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 new movie tells a story about how good meteorology can literally win wars. It also takes us back in time, to when the United States was at a disadvantage when it came to weather science. -
The National Hurricane Center predicts eight to 14 storms will form during this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1.
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Forecasters expect 8 to 14 storms will form in the Atlantic between June 1 and November 30. But the danger is more serious than the numbers suggest. -
Cameron Hamilton led FEMA briefly in 2025. He was removed by the Trump administration after telling Congress that the agency should continue to exist. Now, he's been nominated to lead it once again. -
A new study finds that a megatsunami in Alaska pushed water more than 1,500 feet up the sides of a fjord near Juneau. Researchers say more monitoring is needed to prevent future catastrophes.
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The FEMA Review Council set up by President Trump is recommending major changes to the country's top disaster agency.
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A group of emergency experts wants the Trump administration to raise the bar for federal help after disasters, and also make it easier for survivors to get money quickly. -
A new study finds that a megatsunami in Alaska pushed water more than 1,500 feet up the sides of a fjord near Juneau. Researchers say more monitoring is needed to prevent future catastrophes.
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This was the hottest March ever recorded in the contiguous U.S., going back 132 years. Climate change is driving up temperatures, and making intense wildfires more likely.
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The Trump administration has delayed billions of dollars for projects to protect Americans from floods, wildfires and hurricanes. Local leaders are increasingly anxious.
