Natasha Gilbert


Natasha Gilbert is a freelance writer who has spent a decade covering the environment, biology, agriculture and education for outlets including The Guardian, National Public Radio and Scientific American. She is a former staff reporter for Nature. She has an M.Sc. in philosophy of science from the London School of Economics and a B.Sc. in environmental biology from the University of Reading in the U.K. She is a native Londoner living in Washington, D.C.

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Ground squirrel.

How thirteen-lined ground squirrels illuminate retinal development

In most mammalian retinas, rods outnumber cones. But that ratio is flipped in ground squirrels, a quirk that helps Seth Blackshaw explore how retinal cells develop their identities.

By Sarah Thau
31 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of the association cortex.

Cortical territories compete in developmental space race

Sensory and association regions are established through a reciprocal process, according to a new model of cortical development.

By Holly Barker
30 July 2026 | 5 min read