Maddie Bender is a Boston-based science and health writer. She studied evolutionary biology and Latin in college at Yale. In 2021, she earned a public health master’s degree in microbial disease epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health—because of the timing, she likes to tell people that she majored in coronavirus. Her writing has appeared in Scientific American, STAT, Motherboard, and other outlets. She also fact-checks for print and podcasts and produces audio. One of her articles was once used as the premise for an episode of Law & Order. Read more of her work at maddiebender.com.