Chris Sweeney

Chris Sweeney is a Boston-based magazine writer whose interests include the environment, health, and true crime.

Articles by Chris Sweeney

Against a bright orange backdrop, this illustration depicts a white bucket filled with dead animals. At the top of the bucket are a black raccoon and orange songbird with its feet pointing straight up.
The Internet Has a Rat Poison Problem
December 08, 2021 — How online sales of highly regulated, super-toxic rodenticides exploit gaps in the law and imperil wildlife.
News
Roxie Laybourne studies specimens from the Birds Collection at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., in 1992. Chip Clark/Division of Birds, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution
The Remarkable Life of Roxie Laybourne
October 05, 2020 — From deep within the Smithsonian, the world’s first forensic ornithologist cracked cases, busted criminals, and changed the course of aviation—making the skies safer for us all.
News
Meet the Heart and Soul of America's Oldest and Largest Bird Count
January 25, 2019 — Geoff LeBaron has led Audubon's Christmas Bird Count for the last 32 years, long before crowdsourcing scientific data was in fashion.
News
Invasive Reptiles Are Taking Over Florida—and Devouring Its Birds Along the Way
September 05, 2018 — Birds like Roseate Spoonbills and Burrowing Owls are ending up in the stomachs of hungry pythons and Nile monitors. Is it too late to stop them?
Conservation
Behind the Scenes With the World’s Top Feather Detective
December 05, 2016 — As the country’s only criminal forensic ornithologist, Pepper Trail has pieced together the demise of countless birds—and saved many others.
True Crime