Lauren Oster

Lauren Oster is a writer in New York City.

Stories from this author

Environmental toxicologist Danielle Stevenson spreads soil and wood chips inoculated with fungi at a polluted lot in Los Angeles.

Can Scientists Harness the Magic of Mushrooms to Clean Up Polluted Landscapes?

Researchers and grassroots activists are working with fungi to restore damaged environments

Visitors left notes, photos and mementos at the base of an oak tree Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl had favored after escaping from the Central Park Zoo. A memorial for Flaco was held there on March 3.

What Flaco the Owl’s Death Teaches Us About Making Cities Safer for Birds

Ornithologists and conservationists say humans can take key steps to make urban environments less hazardous for our avian friends

Consumer products made from carbon capture can't undo the damage we’ve done to our planet—but each of them exists thanks to innovations that could. 

Little Luxuries Made With Captured Pollution Hint at Big Frontiers in Climate Science

Entrepreneurs are using jewelry, fragrances and clothing to demonstrate what’s possible with repurposed carbon—and environmentalists have questions

Shipwreck NORMAN in upper Lake Huron in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Eight of the Best Spots to Go Freshwater Diving or Snorkeling in the United States

These bucket-list underwater sites offer up megalodon teeth, manatee herds and other unique encounters

About 100 miles northwest of Mexico City in the UNESCO-designated Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, up to a billion of the brilliant-winged insects spend November to March clustered on branches.

A Ring of Fire, Millions of Monarchs and Other Rare Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling For

Be in the right place at the right time to witness these sublime sights

Signed copies of the thriller Reykjavik, co-written by Iceland's Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson, one of the most popular crime writers in the world, are pictured during the official release of the book in Reykjavik, Iceland, on October 25, 2022.

Iceland’s Christmas Book Flood Is a Force of Nature

The nation’s seasonal publishing and gifting tradition nourishes its unique literary culture

Market research firm Fact.MR estimated that global nonalcoholic wine sales reached $1.6 billion in 2021 and will double in the next decade.

The Science Behind Nonalcoholic Wine

Drinking habits are changing, and vintners are exceeding tasters’ expectations with new options stripped of their alcohol

An alkaline hydrolysis machine at White Rose Aqua Cremation in Escondido, California

Could Water Cremation Become the New American Way of Death?

A sustainable option for what to do with our remains is trickling into popular consciousness

Top row (L to R): Bill Clinton's cat Socks (pictured twice), Amy Carter's cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang and George W. Bush's cat India. Bottom row (L to R): India, Calvin Coolidge's cats Blackie and Tiger, and the Bidens' cat Willow

A Colorful History of Cats in the White House

Willow Biden isn’t the first feline to grace the presidential residence’s halls