Laura Helmuth is editor in chief of Scientific American. She has previously been health and science editor at the Washington Post, digital news director at National Geographic, science and health editor at Slate, science editor at Smithsonian, and a news editor and reporter at Science. Helmuth is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers. She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s standing committee on advancing science communication. She serves on the advisory boards of SciLine (a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that connects reporters with scientific experts), High Country News, Spectrum and 500 Women Scientists. Helmuth has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz’s science communication program. She speaks frequently on science communication, how to use social media effectively and how to fight misinformation. Her favorite hobbies are bird-watching, hiking and kayaking.