Lauren Sommer
Lauren Sommer covers climate change for NPR's Science Desk, from the scientists on the front lines of documenting the warming climate to the way those changes are reshaping communities and ecosystems around the world.
Prior to joining NPR, Sommer spent more than a decade covering climate and environment for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. During her time there, she delved into the impacts of California's historic drought during dry years and reported on destructive floods during wet years, and covered how communities responded to record-breaking wildfires.
Sommer has also examined California's ambitious effort to cut carbon emissions across its economy and investigated the legacy of its oil industry. On the lighter side, she ran from charging elephant seals and searched for frogs in Sierra Nevada lakes.
She was also host of KQED's macrophotography nature series Deep Look, which searched for universal truths in tiny organisms like black-widow spiders and parasites. Sommer has received a national Edward R. Murrow for use of sound, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Based at NPR's San Francisco bureau, Sommer grew up in the West, minus a stint on the East Coast to attend Cornell University.
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After extreme fires last year that claimed 102 lives, Maui is trying to tackle the invasive grasses that pose a big wildfire risk. That could mean restoring the land to what it once was. -
Lahaina's extreme wildfire destroyed much of its historic waterfront. Residents are eager to rebuild, but officials are weighing whether they should, given the dangers of rising sea levels. -
So much ice is melting at the Earth's poles that it's affecting the rotation of the planet, scientists say. Its spin is slowing down slightly, causing days to get longer. -
Hawaii's unique birds, known as honeycreepers, are being wiped out by mosquitoes carrying avian malaria. The birds' last hope could be more mosquitoes, designed to crash their own population. -
Whale families communicate a lot underwater. So now, researchers are using artificial intelligence to try to figure out what they're saying.
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The debris from Lahaina's fire contains toxic chemicals and sits right next to a coral reef. So the community is collaborating with scientists to track water quality. -
Federal forecasters say the El Nino climate pattern is on its way out, after a year where it helped break global heat records. So what does that mean for this coming year?
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Researchers say sperm whales have a complex communication system, an example of how new technology is opening up the mysterious world of animal language. -
Ocean temperatures have been unusually hot, which turns the corals a ghostly white. Coral bleaching is expected to get worse as the climate keeps getting hotter. Scientists aim to help corals survive.
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Climate change is heating oceans faster than the world's coral reefs can handle. So scientists are breeding corals that can withstand hotter temperatures – but only to a point.
