Nell Greenfieldboyce Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.
Nell Greenfieldboyce 2010
Stories By

Nell Greenfieldboyce

Doby Photography/NPR
Nell Greenfieldboyce 2010
Doby Photography/NPR

Nell Greenfieldboyce

Correspondent, Science Desk

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.

Story Archive

Thursday

NASA hedges its bets on costly Mars rock mission

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Tuesday

Encore: SECRETS OF THE MARSUPIAL MOLE

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NASA's Perseverance rover took this photo next to a rock where it drilled for samples. NASA wants to bring samples collected by this rover back to Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS hide caption

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Mars sample return update

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Friday

The largest snow crystal ever photographed, according to scientist Kenneth Libbrecht. It measures 10 mm from tip to tip. Kenneth Libbrecht hide caption

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Kenneth Libbrecht

Thursday

Marsupial mole eating a gecko, Tanami Desert Northern Territory Australia Mike Gillam/Auscape International Pty Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo hide caption

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Mike Gillam/Auscape International Pty Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

Scientists have learned secrets of Australia's marsupial mole

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Friday

The skull of a fox goes beyond just protecting its sensory organs. It reduces impact forces. John Conrad/Getty Images/Corbis Documentary RF hide caption

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John Conrad/Getty Images/Corbis Documentary RF

Foxes diving through snow

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Wednesday

A roundup of what happened in space in 2024

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Wednesday

Scientists say Earth's Moon went through a period when it was a lot like Io, a moon of Jupiter that's full of volcanic activity. NASA hide caption

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NASA

I see the moon - is older than previously thought

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Monday

after the phragmites fight

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Phragmites in the Great Salt Lake wetlands. Karin Kettenring hide caption

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Karin Kettenring

after the phragmites fight

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Friday

TJ, 35, and Nicole, 41, came to Chimp Haven from the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico 2018. Another group is expected to arrive from New Mexico in the coming months. Kierstin Luckett/Chimp Haven hide caption

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Kierstin Luckett/Chimp Haven

NIH and Chimps

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Wednesday

Wyoming, USA - A crowd of people witness the rare eruption of Steamboat Geyser, the largest active geyser in the world. Tara Kaestner/Getty Images/Moment Unreleased RF hide caption

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Tara Kaestner/Getty Images/Moment Unreleased RF

Earthquakes and Geysers

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Monday

NASA launches its probe to Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter

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Friday

Just up the hill from White Pine Lake in Utah is a wall of loose rock that is hiding glacier ice. Scott Hotaling hide caption

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Scott Hotaling

Climate-resistant rock glaciers could be hiding water in plain sight

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Wednesday

Chemistry Nobel

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Thursday

The Steller’s Jay—and dozens more—could get a new name soon under a controversial proposal by the American Ornithological Society to re-name all birds named after people. egschiller/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption

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egschiller/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Feathers have been ruffled over bird name changes

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Wednesday

Feathers have been ruffled over bird name changes

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Monday

Perspective view on the upper portions of the Timpanogos rock glacier in north-central Utah. Matthew Morriss hide caption

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Matthew Morriss

Rock glaciers rock

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Wednesday

NASA probe is about to launch to an icy moon that could have life

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Tuesday

This artist rendering shows NASA Europa mission spacecraft, which is being developed for a launch sometime in the 2020s. NASA/NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

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NASA/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Europa Mission Presser

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Saturday

This image, taken from NASA video, shows the Boeing Starliner capsule coming down through the darkness over New Mexico. NASA hide caption

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NASA

With no crew aboard, spacecraft Starliner lands without a hitch

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Thursday

STARLINER HEADING HOME

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Thursday

A white-browed sparrow weaver inspects a roost under construction, after just receiving some grass brought by another member of its group. Maria Cristina Tello-Ramos hide caption

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Maria Cristina Tello-Ramos

When birds build nests, they're also building a culture

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Monday

The central European bicolored ant, L. emarginatus, wanders around a rock in New York City. Researchers hope that people will continue uploading sightings of the so-called ManhattAnt to sites like iNaturalist so they can track the ants' movement and learn more about their behaviors. Julian F./iNaturalist hide caption

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Julian F./iNaturalist
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