Christie Aschwanden

Christie Aschwanden is a science journalist, author, and podcaster whose work explores the intersection of science, health, and everyday life. After discovering New Scientist magazine while working as a research assistant, Aschwanden pursued science journalism, attending a science writing workshop in Santa Fe and later studying science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During her time at the University of Colorado Boulder, she was a professional cyclist and later raced professionally as a member of the Team Rossignol Nordic skiing squad, experiences that informed her reporting on sports science and exercise physiology.

Aschwanden served as lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight and was a health columnist for The Washington Post. She has contributed articles, essays, and book reviews to more than 60 publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Science, Cell, Popular Science, New Scientist, Runner's World, and O, the Oprah Magazine. Her editorial work spans data journalism and narrative essays, focusing on topics such as scientific reproducibility, sports science, and evidence-based health reporting.

Aschwanden is the author of the book "Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery," which examines the science of exercise recovery, including nutrition, mental health, and inflammation. The book appeared on the New York Times Sports & Fitness best sellers list. She has reported extensively on the integrity of scientific research, highlighting issues such as scientific misconduct, fraud, and reproducibility, particularly in sports science and magnitude-based inference. Aschwanden has also hosted and produced "Uncertain," a podcast from Scientific American about uncertainty in science. Her story "The Rise & Fall of Vitamin D" in Scientific American was recognized in The Best American Science & Nature Writing.

Aschwanden's journalism has received honors including a Best Article Award and Outstanding Essay Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Association of Science Writers' Science in Society Award for Commentary/Opinion, and a Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists. She has also received an American Association for the Advancement of Science Kavli Science Journalism Award and serves on the board of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. Additional recognition includes a grant from the Greater Good Science Center's Expanding Awareness of the Science of Intellectual Humility initiative, a Santa Fe Institute Journalism Fellowship in Complexity Science, and a Carter Center Fellowship.

A frequent speaker at writers' workshops and journalism conferences, Aschwanden founded the Creative Convergence freelance writing workshops, developed with support from the National Association of Science Writers. She has taught at the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop, Boulder Magazine Writer's Conference, Telluride Writer's Guild, and Northern California Science Writers Association. Aschwanden has served as science writer in residence at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she addressed the use and abuse of scientific evidence, and has spoken at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Her work emphasizes scientific rigor, athletic experience, and clear communication to make complex scientific concepts accessible to a broad audience.