Usha Lee McFarling is an Americanscience reporter who is an Artist In Residence at theUniversity of Washington Department of Communication. She won a2007 Pulitzer Prize forExplanatory Reporting.[1] University of Washington Department of Communication.
McFarling was born inGermany to anAir Force family.[2] She attended elementary school inLos Angeles.[2] McFarling received aB.A. inbiology fromBrown University in 1989 (where she was a science reporter for theBrown Daily Herald) and anM.A. inbiological psychology/animal behavior from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1998.[1][3] McFarling reported forKnight Ridder Washington Bureau,Boston Globe, andSan Antonio Light prior to joining theLos Angeles Times, where she was a national science reporter.[1][3] McFarling has reported on a wide variety of science news, including topics such asastrophysics,seismology,neuroscience,medicine, andclimate change.[1] McFarling joined Stat News as their Los Angeles correspondent in April 2016 and was named national science correspondent in 2021.[4]
McFarling was a 1992 Knight Science Journalism Fellow atMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[1] McFarling and fellow reporterKenneth R. Weiss won several prizes for their five-part series "Altered Oceans" for theLos Angeles Times, including (withphotojournalist Rick Loomis) the2007 Pulitzer Prize forExplanatory Reporting for the same pieces. The citation read: "for their richly portrayed reports on the world's distressed oceans, telling the story in print and online, and stirring reaction among readers and officials."[1][5] For the same series, McFarling and Weiss received the 2006George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting,[6] the 2007Grantham Prize of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment,[3] the 2007American Geophysical Union Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism[7] the 2007Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science,[8] and theNational Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award.[9]McFarling won first place in the beat category for her reporting for STAT on health disparities and structural racism. She showed how systematic racism exists at every level, from medical school admissions to faculty hiring in orthopedics.[10]In 2023, McFarling and Angus Chen were recognized for three stories on inequality in medicine for STAT with the national Edgar R. Murrow Award for excellence in diversity, equity and inclusion in the large digital news organization category.[11]
