Looking Closer
I’m a writer and video producer.
I am the co-author of two textbooks with Scientific American, Lifespan Development and Child and Adolescent Development. I spent eight years reading more than 34,000 articles, producing more than 100 videos and interviewing dozens of people across the US, trying to distill developmental science in a way that is current, engaging and accurate.
After twenty years in academic publishing as an editor and video producer in psychology, history and political science, my work has included acquisition, development and creating atlases, producing hundreds of videos, along with document collections and interactive simulations.
My first love is creative writing. My fiction and criticism have been published in Commonweal, the Green Mountains Review, the New York Law Journal and the Sierra Nevada Review. I have a MFA from the program at Stonecoast, University of Southern Maine where I was the creative nonfiction editor for the Stonecoast Review in 2025 and 2026.
I’ve been shaped by working as a nurses’ aide, acting in community theater and raising children. My superpowers are curiosity and the lifelong aspiration to be nice. I was raised by 1970s radicals and was fortunate enough to receive an undergraduate degree from Columbia College in NYC which comes along with lifetime access to their library. I’m experienced in archival research, project management, video production, creative coaching and making Halloween costumes.
I live with my children in beautiful South Portland, Maine, land stolen from the Wabanaki people.
I’m always learning and creating new things: reach out if you want to collaborate. I’m at jessicasbayne@gmail.com. I also enjoy helping and coaching other writers—whether that means science writing or college essays. I also love to talk: I’m happy to share what I know about human development or creative writing with small or large groups.
