Umair Irfan

Former correspondent

Umair Irfan was a correspondent at Vox writing about climate change, energy policy, and science. He wrote about universal vaccines, the environmental paradox of air conditioning, and the mysterious rise of food allergies. He reported on the ground from California’s deadliest wildfire, from the laboratory housing the world’s most powerful laser, and from the tallest structure in Latin America, deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

Irfan is a regular contributor to and occasional host of the radio program Science Friday. Prior to Vox, he was a reporter for ClimateWire at E&E News in Washington, DC, where he covered environmental health, the Department of Energy, and climate research. His work has also been published in Scientific American and the New York Times. You can DM him on X at @umairfan.