a car (both shitty but functional), concerts, weed, etc. It's interesting to think of how that kind of dirtbag lifestyle is mostly just gone.

Thrilled to make this list: newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/09/x... 🇳🇿📚

Conventional wisdom in 2024 seems to dictate that the Covid-19 response was an overreaction, but that conventional wisdom is wrong. My analysis on the Royal Commission report and the response to it: newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/03/h...