I'm a journalist with nearly two decades of experience who specializes in telling stories about science and the environment. As the editor of OnEarth.org, the website of OnEarth magazine, I commission in-depth articles, columns, blog posts, and multimedia features about some of the most critical issues of our time.

My reporting career started at a small newspaper in Pennsylvania, where I rose from night cops reporter to covering the statehouse. Stories that I wrote helped free an innocent man from death row. After joining The Charlotte Observer in 1998, I wrote about everything from political scandals to the Super Bowl and was part of a team that reported on Hurricane Katrina for the Sun Herald. Our coverage was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Charlotte’s alt-weekly named me the city’s best newspaper reporter in 2005 and wrote: “When The Charlotte Observer wants to make a good story a great one, it sends out Scott Dodd.”

I have a journalism degree from Penn State and studied science writing at Columbia University, where I'm now an adjunct professor. I joined the staff of OnEarth magazine in 2009 and relaunched OnEarth.org the following year. In 2011, our site was named a finalist for general excellence in the Online Journalism Awards and received its first Eddie Award, which recognizes editorial excellence in the magazine industry. 

I write stories, essays, and reviews for OnEarth's print edition and have also contributed to Scientific American, The New York Times, Business Insider, Oceanus, and several other publications. I have received reporting fellowships from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, and the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea. I also garden.