Valerie Jablow is an assistant editor at Smithsonian magazine, where she researches, writes, and edits stories on a wide variety of subjects. Prior to working at Smithsonian, she was a copyeditor at Science magazine. While at Science, she read about the discovery of the Chicxulub crater and was fascinated. Says Jablow, "Here was a solution for the great scientific mystery of what happened to the dinosaurs. Once at Smithsonian, I realized that we had two important pieces of the puzzle right here: the rocks that the scientists had used to make their conclusions. I decided to write about it, interviewing curators, scientists, and others involved with the discovery." "A Tale of Two Rocks" is the first piece Jablow wrote for Smithsonian. Since then, she has covered such topics as suspension bridges, farmers' markets, and the first women's rights conference. Says Jablow on writing as a career, "I feel quite lucky in all this—writing has always been fun for me. It gives me a chance to indulge my interests and curiosities, while giving others the opportunity to see something new. For me, it's like going to the finest school in the world—and the homework is always fun. Who could ask for anything better?"