Bryn Nelson, PhD, is an award-winning science and medical writer, author of Flush: The Remarkable Science of an Unlikely Treasure (Grand Central Publishing), and a former microbiologist. He has more than 20 years of journalism experience and writes regularly for dozens of national outlets.
Nelson’s bylines include work about travel, conservation, and the green building industry for The New York Times. He has written extensively about COVID-19 for The Daily Beast and The British Medical Journal. He initiated the “Frontiers” column on scientific innovation at MSNBC.com (now part of NBCNews.com) and wrote multiple long-form narratives for the online magazine Mosaic. He has also written for outlets such as Newsday, Nature, New Scientist, The Guardian, NBCNews.com, ENSIA, bioGraphic, CNN Travel, Cancer Health, and Science News for Students.
After receiving his PhD in microbiology from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1998, Nelson enrolled in the science communication graduat