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Cypress Hansen

Cypress Hansen is an intern in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs. She has also written for Knowable Magazine, Mercury News, Mongabay and Scientific American. Cypress recently graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with an MS in science communication. She also holds a BS in marine science from Eckerd College, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. You can find her at CypressWritesScience.com

Stories from this author

Composite photo of seven different colorful and partially transparent deep-sea animals on black background

Massive Yet Misunderstood, What Is the Ocean's Midwater?

Discover what lives in the largest and least understood ecosystem on Earth

Keeping our pets healthy is just one way to improve the wellbeing of our families and communities. Find out why in a family program streaming Sept. 26. (Kim Hester)

Four Natural History Programs Streaming for Free This Month

Join scientists, artists and educators from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History for virtual natural history crash courses throughout September.

Whether your classes are held in person or remotely this fall, the Smithsonian’s fall series of virtual school programs will keep students engaged as they explore the museum’s research and collections. (Smithsonian)

Sign Your Students Up for a Natural History Crash Course This Fall

Educators can take advantage of a suite of live and interactive lessons designed to develop students’ core science skills.

Mosquitoes are more than blood-sucking menaces. They also pollinate flowers, have intricate sex lives and eat other disease-carrying mosquitoes. (Lawrence Reeves)

The Secret Lives of Mosquitoes, the World’s Most Hated Insects

While some are a nuisance, others working as nighttime pollinators may be critically important to a functioning ecosystem

The vast diversity of anole lizards found throughout the Americas helps scientists understand what factors drive the evolution of life. (goatling, CC BY 2.0)

Say Hello to the Scientist Using Lizard Limbs to Unlock Evolution's Secrets

For this month's Meet a SI-entist, we caught up with Kevin de Queiroz to talk about the evolution of lizard legs and the joys of unplanned discoveries

The world’s smallest moth, the pygmy sorrel moth, has a wingspan as short as 2.65 millimeters. It belongs to a group called the leaf miner moths, which could become problematic pests for more farmers as global temperatures rise. (Patrick Clement, CC BY 2.0)

Who's the Smallest of Them All? Mini Moth Gets a Big Title

A group of curious researchers has finally awarded one species the coveted title of world's smallest moth

From forests to fish to flakes of snow, the science behind ice cream reaches beyond the cone. (Taryn Ellio)

The Strangely Scientific Endeavor of Making Ice Cream

Ice cream's texture is the result of the same processes that govern concepts like forest recovery, rock formation and sub-zero survival in animals.