Lauren Sommer
Lauren Sommer is a correspondent for NPR's climate desk, where she covers scientists on the frontlines of documenting the warming climate and how that science is — and isn't — being used by communities to prepare for increasing disasters.
Since joining NPR, she's looked at how a lack of building codes is putting people at risk of wildfires, how cities are failing to plan for stronger storms and how communities are allowing development in flood-prone areas. Sommer also scaled ice sheets to explore how melting polar ice is having mysterious impacts around the planet. That project won gold in the 2023 Kavli Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Prior to joining NPR, she spent more than a decade covering climate and environment for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, where she delved into the impacts of California's historic drought and record-breaking wildfires. On the lighter side, she's run from charging elephant seals and searched for frogs in Sierra Nevada lakes.
Sommer 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. She has received a national Edward R. Murrow, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
She can be reached via encrypted message at sommer.55 on Signal.
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The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cameron Hamilton, has been replaced. The shake up comes weeks before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. -
Rural communities are scrambling after the Trump administration canceled billions in disaster grants. Many were counting on the funds for infrastructure fixes meant to withstand future disasters. -
California is one of the few states with building codes for wildfire protection, because using fire-resistant materials helps homes survive. Now, more than 500 additional homeowners rebuilding after Los Angeles' Eaton Fire are being required to use them. -
President Trump says he's thinking of getting rid of the country's disaster response agency, FEMA. States say they can't replicate what FEMA does on their own. -
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration houses key groups like the National Weather Service. Experts warn the consequences of employee cuts could be drastic. -
The Trump administration has fired several hundred employees at FEMA. When it comes to helping disaster victims on the ground, the agency was already hundreds of people short. -
To help homes survive more intense disasters, FEMA has been developing recommendations for stronger building codes. The Trump Administration has pulled them back. -
Hawaiian crows are extinct in the wild and are found nowhere else on Earth. Now, a small group, safeguarded in captivity, has been released in the forests of Maui. -
After thousands of homes were destroyed, many are looking for ways to make Los Angeles safer from wildfires. But clearing dense shrubs on the hillsides could actually make the fire danger worse. -
Winters are getting warmer and shorter as the climate changes. That's helping rat populations grow in several U.S. cities.
