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Serena Jampel

Serena Jampel

Serena Jampel is an award-winning freelance journalist whose reporting spans science, history and culture. She’s particularly interested in artificial intelligence, 17th-century North America and climate change. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian magazine, Harvard Magazine and elsewhere.  

Education

Bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard University 

Master’s degree in heritage studies from the University of Cambridge 

Stories from Serena Jampel

A close-up view of a 1798 Gilbert Stuart portrait of Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles

The Marquis de Lafayette’s Brother-in-Law Participated in Three Revolutionary Wars, Supporting American Independence but Brutally Suppressing an Uprising by Enslaved Africans in Haiti

Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles, served during the American, French and Haitian Revolutions. “He fights wherever France fights, because he’s a soldier and he believes in France,” a historian says

More than 95 percent of the world’s bergamot oil production is concentrated in Southern Italy’s Calabria region. But harsh conditions driven by climate change threaten that supply.

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

A triple threat of pollution, extinction and warming temperatures is altering the way the planet smells. Scientists are only beginning to understand the stakes for humans

This 1804 depiction of Jane McCrea's death cemented a dramatized version of her killing in the public imagination.

A Native Soldier Allied With the British Killed a Young White Woman in 1777. Propaganda Transformed Her Into a Martyr of the American Revolution

The patriots weaponized Jane McCrea’s death to demonize their enemies and paint Indigenous people as uniquely violent

Students learn anatomy from an Asclepius AI Table, which merges interactive elements and artificial intelligence.

Medical Students Are Learning Anatomy From Digital Cadavers. Can Technology Ever Replace Real Human Bodies?

From interactive diagrams to A.I. assistants, virtual tools are beginning to supplant physical dissections in some classrooms

Danielle Boyer wears a Skobot on her shoulder.

Can A.I. Help Revitalize Indigenous Languages?

Indigenous researchers and roboticists are crafting innovative tools to help save endangered dialects