Rebecca Hersher
Rebecca Hersher (she/her) is a reporter on NPR's Science Desk, where she reports on outbreaks, natural disasters, and environmental and health research. Since coming to NPR in 2011, she has covered the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, embedded with the Afghan army after the American combat mission ended, and reported on floods and hurricanes in the U.S. She's also reported on research about puppies. Before her work on the Science Desk, she was a producer for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered in Los Angeles.
Hersher was part of the NPR team that won a Peabody award for coverage of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and produced a story from Liberia that won an Edward R. Murrow award for use of sound. She was a finalist for the 2017 Daniel Schorr prize; a 2017 Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting fellow, reporting on sanitation in Haiti; and a 2015 NPR Above the Fray fellow, investigating the causes of the suicide epidemic in Greenland.
Prior to working at NPR, Hersher reported on biomedical research and pharmaceutical news for Nature Medicine.
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Scientists from around the world are writing the next major United Nations climate report. Summarizing the state of the atmosphere without meeting in person is as hard as it sounds. -
A new study finds that the U.S. places with the most polluted air in the 1980s remain the most polluted today. Poor people and people of color are more likely to live in places with dirty air. -
The pandemic has hindered climate data collection from ships and buoys in the oceans. The U.N. warns it could negatively affect climate models' accuracy unless scientists find new ways to gather data.
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Family violence increases in places that have been severely burned in bushfires, Australian research finds. The isolation and financial stress of COVID-19 appear to be exacerbating the problem. -
States including Virginia and Texas have set aside significant money to address flooding. Local officials hope it will help pay for flood prevention projects that the federal government won't fund. -
COVID-19 cases are surging in several states. In some places, officials are urging people to stay home and enjoy July 4th celebrations, like fireworks, from their houses.
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Temperatures in a Siberian town were reported to hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. That would be a record for the highest temperature documented above the Arctic Circle.
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Nancy Beck is the Trump administration's nominee to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission for a seven-year term. Many scientists and public health experts warn she is a dangerous choice. -
The EPA does not require companies to notify federal regulators if the pandemic interferes with pollution monitoring or reporting. That leaves states alone on the front lines of pollution control. -
Unlike the demonstrations that rocked the city five years ago after Freddie Gray, 25, died in police custody, this week's unfolded peacefully. Local activists are helping to avoid unplanned violence.
