About
Amanda Reed is a commerce updates writer at Popular Science. She makes sure all product round-ups are up-to-date, shares deals happening all over the internet, and reviews various gizmos and gadgets. She lives in Pittsburgh with JunkJunk, a handsome, sad-looking tuxedo cat who only wants wet food and attention.
Experience
Amanda has worked at PopSci since 2022, joining the staff on the commerce team. Previously, she was an associate editor at SDM Magazine, a trade publication for dealers and integrators covering the physical security industry. She got her start in local journalism, with her byline appearing in almost every Pittsburgh outlet (almost!), from the alt-weekly to the regional magazine. Nationally, her words have appeared in Gear Patrol and The Riveter (RIP).
Amanda earned the 2021 Ray Sprigle Best of Show Award from the Western Pennsylvania Press Club for a 2020 story on stressed-out college counseling centers. She lives up to her title as a middle child (technically, she’s a twin and was born first) by being on multiple improv house teams.
Education
Amanda graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, where she double majored in communication and nonfiction writing, and earned a certificate in public and professional writing. She was online engagement editor of the campus newspaper, The Pitt News (Pitt’s journalism school), where she did a deep dive into a mysterious murder of crows on campus. Amanda was a 2017 American Society of Magazine Editors Magazine Immersion Program cohort member. She was awarded the McDowell Award In Nonfiction from Pitt’s writing department and the Sally Kalson Journalism Scholarship from the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh for her work as a student journalist.
Highlights
- Former parlor magic beat writer turned cannabis tech purveyor turned deal, steal, and sale peddler.
- Resident everywoman who has worked in social media, tech, marketing, and more, and somehow always comes back to journalism.
- Past bylines: Gear Patrol, Pittsburgh Magazine, Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Current, VeryLocal Pittsburgh, SDM Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Pittsburgh Current (RIP), The Riveter (RIP)
Favorite Weird Science Fact
Pittsburgh is one of cloudiest cities in the United States, clocking in an average of 203 days of heavy cloud cover a year (for reference, Seattle has 226). Cold air moves down from the north and picks up moisture from the Great Lakes, which parks over Pittsburgh, leaving Yinzers longing for a sunny day more often than most. Can’t get a parking chair for that.
