Rebecca Trager
Senior US correspondent, Chemistry World
I became the US Correspondent for Chemistry World in September 2014, based out of Washington, DC, after writing for the magazine on a freelance basis since 2007. With a background in policy, and a passion for journalism, I have found my niche covering the world of science policy since 1997. The interest was sparked after spending summers during college as a press intern for the National Institutes of Health. Before joining Chemistry World, I was the US Editor for Research Europe, covering the White House, as well as government departments and US agencies, and am also the former managing editor of The Blue Sheet, an Elsevier biomedical research and health policy publication. I studied philosophy and political theory at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.
BusinessUS backs Bayer–Monsanto with glyphosate decision
Solicitor general says federal rules override state laws on cancer warnings
CareersA love story: a polymer chemist accidentally falls for rubber
Born in 1950s Moscow, Irene Yurovska faced major hurdles as a Jewish woman but rubber bounced into her life and changed its trajectory forever
ResearchTraditional yoghurt recipe reveals ants’ fermentation power
Rebecca Trager meets a cross-disciplinary team investigating an ancient way to make yoghurt, which involved a trip to a tiny Bulgarian village
CareersThe chemist who commemorates lab discoveries on his body
University of Nebraska’s drug design centre director is communicating his team’s scientific breakthroughs with tattoos and now has 29 on his arm
NewsResearchers in the US much more likely to consider moving abroad
Survey of 3000 researchers across the world shows 40% of those in the US are contemplating relocating in the next two years, versus 29% globally
BusinessHow a weak rubber supply chain threatens US national security
Irene Yurovska raises the alarm on US reliance on Chinese imports for critical chemical additives
BusinessJ&J now faces talc cancer claims in the UK
Alongside nearly 70,000 US lawsuits, over 3000 claimants have filed joint UK legal action
NewsNasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab and home of Mars rovers loses 10% of its staff
The dismissal of 550 JPL workers is the fourth round of recent layoffs at the lab, prompting fears of a brain drain
Business16 dead in US munitions factory explosion
Plant levelled by blast, whose cause remains under investigation
NewsMeet the three scientists who have just won the Nobel prize in chemistry
Learn about the lives of newly minted chemistry Nobel laureates Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi
News'No way to unleash US innovation’: more research chaos as the US government shuts down
New research grant awards and proposal reviews have been paused by closure of science agencies
NewsNIH launches new centre in planned move away from animal testing
Biomedical research agency’s new organoid modelling centre will address reproducibility concerns with AI, robotics and human cells
OpinionKarl Mueller: ‘I realised I had matured when I started giving away my best ideas’
The director of Ames National Laboratory in the US discusses getting hooked on chemistry via parental inspiration and a benchtop NMR
ResearchUS court rules that $1 billion in NSF research grant cuts will not be restored
Lawsuit on behalf of university faculty, graduate students and others continues despite judge’s decision not to issue a preliminary injunction
NewsPFAS spring new surprise as some are far more acidic than thought
The acid dissociation constants for some PFAS are significantly lower than past metrics have indicated, with implications for their persistence and spread
ResearchNuclear waste might one day be used to create tritium to fuel fusion power plants
Los Alamos National Lab team is modelling the efficiency and cost of reactor designs that can generate tritium from waste
NewsIupac defends contested project to redefine PFAS
The organisation wants to standardise terminology for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, but some experts fear new definitions could harm environmental protections
NewsIupac wants its new responsible chemistry principles in undergrad textbooks
Leaders of responsible chemistry initiative argue that the ethical aspects of chemistry belong in university chemistry classrooms alongside green chemistry principles
ResearchA greener approach to finishing fabrics
Cottonseed oil used to confer wrinkle and water resistance
NewsProposal to limit US student visa durations draws criticism
Academic groups warn that the proposed rule will deter talented researchers, harm the economy and add bureaucracy