Sujata Gupta

Sujata Gupta

Social Sciences Writer

Sujata Gupta is the social sciences writer for Science News. She was a 2017-18 Knight Science Journalism fellow at MIT. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Nature, Discover, NPR, Scientific American, and others. Sujata got her start in journalism at a daily newspaper in Central New York, where she covered education and small town politics. She has also worked as a National Park Ranger, completing stints at parks in Hawaii, California and Maine, and taught English in Nagano, Japan.

All Stories by Sujata Gupta

  1. Science & Society

    Mandatory mail-in voting hurts neither Democratic nor Republican candidates

    A new study suggests that requiring people to cast mail-in ballots actually leads to a slightly increased turnout for both political parties.

  2. Psychology

    Why do we miss the rituals put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic?

    Even solitary rituals bind us to our groups and help calm anxieties. What happens when those traditions are upended?

  3. Science & Society

    Interfaith soccer teams eased Muslim-Christian tensions — to a point

    Soccer bonded Christian and Muslim teammates in Iraq, but that camaraderie didn’t change attitudes.

  4. Science & Society

    There’s little evidence showing which police reforms work

    When stories of police violence against civilians capture public attention, reforms follow despite a dearth of hard data quantifying their impact.

  5. Science & Society

    What the 1960s civil rights protests can teach us about fighting racism today

    Princeton political scientist Omar Wasow talks about how his research into violent versus nonviolent protests applies to the current moment.

  6. Health & Medicine

    How fear and anger change our perception of coronavirus risk

    Americans are weighing whether to return to society. Behavioral scientist Jennifer Lerner discusses how emotions drive those decisions.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Florence Nightingale understood the power of visualizing science

    Florence Nightingale showed simple sanitation measures could stop infectious diseases’ spread, a timely message given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

  8. Psychology

    A simple exercise on belonging helps black college students years later

    Black college freshmen who did a one-hour training on belonging reported higher professional and personal satisfaction years later.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Why African-Americans may be especially vulnerable to COVID-19

    African-Americans are more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans, data show. Experts blame long-standing health disparities.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Social distancing comes with psychological fallout

    Keeping people apart can help slow the new coronavirus’ spread. But such social distancing may cause or worsen mental health problems.

  11. Health & Medicine

    How parents and kids can stay safe and sane during the coronavirus pandemic

    Infectious disease experts weigh in on playdates, playgrounds and other parenting questions.

  12. Science & Society

    To fight discrimination, the U.S. census needs a different race question

    Asking about race on the U.S. census can help identify discrimination against minority groups. But sociologists say the question needs a makeover.