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is a former microbiologist; a freelance science, health, and environmental writer; and the author of Flush: The Remarkable Science of an Unlikely Treasure. As a staff writer on the science desk at Newsday from 2000 to 2007, he covered genetics, biomedicine, ecology, global warming, and a wide range of other topics. As a freelance writer, Nelson’s bylines have appeared in the New York Times, CNN.com, The BMJ, Nature, Scientific American, and dozens of other publications. He lives in Seattle and belongs to science writing and journalism associations NASW, NSWA, SEJ, AHCJ, and NLGJA.