Thomas S. Garlinghouse

As evening fell on San Clemente Island, we staggered back to camp. My crew and I had spent all day digging through the remains of a Native American village on this tiny island 50 miles west of Los Angeles. A journalist interviewed me as we sat around the fire, asking about ancient fishing strategies and shellfish gathering. Our conversation rekindled my desire to combine my loves for writing and archaeology.

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After receiving my Ph.D., I went to work as an archaeologist, studying Native American sites in California. But that evening on the island never strayed too far from my thoughts. Now, after twenty years, I have finally decided to pursue my dream of becoming a science writer. The same fascinating stories of the past I once shared with that journalist I now aim to share with the public.

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I graduated from the University of Santa Cruz Science Communication program with a master’s degree in science journalism in 2019. I have worked for the UC Santa Cruz news service, Monterey Herald, Insidescience.org and Princeton University's Dean of Research and the Office of Communications. I have published in various venues, including British History Today, Science, the Monterey Herald, Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Mercury News, insidescience.org. Mongabay.org, news.ucsc.edu, Good Times Magazine, Sapiens.org, Ancient History Encyclopedia, and Princeton's News Service.

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It’s been a wonderful journey!