Lené Gary (@leneagary) is a poet, writer, photographer and aspiring naturalist living in the Green Mountains of Vermont. She holds a dual-genre MFA in Writing, a BA in Environmental Studies, and is currently pursuing an MA in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University.
Lené has written for the Science Borealis blog since 2016.
Her path to science writing began with her early love for chemistry that was abruptly detoured at the age of 16 after she developed severe chemical sensitivities from organophosphate pesticide poisoning.
As a result of that life-changing experience, she shifted her focus from studying science to pursuing pesticide policymaking and learning as much as she could outside of the lab about environmental toxins. She served for five years in a governor appointed seat on the Vermont Pesticide Advisory Council before deciding to devote her time solely to writing about environmental issues and the natural world.
With a background in creative writing, Lené understands that a life without stories is one without meaning. She also knows that in order to encourage change, one must first encourage care. Statistics are rarely persuasive when viewed alone. When coupled with human stories, they give people reasons to care, and act. She hopes to merge her interest in human stories with the urgency of scientific ones as a way of promoting positive environmental change and increasing societal appreciation for science.
Lené is a longstanding contributor to Science Borealis. She joined the editorial team in 2016, bringing her talents to the blog’s General Sciences beat. Read Lené’s posts> (And remember to click the “Older Posts” button near the bottom of the post-list page to see the links to her earlier contributions.)
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