Ackerman’s interests range from the microscopic to the global, from animal behavior to ocean currents, from the evolution of human bipedalism to the neural nature of the human mind.  Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, National Geographic, Natural History, Parade, and many other publications. She has written on a variety of topics, from the work of Chuck Close to the microbiome of the human body, the evolutionary origin of birds, animal migration, the purpose of sleep, the sexual habits of dragonflies, the neural nature of dyslexia, the biology of cranes, parasites as agents of evolutionary change, ocean circulation, the birds and other wildlife of Japan, genetically modified foods, and the work of Nobel laureate and developmental biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. 

Selected publications:

 

  • “The Ultimate Social Network,” Scientific American, June 2012 cover story. Researchers who study the friendly bacteria that live inside us are starting to sort out who is in charge—microbes or people? Click here to listen to broadcast of “Your Inner Ecosystem” on NPR’s “On Point” program with Tom Ashbrook, June 20, 2012.

  • “The science of making change,” Parade Magazine, February 19, 2012

  • The cold wars,” Parade Magazine cover story, January 30, 2011

  • “How not to fight colds,” The New York Times, October 10, 2010

  • “Plastic surf,” Scientific American, August 2010

  • “Breathing trees,” Wilderness Magazine, October 2008

  • “Make it an early bird,” The New York Times, November 21, 2007

  • “Untangling the brain,” The Yale Alumni Magazine, January/February 2004

  • “Celle Fantastyk,” Natural History, May 2001

  • “Journey to the center of the egg,” The New York Times Magazine, October 12, 1997

Contributing writer, National Geographic 1997-2006:

 

“Urban Downtime,” October 2006:

“That we should find nature rejuvenating is hardly surprising. After all, our tribe arose not in cinderbelt but in wild forests and grasslands. Our ears are made not for the stinging scream of sirens but for the sly scratch of a predator's paws and the whistle of wind that warns of impending weather. Our eyes evolved to tease apart not the monotonous grays of cityscapes but the subtle gold, olive, and burgundy hues that signaled ripe fruit and tender leaves, and our brains to reward our sensory efforts with feelings of deep pleasure.”

“The Downside of Upright,” July 2006 

“We humans are odd creatures: tailless bipeds with sinuous spines, long limbs, arched feet, agile hands, and enormous brains. Our bodies are a mosaic of features shaped by natural selection over vast periods of time—both exquisitely capable and deeply flawed. We can stand, walk, and run with grace and endurance, but we suffer aching feet and knee injuries; we can twist and torque our spines, and yet most of us are plagued by back trouble at some point in our lives; we can give birth to babies with big brains, but only through great pain and risk. Scientists have long sought to answer the question of how our bodies came to be the way they are. Now, using new methods from a variety of disciplines, they are discovering that many of the flaws in our "design" have a common theme: They arise primarily from evolutionary compromises that came about when our ancestors stood upright—the first step in the long path to becoming human.”

“Dragonflies: Strange Love,” April 2006

“You may have seen their antics on a languid summer day: Somewhere on the reedy fringes of a pond, a male dasher dragonfly pursuing a female, like two hyphens of lightning. Or a tiger-striped spiketail diving, twirling, flashing its gossamer wings, then in a blink, meeting a mate to ascend together into the ether. Or a linked pair of brilliant green darners hovering as one over the dark water, the male towing the female, darting forward, then back, then straight up with the kind of aerial agility of which we masters of the helicopter can only dream.” 

Further articles from National Geographic:

 

  • “Cranes:  No mere bird,” April 2004

  • “When the frost lies white: Winter wildlife in Japan,” February 2003

  • “New eyes on the ocean,” October 2000

  • “Dinosaurs take wing,” July 1998

  • “Parasites,” October 1997

  • “Islands at the edge,” August 1997