Writing Portfolio

Nathalie is a freelance journalist and content writer with over 19 years of experience. Since 2006, her work has been featured in mainstream publications like National Geographic, Outside, AFAR and Refinery29, as well as niche outlets such as Columbia College Today, her alma mater’s alumni magazine, and SavingPlaces.org, the website of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She has written about travel, science, food, culture and more. Nathalie’s work for children includes contributions to TIME for Kids’ “Your Hot Job” website, as well as Cobblestone and Faces magazines. Below is a selection of her published work; additional writing samples are available upon request.

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Travel

  • Embrace Winter Wonders at 6 Family-Friendly Resorts
    Dropping temperatures may have you pining for warmer climes, but if you lean into the magic of winter, you’ll find no shortage of resort destinations where you can enjoy the coziest season as a family.
    (The Expedition, Jan. 11, 2022)
  • Experience the magic of Las Posadas in these 5 U.S. cities
    In Mexico and other parts of Latin America, Christmas celebrations begin not on December 25, but nine days earlier, with Las Posadas—a jubilant reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
    (Travelocity, Nov. 16, 2021)
  • Dig into dinosaur fandom at these 8 destinations
    Few creatures capture the imagination of children and adults alike quite like dinosaurs do. These reptiles roamed North America millions of years ago, and they left behind evidence of their existence in the form of fossils and tracks.
    (Travelocity, Oct. 11, 2021)
  • Citywide hotel boom hits LIC
    Though not traditionally associated with tourism, Long Island City is proving fertile ground for new hotels because of its proximity to Midtown Manhattan.
    (Queens Chronicle, Nov. 2011)

Science

  • Bioluminescent Bays, Caves, and Parks: What Causes the Glow and Where to See It
    Nature has given us some pretty incredible things—and creatures that glow in the night are at the top of the list. Here’s why bioluminescence happens and where you can travel to see it.
    (AFAR, Sept. 7, 2023)
  • Timber salvaged from New York City buildings reveals ancient climate
    Old-growth forests once covered the eastern United States, but they were almost entirely decimated by the early 1900s after centuries of commercial logging. Yet wood from those forests survives, much of it tucked behind the walls of New York City buildings. The tree rings on these timbers are sources of historical climate data, which is why researchers are working to recover them.
    (National Geographic, Oct. 2021)

Food

  • Sofrito Is the Flavor Key to Many Latin American Dishes
    Whether it’s pollo guisado (stewed chicken), arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), or ropa vieja (braised beef), you can name pretty much any classic Latin American dish and chances are high that the recipe calls for sofrito—a flavor base that involves cooking onions, garlic, tomatoes, and peppers in olive oil, along with a medley of spices.
    (Well + Good, Oct. 7, 2020)
  • Nick Anderer ’99 Offers Taste of Rome
    A passion for art drove Nick Anderer ’99 to spend his junior year of college in Rome but it was “the rustic food of the people” he discovered there that cemented his ties with the city. The connection has since shaped his career, and today he is executive chef and partner at two restaurants inspired by the Italian capital: Maialino and Marta.
    (Columbia College Today, Spring 2015)
  • On the Day Shift with Pastry Cook Mercedes Vargas ’99
    It’s just before 10 a.m. on a December Monday at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, and pastry cook Mercedes Vargas ’99 is in her work clothes: a white chef jacket embroidered with the hotel name, an apron that shows faint evidence of encounters with chocolate and loose pants with a fine black-and-white checkerboard pattern. Her dark hair is tucked into a pillbox hat.
    (Columbia College Today, Spring 2015)
  • Youngest Son of “The First Family of Fine Dining,” Keeps Making Food Lovers Smile
    It’s lunchtime on a humid summer Tuesday and a suit-and-tied Mauro Maccioni ’95 is seated in a harlequin-patterned chair in the dining room of Osteria del Circo, the Midtown West restaurant inspired by his mother Egidiana’s Tuscan home cooking.
    (Columbia College Today, Summer 2014)

Profiles

  • A Journalist’s Unmatched Access
    In February 2013, after conducting a widely condemned nuclear weapons test and just days before leader Kim Jong Un infamously welcomed visiting NBA star Dennis Rodman, North Korea launched its first mobile internet network. Though it was only available to foreigners, it was a newsworthy move for a totalitarian regime with a decades-long policy of extreme isolation. As the Korea Bureau chief for the Associated Press, Jean H. Lee reported all of this news from Pyongyang.
    (Columbia College Today, Fall 2021)
  • The Home Front
    Ai-jen Poo ’96 spent her formative years as a Columbia Lion, but as an advocate for domestic workers she identifies more closely with the tiger, her Chinese zodiac sign. So much, in fact, that she had its likeness tattooed on her right arm when she was in her mid-20s.
    (Columbia College Today, Fall 2012)
  • Sleepy Hollow Mayor Takes Town Beyond the Legend
    It’s tough to introduce yourself as the mayor of Sleepy Hollow without raising some eyebrows. “As in the Headless Horseman?” Indeed, and each fall Ken Wray ’77, GSAPP ’91 presides over the first of the season’s annual hayrides that trace the flight of Ichabod Crane. But the mayor of this small New York village has bigger responsibilities than nurturing an early 19th-century legend.
    (Columbia College Today, Fall 2017)

Culture

  • Moira Demos ’96 Returns to the Scene of the Crime
    Once you’ve created a cultural phenomenon, what do you do for an encore? Moira Demos ’96, SOA’08 and Laura Ricciardi SOA’07, the filmmakers behind the true-crime Netflix docuseries Making a Murderer, took a somewhat meta approach: They returned to Manitowoc County, Wis., to grapple with a world changed by the impassioned response to their work.
    (Columbia College Today, Winter 2019)

Beauty

  • Ghee Is the Naturally Hydrating Ingredient Your Post-Winter Hair and Skin Need
    Ghee—a form of clarified butter that’s been slowly melted to remove its water content and milk solids—has been a staple in Southeast Asian cuisine for centuries and a go-to ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine for just as long. Experts say you can reach for ghee to moisturize dry skin and cuticles, repair parched lips and even breathe new life into your hair.
    (Well + Good, April 19, 2022)

Wellness

For Kids

  • His Own Style
    Darrius Peace wants clients to feel proud of their locks.
    (TIME for Kids, June 23, 2025)
  • For The Love of Dogs
    A director of operations produces big events.
    (TIME for Kids, April 1, 2025)
  • Cities By Design
    Urban planners shape where people live, work, and play.
    (TIME for Kids, May 28, 2024)
  • Eye of the Storm
    Kevin Doremus is a pilot for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
    (TIME for Kids, April 25, 2023)

History Content