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Benjamin Cassidy

Stories from this author

The orca known as “Old Thom” swims in front of researchers in the Bay of Fundy.

The Curious Case of ‘Old Thom,’ an Orca Traveling Alone in the North Atlantic

Sightings of the marine mammal captivate the public and baffle scientists

A baby Atlantic sturgeon caught from Virginia’s James River is measured by Matt Balazik, a research ecologist with Virginia Commonwealth University.

Once in Dire Straits, Atlantic Sturgeon Are Staging a Comeback on the East Coast

From Maine to Florida, the endangered, prehistoric fish is rebounding, but a recent study shows just how vulnerable the U.S. population remains

Smithsonian magazine’s top science titles this year.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2024

From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year

Leaf senescence creates a golden canopy over a trail in the Harvard Forest.

What 30 Years of Studying the New England Woods Reveals About the Colors of Changing Leaves

An ecologist’s long walks and detailed observations allowed him to chronicle the shifts in an iconic habitat and grow a once-overlooked branch of science

A couple of atypically colorful logbook pages from the Bengal of Salem, Massachusetts, housed at the Providence Public Library. The ship sailed around the Pacific Ocean from 1832 to 1835.

How a Trove of Whaling Logbooks Will Help Scientists Understand Our Changing Climate

Researchers are examining more than 4,200 New England documents to turn descriptions of the wind into data