Zimmer describes his journalistic beat as "life" or "what it means to be alive".[2] He is the only science writer to have a species oftapeworm named after him (Acanthobothrium zimmeri).[3] Zimmer's father isDick Zimmer, a Republican politician fromNew Jersey, who was a member ofU.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997.
Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish father and a mother of Irish and German descent, after his childhood in Connecticut, Zimmer received aB.A. in English from Yale University in 1987.[4][5]
In 1989, Zimmer began his career atDiscover magazine, first as acopy editor andfact checker, eventually serving as a senior editor from 1994 to 1998.[1][6][7] Zimmer leftDiscover after ten years to focus on books and other projects. In 2004, he started a blog called "The Loom", in which he wrote about topics related to his books, but later expanded it into what he terms "a place where I could write about things I might not be turning into an article for a magazine, but were really interesting'.[6] The Loom has been hosted byDiscover andNational Geographic for many years, and has been invited to be part of Scienceblogs. It was transferred to Zimmer's personal website in 2018.[8] Zimmer writes a weekly column called "Matter" inThe New York Times.[9] Zimmer and theSTAT team have put out "Game of Genomes", a 13-part series that enlisted two dozen scientists, with the goal of exploring Zimmer's own genome.[10]
Zimmer has received a number of awards, including the 2007National Academies Communication Award, a prize for science communication[16] from theUnited States National Academy of Sciences, for his wide-ranging coverage of biology and evolution in newspapers, magazines, and his blog. In 2016Yale University appointed Zimmer Adjunct Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, stating that he is "a world-renowned science journalist and teacher, and his ability to make science, particularly biology, accessible to the general public is without peer". Zimmer has taught a science communication course at Yale since 2017 and participates in other molecular biophysics and biochemistry courses.[17][18]
1994: Everett Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists, awarded "to encourage young science writers by recognizing outstanding reporting and writing in any field of science."[22]
2007:National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Science Communication Award, awarded to "recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public", in the category Newspaper/magazine/internet[26]
2015:National Association of Biology Teachers' (NABT) Distinguished Service Award, awarded to "recognize teachers for their expertise in specific subject areas, for contributions to the profession made by new teachers, and to recognize service to NABT, life science teaching, or leadership in learning communities."[27]
2016:Society for the Study of Evolution's TheStephen Jay Gould Prize, awarded "to recognize individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould."[28]
2017: Online News Association's Online Journalism Award, awarded in the explanatory reporting category.[29]
Zimmer, Carl (1998).At the water's edge : macroevolution and the transformation of life. New York: Free Press.
— (1999).At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore But Then Went Back to Sea (First Touchstone ed.). New York: Touchstone.
— (2005).Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins. New York: Smithsonian Books.
— (2005).Where did we come from? An intimate guide to the latest discoveries in human origins. Sydney: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Darwin, Charles (2007).The descent of man : the concise edition. Selections and commentary by Carl Zimmer. Plume.
^abc"Carl Zimmer".Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Penguin Random House.Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. RetrievedDecember 25, 2018.
^"Carl Zimmer".John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 24, 2019.
^"Osher Fellows".California Academy of Sciences. California Academy of Sciences.Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 24, 2019.
^"Grants".Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 24, 2019.
^"News from the National Academies".News. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. RetrievedSeptember 15, 2016.
^"2015 Award Recipients".The National Association of Biology Teachers.Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. RetrievedDecember 27, 2018.
