About me


I am a freelance science journalist. I have written and edited articles on all areas of science, with a particular focus on life and environmental sciences. My work has been published in New Scientist, the BBC, the Guardian/Observer, Nature, Spectrum and the Telegraph. I have also written science fiction criticism and am a former Forbes contributor. You can find a list of my articles on my contently page. More about my journalism

My first book The Genesis Quest is out now. The UK publishers are Weidenfeld & Nicolson and the US publishers are the University of Chicago Press. The book tells the story of the century-long scientific effort to understand how life began on Earth. More about The Genesis Quest

I have edited a book for New Scientist on the science of human evolution. Part of their Instant Expert series, Human Origins: 7 million years and counting was published in 2018.

I am also available to write and/or edit reports and white papers. In 2019 I co-authored Industrial Transformation 2050, which explored how to decarbonise EU heavy industry, for Material Economics. In 2020 I wrote The Cost of Doing Nothing for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. More about reports

If you would like to commission me, please get in touch.

Other Michael Marshalls

There are a couple of other Michael Marshalls.

I am not Michael "Marsh" Marshall of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, which is terribly confusing as we sometimes write on similar subjects for the same publications.

Nor am I the Michael Marshall who is a bestselling author of thrillers and (as Michael Marshall Smith) science fiction.

Find me around the internet

Employment


Freelance writer and editor
June 2017 – present

Acting editor
BBC Earth
October 2014 – June 2017

Environment news editor
New Scientist
January-September 2014

Environment reporter
New Scientist
July 2010 – December 2013

Online editorial assistant
New Scientist
June 2007 – June 2010

Education


MSc Science Communication
Imperial College London
2005-2007

MPhil Experimental Psychology
University of Cambridge
2002-2003

BA Natural Sciences
University of Cambridge
1999-2002