
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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The Environmental Protection Agency announced new limits on dangerous soot pollution. Public health officials say reducing soot in the air saves lives.
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A new study suggests that mid-latitude glaciers, including those in western Canada, the Rocky Mountains and central Europe, will be gone by the end of the century.
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Climate goals can feel distant. But climate change is happening right now. Speed up the benefits for taking action, psychologists say, if you want leaders and others to pay attention and act.
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This year's hurricane season got off to a very slow start. But it only takes one big storm to wreak havoc. And climate change makes such storms more likely.
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Global leaders are negotiating about how to cut greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible. Scientists say every passing day, and every tenth of a degree, makes a big difference.
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World leaders are meeting in Egypt for the next two weeks to talk about reining in climate change and paying for its deadly effects. Here's what you need to know.
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As the Earth warms, city parks will become more and more important as climate oases. This is a day in the life of one city park.
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Abnormally hot water in the Gulf of Mexico helped Hurricane Ian gain strength. Rapidly intensifying major hurricanes are more likely as the Earth gets hotter.
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The Earth has already warmed more than 1 degree Celsius. New research suggests that above 1.5 degrees, massive ice melt, ocean current disruptions and coral die-offs are likely.
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Cities in the U.S. are looking for ways to adapt the designs of their parks — and their hours of operations — to keep them functional as climate change raises temperatures around the world.