Shaena Montanari joined The Transmitter as an enterprise reporter in January 2023. 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.
![Headshot of Shaena Montanari.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/shaena-bw-final.webp)
Shaena Montanari
Reporter
The Transmitter
From this contributor
![Research image of place cells plotted onto a reference zebrafish larva brain.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/zebrafishscan-landscape-1200-1024x692.webp)
‘Place cells’ help guide freely swimming zebrafish larvae
![Photograph of Thomas Sudhof with his hand on his chin.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1200-sudhof-retraction-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
Second paper from lab of Nobel Prize winner to be retracted
![Colored transmission electron micrograph (TEM) showing an amyloid plaque in a brain with Alzheimer’s disease.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Transmissible-Alzheimers-neuro-1200-1024x683.webp)
Skeptics challenge claims of Alzheimer’s disease transmission via growth hormone
![Illustration of a red pencil with a white eraser that is being used against a white sheet of paper.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/correction-1200-1024x692.webp)
Task swap prompts data do-over for autism auditory perception study
![Research image of green and purple mouse brain slices.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/brainslices-landscape-1200-1024x692.webp)
Putting a bright idea to the test
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
- “Cracking the egg: the use of modern and fossil eggs for ecological, environmental and biological interpretation” | Royal Society Open Science
- “Pliocene paleoenvironments of southeastern Queensland, Australia inferred from stable isotopes of marsupial tooth enamel” | PLOS ONE
- “Dinosaur eggshell and tooth enamel geochemistry as an indicator of Mongolian Late Cretaceous paleoenvironments” | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Explore more from The Transmitter
Cell population in brainstem coordinates cough, new study shows
The work also adds to a growing body of evidence showing that mice, and their genetic toolbox, can be used to study cough.
![](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1200_coughingmice-1024x720.webp)
Cell population in brainstem coordinates cough, new study shows
The work also adds to a growing body of evidence showing that mice, and their genetic toolbox, can be used to study cough.
In updated U.S. autism bill, Congress calls for funding boost, expanded scope
The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.
![Capitol building](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/capitolhill-1200-1024x692.webp)
In updated U.S. autism bill, Congress calls for funding boost, expanded scope
The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.
Ketamine targets lateral habenula, setting off cascade of antidepressant effects
The drug’s affinity for overactive cells in the “anti-reward” region may help explain its rapid and long-lasting results.
![Illustration of ketamine blocking open ion channels in active NMDA receptors, quieting the cells and disrupting downstream signaling involved in depression.](https://www.thetransmitter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1200-ketamine-receptor-transmitter-neuroscience-1024x683.webp)
Ketamine targets lateral habenula, setting off cascade of antidepressant effects
The drug’s affinity for overactive cells in the “anti-reward” region may help explain its rapid and long-lasting results.