Zoë Schlanger

Zoë Schlanger is an award-winning science journalist and staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers climate change, environmental health, and the natural world. She is the author of The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, a critically acclaimed work of popular science. Before joining The Atlantic, Schlanger was a reporter for Quartz and has contributed to The New York Times, Newsweek, and Wired.\nIn The Light Eaters, Schlanger investigates the rapidly evolving field of plant signaling and behavior. Through extensive reporting and interviews with pioneering botanists, she explores the scientific evidence suggesting that plants possess complex capabilities previously reserved for animals, such as communication, memory, and decision-making. Her writing is noted for its ability to synthesize dense scientific research into accessible, compelling narratives.\nSchlanger’s journalism often focuses on the intersection of human activity and biological systems. She has received recognition for her reporting on environmental justice and pollution. Her current work challenges readers to reconsider their relationship with the non-human world, arguing that understanding the sophistication of plant life is essential for grasping the complexities of our ecosystem.