Media Outreach

A selection of press coverage of my research, expert commentary I have provided to journalists, and interviews on radio and podcasts. Across the papers below, my research has accrued over 800 tracked news mentions in roughly 50 countries, with individual Altmetric Attention Scores ranging from 138 to 2,519.

For top-line metrics, plots, and a tier-1 outlet roll-up, see Research Impact.

For commentary I have written myself for a general audience, see the four explainers on The Conversation.

Coverage of my research

Souilmi et al., Current Biology, 2021 — ancient coronavirus epidemic in East Asia

[Altmetric Attention Score: 2,519 across 322 mentions.] Selected coverage:

• The New York Times — A Coronavirus Epidemic Hit 20,000 Years Ago, New Study Finds — Carl Zimmer — 24 June 2021.
• CNN — East Asia was hit by another coronavirus epidemic 20,000 years ago, new study shows — 25 June 2021.
• Smithsonian Magazine — Over 20,000 Years Ago, a Coronavirus Epidemic Left Marks in Human DNA — 30 June 2021.
• The Telegraph (UK) — 16 July 2021.
• The Independent — 25 June 2021.
• Daily Mail — 25 June 2021.
• The Irish Times — 2 July 2021.
• National Geographic (Spanish edition) — Este coronavirus ya arrasó Asia hace más de 25.000 años — 27 November 2023.
• The Hindustan Times — Covid-19 struck East Asia 20,000 years ago, says study — 27 June 2021.
• Times of India / ET HealthWorld — A coronavirus epidemic hit E Asia 20,000 years ago — 28 June 2021.
• Science News — Hints of an ancient coronavirus outbreak appear in modern East Asian DNA — 14 April 2021.
• Cosmos Magazine — 20,000 years of coronaviruses (and counting) — 24 June 2021.
• Brisbane Times — A coronavirus epidemic 20,000 years ago left its marks in human DNA — 25 June 2021.

Cooper et al., Science, 2021 — global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

[Altmetric Attention Score: 2,022 across 236 mentions.] An animated explainer of the paper, narrated by Stephen Fry, accompanied the release. Selected coverage:

• The New York Times — A Hitchhiker’s Guide to an Ancient Geomagnetic Disruption — 18 February 2021.
• The Guardian — 18 February 2021.
• New Scientist — Earth’s magnetic field flipping linked to extinctions 42,000 years ago — 18 February 2021.
• Forbes — Study Suggests Earth’s Protective Magnetic Shield Failed 42,000 Years Ago — David Bressan — 19 February 2021.
• Smithsonian Magazine — Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago? — 23 February 2021.
• CNN — Reversal of Earth’s magnetic poles may have triggered Neanderthal extinction — 19 February 2021.
• Science News — A magnetic field reversal 42,000 years ago may have contributed to mass extinctions — 18 February 2021.
• Der Spiegel — Polumkehr könnte das Klima verändert haben — 20 February 2021.
• National Geographic — multiple international editions, 2022–2023.
• Cosmos Magazine — Magnetic reversal caused massive climate shifts — 18 February 2021.

Souilmi et al., PNAS, 2024 — ancient dingo population structure

[Altmetric Attention Score: 787 across 110 mentions.] Selected coverage:

• Forbes — Ancient Genomes Reveal Dingoes Are Not Related To Modern Domesticated Dogs — 15 July 2024.
• Discover Magazine — Dingoes and Domestic Dogs: Common Ancestors, but Different Evolutionary Paths — 11 July 2024.
• Smithsonian Magazine — Ancient DNA Unravels the Mysteries of the Dingo, Australia’s Wild Dog — 9 July 2024.
• The Guardian — 8 July 2024.
• Gizmodo — multiple pieces, 2024–2026.
• Daily Mail — 9 July 2024.
• Cosmos Magazine — Ancient DNA shows modern dingoes and dog breeds share little ancestry — 8 July 2024.
• Brisbane Times — Bone found at Balmoral beach reveals origins of Australia’s apex predator — 9 July 2024.
• The Canberra Times — 9 July 2024.

Ravishankar et al., Conservation Letters, 2026 — dingo ancestry and conservation

Coverage included The Conversation, a University of Adelaide press release, and a First Dog on the Moon cartoon in The Guardian (27 May 2026) — arguably the truest measure of arrival in the Australian public conversation.

Souilmi et al., Current Biology, 2021 — ancient coronavirus epidemic — and other papers — wider syndication

Coverage was further syndicated through MSN, Yahoo News, EurekAlert!, Phys.org, Mirage News, and a long tail of regional press in Australia, the UK, India, Spain, Germany, and elsewhere. Combined news mentions across my work to date stand at over 800, in roughly 50 countries.

Recent expert commentary

• Nine Newspapers (The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WA Today) — Could gene-edited ‘super-quolls’ fight back against cane toads? — 21 April 2026 — comment on gene-editing for conservation and de-extinction strategies. (The Age, SMH, Brisbane Times, WA Today)
• New Scientist — Human populations evolved in similar ways after we began farming — 10 March 2026 — comment on convergent human evolution after the Neolithic.

[Further expert commentary entries to be added.]

Other peer-reviewed work covered in the press

• Souilmi et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2022 (admixture and hard sweeps) — Phys.org, EurekAlert!, Cosmos Magazine, The Conversation.
• Tobler et al., PNAS, 2023 (out-of-Africa selection and climate) — Cosmos Magazine, Phys.org, The Conversation, Mirage News.
• Roca-Rada et al., The Lancet, 2022 (1000-year-old Klinefelter case) — Phys.org, MSN, regional press.
• Rogers et al., Kidney International, 2023 (TNFAIP3 in kidney injury) — EurekAlert!, IBT India.

Policy and institutional citations

• World Meteorological Organization (WMO) — Report of Part II of the Twelfth Meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer — 2024. Cites the Science 2021 climate-crisis paper.
• Finnish Prime Minister’s Office — COVID-19-tutkimuskatsaus 8/2020 — 16 December 2020. Cites the Current Biology 2021 ancient coronavirus paper in a national COVID-19 research review.

Podcasts and radio

• NITV — Take It Blak — interview on Indigenous genomics. [Episode link and date to be added.]
• ABC Radio — interviews on dingo population genomics, the Online Ancient Genome Repository, and the ancient coronavirus study. [Specific segments to be added.]

[Further podcast and radio appearances to be added.]