Nell Greenfieldboyce
Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.
With reporting focused on general science, NASA, and the intersection between technology and society, Greenfieldboyce has been on the science desk's technology beat since she joined NPR in 2005.
In that time Greenfieldboyce has reported on topics including the narwhals in Greenland, the ending of the space shuttle program, and the reasons why independent truckers don't want electronic tracking in their cabs.
Much of Greenfieldboyce's reporting reflects an interest in discovering how applied science and technology connects with people and culture. She has worked on stories spanning issues such as pet cloning, gene therapy, ballistics, and federal regulation of new technology.
Prior to NPR, Greenfieldboyce spent a decade working in print, mostly magazines including U.S. News & World Report and New Scientist.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins, earning her Bachelor's of Arts degree in social sciences and a Master's of Arts degree in science writing, Greenfieldboyce taught science writing for four years at the university. She was honored for her talents with the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists.
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On Thursday, a major birding society will discuss how how to go about changing potentially offensive bird names. There's resistance to the original plan to rename all birds named after people. -
To remove potentially offensive names, a birding society said it would rename birds originally named after people. Since many birders resisted the change, it will be a topic at their annual meeting.
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In the American West, white glaciers and snow fields are outnumbered by long-overlooked “rock glaciers.” The rock covering these vast hunks of ice makes them far less affected by warming temperatures. -
A long-awaited mission to Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, is on track to launch in just a few weeks. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Sept. 17, 2024.)
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A NASA mission launching in October will send cameras and other scientific equipment to see, among other things, whether Jupiter's moon Europa could sustain life. -
The spacecraft landed in New Mexico early Saturday morning leaving two astronauts behind on the International Space Station. The crew members will return to earth in February aboard a SpaceX craft. -
The beleaguered Starliner spacecraft will head home on Friday, but its astronauts won't.
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Nest-building isn’t just instinct. Birds can learn from others, letting groups within one species develop their own distinctive nest-building traditions. -
New York: The city that never sleeps, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of and more recently ... home to a mysterious ant spreading across the city — before continuing across metropolitan and even state lines. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce joins host Regina G. Barber to trace the MahattAnts' takeover, explain why they're an interesting invasive species case study. Plus, how everyday people can get involved in research efforts to learn more about these critters. Read more of Nell's ManhattAnt story here. And if you like this story, check out our story on ant amputation!Interested in hearing more animal news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. -
NASA had been weighing whether it would be safe enough to return two astronauts to Earth on Boeing's Starliner.
