Rachel Nuwer is an independent American journalist and author of the 2018 nonfiction book Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking (Da Capo Press). She has covered the issue of poaching from the perspectives of criminals, activists and science for years in prominent publications, including the Smithsonian, BBC Future, The New York Times, and National Geographic.[1]
Nuwer grew up in Mississippi and studied biology at Loyola University New Orleans where she spent time researching Mekong River fish.[2] She got a masters degree in ecology at the University of East Anglia, and attended New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.[3] The master's thesis she completed for her East Anglia degree was published by the Cambridge University Press.[2]
Nuwer says that her education in biology helped shape her career.[3]
Nuwer has written for Smithsonian, BBC Future, The New York Times, and National Geographic.[1] She is well known for working under cover to access black markets for wildlife.[4] Nuwer's 2023 book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World examines the cultural and scientific aspects of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy.[5]
Nuwer won the Abe Fellowship for Journalists in 2017.[6]
Her book Poached won the American Society of Journalists and Authors general non-fiction book award,[7] a Nautilus Book Award,[8] and the Santa Monica Public Library Green Prize for Sustainable Literature.[9]
