Mark Essig is a writer and editor specializing in science, technology, agriculture, and climate change. He has worked for clients including the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, World Agroforestry Centre, and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. A former newspaper editor with a Ph.D. in history from Cornell, he has written two books of his own—Lesser Beasts (Basic Books, 2015) and Edison & the Electric Chair (Walker & Co., 2003)—and collaborated on book projects and technical reports with medical doctors, business professors, research scientists, and video-game designers. He has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Atlas Obscura, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.