by Kristen Minogue

Sarah Donelan in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
(Credit: Patricia Donelan)
Every parent wants to give their children the best shot at life. But sometimes, this means more than protecting newborns after birth. Some species can prepare offspring for tough conditions before they enter the world. It’s called transgenerational plasticity. Sarah Donelan, a Smithsonian Environmental Research Center postdoc, has spent years piecing together how it works. This November she published a new article highlighting how humans could be changing this age-old parental strategy. Discover more in the Q&A here.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Click to continue »