I had a great, busy 2017—for which, like any sane freelance writer, I am inexpressibly grateful. In addition to completing two middle grade science books for National Geographic on volcanoes and dinosaurs, and getting ready for the January 2018 publication of A Heart Just Like My Mother’s, I wrote more stories for more publications than ever before.

Here are just a few of my favorite stories of the year:

For Civil Eats, I traveled to Bucks County, PA to report on the resurgence of grain mills in the Northeast, and talked to plant geneticists around the world about their mission to find wild relatives of some of our most important crops.

For NPR, I reported from the Navajo Nation in Arizona about Navajo tea, and attended the James Beard Foundation’s chef’s boot camp to bring news of all the ways chefs are trying to make their kitchens more sustainable.

For Mental Floss, I interviewed a mycologist about the different types of mold that turn up in our kitchens, and a slew of Christmas tree farmers about what it takes to grow our annual evergreens.

For Sierra, I wrote about the mountain climbers who assemble once a year to rappel into the Grand Canyon to collect trash. And for Publishers Weekly, I covered the newest trends in parenting books.

I also wrote stories for kids—including a piece on the science of boredom, and another on the future of bots in medicine, both for Muse.

I’m looking forward to sharing many more stories with you in 2018, and to a year of hope, kindness, and peace.

Love, Lela