Max G. Levy

I am a freelance science journalist based in Los Angeles.

I tell stories about our changing environment, the quirks of human health, the beautiful complexities of chemistry. And when the stars align: all three at once.

My work has appeared in WIRED, Quanta Magazine, Smithsonian, MIT Technology Review, Drug Discovery News, The Verge, Vox, Science Magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. I also write educational content for academic societies and YouTube channels, such as TED-Ed.

In 2020, I earned a PhD in Chemical & Biological Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In that past life as a scientist, I designed nanoparticles to kill drug resistant bacteria. After graduate school, I joined WIRED as an AAAS fellow and then as a regular contributor. In 2024, I co-created Sequencer Magazine, an writer-owned science media site and newsletter.

I was awarded Gold in the 2025 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards for magazine writing.

My work appears in the anthology book Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025, edited by Susan Orlean. Now available wherever you buy books