Michael Marshall

Michael Marshall is a freelance science journalist who focuses on the intersection of life sciences, health and the environment, with a particular strength in turning complex research into clear narratives about the human body and brain. His coverage for New Scientist concentrates on how biology and neuroscience shape health conditions, connecting lab findings to lived experience rather than treating science as abstract theory. He brings long experience as both writer and editor in factual science media, which gives his work a steady, explanatory tone and a strong sense of what evidence actually supports.

Health, brains and behaviour

Marshall’s health reporting tends to start from a specific piece of research and work outward to show what it means for people, rather than from policy or healthcare systems. In his New Scientist work on autism, for example, he follows studies that divide autism into subtypes based on brain activity and uses those findings to explore how differences in neural circuitry might underpin the range of traits grouped under the diagnosis. He has written on sensory changes in illness, including coverage of COVID-19 and smell loss, tracing how infection damages olfactory tissue and what that reveals about broader neurological impacts. Across these pieces he treats conditions as questions of biology and evolution as much as of medicine, emphasising mechanisms in the brain and body and how they produce behaviour and symptoms.

His format is usually the mid-length explainer rather than very short news briefs or opinion columns. The reporting sits close to primary literature, but he breaks findings into plain language, often stepping through what researchers measured, how they interpreted it, and what remains uncertain. He gives space to caveats and competing hypotheses without turning them into drama, keeping the focus on what the data can and cannot show. This approach makes his health coverage a fit for stories grounded in new research, especially those involving brain activity, sensory systems or other biologically detailed mechanisms.

Life sciences and human origins

Beyond immediate health topics, Marshall has a long-running thread of work in evolutionary biology and human origins. He has edited a New Scientist book on the science of human evolution, distilling decades of paleoanthropology and genetics into a coherent account of how humans emerged and diversified. He has also contributed book chapters on humans and human evolution, reflecting a comfort with big chronological sweeps and the integration of evidence from fossils, DNA and archaeology. These projects mirror his journalism on the success of Homo sapiens, where he examines why one lineage of hominins persisted and spread while others vanished.

His interest in evolution extends into environmental and ecological themes, such as how species adapt to changing conditions and how human activity reshapes ecosystems. On his own site he describes his focus as life sciences and the environment, and his portfolio spans stories that connect biology to climate, habitat and long-term survival. In these pieces he tends to frame findings as part of a longer story: how traits evolved, how they now affect health or resilience, and how they may shape future outcomes. That combination of evolutionary thinking with present-day health and environmental pressures makes him suited to stories that link human wellbeing to broader biological and ecological trends.

Freelance features across science outlets

Marshall works as a freelance writer and editor, with journalism published not only by New Scientist but also by major science and general outlets including the BBC, Nature, Spectrum, National Geographic, The Guardian and The Observer. He has previously held staff roles in science media and has been freelance since 2017, building a portfolio that ranges across most areas of science while retaining a core focus on life and environmental sciences. His work includes timelines and other structured formats, such as an overview of weapons technology for New Scientist, showing his ability to organise complex technical material into accessible sequences rather than isolated facts.

Across outlets he tends to stay close to evidence and avoid highly personal voice, keeping attention on the research and its implications. The tone is consistent: measured, explanatory, and grounded in what the studies actually show, whether the subject is health, evolution or technology. Because he regularly writes for platforms that specialise in in-depth science features, his default form is the reported explainer that brings together several studies and expert views. This breadth of outlet experience means that while health and life sciences are his main beats, he is comfortable situating those stories within wider scientific, technological and social contexts.