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Hello. I'm an award-winning science writer covering topics in evolution, palaeontology, conservation, and health. I've written about our ancient fishy ancestor, how beavers can solve all our problems (when it comes to flooding and water purification), and have walked through the Puerto Rican rainforest trying to find a golden frog that hasn't been heard for over 30 years.
Often, one story leads to another. Coral reefs turned me to shark finning. People who live on the Tibetan Plateau guided me to the genetics of Neanderthals. And water-repellant geckos provided a window into a new method of killing antibacterial-resistant microbes. In 2017, I touched on my struggles with depression and suicide for The Open Notebook. Since then I have covered various stories in mental health, both personal and universal. My feature on the friendship bench (first published in Mosaic) won a best feature award at the Association of British Science Writers in 2019. My first book, A Cure for Darkness: The Story of Depression and How We Treat It, is published 13th April 2021. |
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Praise for A Cure for Darkness
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"Boldly ambitious, deeply affecting, and magisterial in scope, A Cure for Darkness is a milestone in the literature of clinical depression, humanizing the global quest to unlock the secrets of a profoundly disabling disorder."
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Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes:
The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity |
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“meticulous reporting and evocative storytelling... Riley brings rare sensitivity and lucidity to a topic that has defied comprehension for centuries”
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Siri Carpenter, science journalist
and editor of The Craft of Science Writing. |
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"Riley explores the long shadow of depression that winds through human history with intelligence and insight and — equally important — with courage and compassion. The resulting, remarkable book shines like a light against the night itself."
Deborah Blum, Pulitzer prize-winning science journalist
and author of The Poisoner's Handbook and Love at Goon Park. |
