Shaena Montanari.

Shaena Montanari

Former reporter
The Transmitter

Mail - opens a new tab Instagram - opens a new tab Threads - opens a new tab X twitter - opens a new tab Linkedin - opens a new tab Bluesky - opens a new tab Bluesky

Shaena Montanari was a reporter for The Transmitter from 2023 to 2025. She was previously an investigative health reporter at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting in Phoenix. Prior to becoming a journalist, Shaena worked as a paleontologist.

From this contributor

Leafcutter ants carrying leaves.
Social behavior Microphone

Neuropeptides reprogram social roles in leafcutter ants

By Shaena Montanari
11 July 2025 | 6 min read
Research image from a retracted paper.
Cell types Microphone

Nature retracts paper on novel brain cell type against authors’ wishes

By Shaena Montanari
9 July 2025 | 4 min read
Confocal microscopy images.
Publishing

Authors correct image errors in Neuron paper that challenged microglia-to-neuron conversion

By Shaena Montanari
26 June 2025 | 3 min read
Raphael Yuste leaning on a bench in his lab. A red filter colors the scene.
Neural networks

Releasing the Hydra with Rafael Yuste

By Brady Huggett, Shaena Montanari
4 April 2025 | 10 min read
Methods

Plaque levels differ in popular Alzheimer’s mouse model depending on which parent’s variants are passed down

By Shaena Montanari
4 February 2025 | 0 min watch

Education

  • M.A. in investigative journalism, Arizona State University
  • Ph.D. in comparative biology, Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History
  • B.S. in geological sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Fellowships

  • AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship
  • AAAS Mass Media Fellowship
  • Royal Society Newton International Fellowship

Articles

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of human endothelial cells grown in vitro.
Spectrum

Autism experts venture to set the narrative for INSAR, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 20 April.

By Jill Adams
21 April 2026 | 2 min read
Collage illustration with a portrait of Mia Thomaidou.
Craft and careers

Frameshift: How Mia Thomaidou tapped a fellowship to connect neuroscience to criminal justice

As a fellow at the Dana Foundation, she merged two familiar passions and discovered a new one: science philanthropy.

By Katie Moisse
21 April 2026 | 6 min read
Researcher hands and mice navigate a series of connected spaces and paths.
Decision-making

To understand decision-making, we need to truly challenge lab animals

Complex, multidimensional tasks that unfold over time could reveal how different brain areas work together to support decisions.

By Chand Chandrasekaran
20 April 2026 | 6 min read