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

Wednesday

The sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission touched down in the desert on September 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. NASA/Keegan Barber hide caption

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NASA/Keegan Barber

After 7 years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully returns asteroid sample

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Tuesday

Here's why 6,000 octopuses like to be under the sea at an 'octopus garden'

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Monday

A canister of asteroid samples for NASA to study lands safely in Utah

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Sunday

The sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. Keegan Barber/NASA hide caption

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Keegan Barber/NASA

NASA asteroid sample lands safely in Utah before being whisked away by helicopter

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Friday

Last month team members practiced retrieving the sample return capsule, using a replica, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. NASA/Keegan Barber hide caption

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NASA/Keegan Barber

NASA effort to bring home asteroid rocks will end this weekend in triumph or a crash

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Thursday

Saucer-like lenticular clouds appear over Turkiye's Bursa province in the early morning hours of January 19, 2023. Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption

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Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

New NASA report lays out roadmap for studying UFOs

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Wednesday

Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute studied female octopuses that nest together off Central California at a depth of about 3,200 meters. MBARI hide caption

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MBARI

Here's why 6,000 octopuses like to be under the sea at an 'octopus garden'

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Friday

In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. NASA/Bill Ingalls hide caption

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NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend. Here's how to watch

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Thursday

The push to expand testing for cancer predisposition

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Wednesday

Jeremy Nottingham (bottom right) sits for a family photo with his parents, Junius and Sharon, and sister Briana. Junius Nottingham Jr. hide caption

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Junius Nottingham Jr.

Testing your genes for cancer risk is way cheaper now — and it could save your life

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Tuesday

The push to expand testing for cancer predisposition

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Monday

Stone countertop workers are getting sick and dying due to exposure to silica dust

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Saturday

Monday

Stone countertop workers are getting sick and dying due to exposure to silica dust

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This image, from a video produced by government safety researchers, shows a countertop worker using a machine with a spray of water that's intended to control dust. NIOSH hide caption

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NIOSH

Friday

Devils Hole pupfish gather on the precious rocky shelf that supports their entire fragile existence in the wild. Olin Feuerbacher/NPS hide caption

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Olin Feuerbacher/NPS

Against all odds, the rare Devils Hole pupfish keeps on swimming

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Thursday

The iconic Devils Hole pupfish somehow keeps hanging in there

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Thursday

Wednesday

This artist's impression shows a pair of supermassive black holes circling each other and sending out gravitational waves, which affect the bright, shining pulsars. NANOGrav/Sonoma State University/Aurore Simonnet hide caption

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NANOGrav/Sonoma State University/Aurore Simonnet

Scientists have found signs of a new kind of gravitational wave. It's really big

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Thursday

Monarch butterflies' white spots may help them fly farther, scientists say

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Wednesday

The white spots on a monarch butterfly's wings may help it migrate, according to a new study. Pat Davis hide caption

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Pat Davis

Monarch butterflies' white spots may help them fly farther, scientists say

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Thursday

Wednesday

For Black drivers, a police officer's first 45 words are a sign of what's to come

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Monday

Scientists are studying police camera footage to understand why some car stops of Black men escalate and others don't. Hill Street Studios/Getty Images hide caption

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Hill Street Studios/Getty Images

For Black drivers, a police officer's first 45 words are a portent of what's to come

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