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Jacob Margolis
What I cover
I cover science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters, as well as investigations and accountability.
My background
I created, wrote and hosted the LAist Studios podcasts, The Big One: Your Survival Guide and The Big Burn: How To Survive In The Age of Wildfires. I was part of the team that won the 2021 Investigative Reporters and Editors Audio Journalism Award for the series "Hot Days: Heat’s Mounting Death Toll On Workers In The U.S. "Most recently, I’ve published investigations into large scale illegal dumping in L.A. County and previously unreported heavy metal concentrations in fire retardants.
My goals
To uncover how science, policy, and power intersect — so people have the information they need to hold decision-makers accountable and protect their communities.
Best way to reach me
You can reach me by email: jmargolis@laist.com. Or for encrypted communications, I'm on Signal: @jacobmargolis.1.
Stories by Jacob Margolis
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Now scientists have figured out how the fly stays dry even though it can stay submerged for 15 minutes. Yet another otherworldly aspect of Mono Lake.
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As global temperatures continue to climb, animals have to adapt. For 202 different species of California birds, that means nesting earlier in the year.
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Separated by the 101 freeway, different groups of the same species are adapting to microclimates, kicking off the evolutionary process.
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High pressure over the Great Basin is bringing unseasonable heat to Southern California.
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You can credit (or blame) La Niña. These conditions were also present last year, but California was bombarded by storms.
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Two neutron stars collided 130 million light years away, but researchers only had hours to prepare before they'd miss their window to see the event.
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This week's mass shooting in Las Vegas has resurfaced painful memories in the Inland Empire city -- site of firearms massacre in 2015.
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When the tsunami dragged debris from Japan into the Pacific, dozens of marine species made the trash their home. They crossed the ocean and arrived on our shores.
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The tiny, camera shy, asexual worm has been caught in the act; research on how its two halves regenerate could help scientists learn more about how stem cells work.
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The culprit is particulate matter 1/25th the size of a human hair that enters the bloodstream and wreaks havoc on critical organs.
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Scientists hope that if they can figure out why jellyfish sleep, they might be able to figure out why animals, including humans, sleep too.
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Cassini's final signal was received at JPL around 5 a.m. Friday morning, signaling the "end of mission" call, followed by cheers and even some tears.
