Kathleen Davis
Producer
Kathleen Davis is a producer and fill-in host at Science Friday, which means she spends her weeks researching, writing, editing, and sometimes talking into a microphone. She heads the show’s State of Science project, bringing local science stories to a national audience.
Before joining the Science Friday team in 2020, Kathleen reported on tech and breaking news at WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR station. One time, her coworkers made her a dinosaur themed birthday cake, complete with a Rice Krispy meteor.
Kathleen is originally from the great state of Michigan, and is always eager to talk about freshwater lakes and Coney Island diners. She can often be found taking long walks to run errands that would be done much faster by other modes of transportation.
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Who Wants To Smell An Ancient Embalmed Mummy?
Chemists and perfumers are using new techniques to bring ancient scents back to life, from mummies to a 5,000-year-old incense burner.
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The Growing Experiment Of Putting Solar Panels On Farmland
Agrivoltaics combines solar panels and agriculture on the same land. It’ll be an uphill battle for it to hit the mainstream.
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Stressed About The World? Take A Cue From Cyanobacteria
In turbulent times, it helps to hear stories of resilience. What can we learn from 3.5 billion-year-old bacteria that eat light?
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How A Mutation Made This Year’s Flu Season So Bad
A flu variant called subclade K emerged too late to be fully covered by this year’s vaccine. But the flu shot can still help protect you.
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States Expected To See More ‘Anti-Science’ Bills This Year
In 2025, more than 420 bills were introduced to weaken public health measures for vaccines, milk safety, and fluoride. What will we see in 2026?
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Community-Led Pollution Monitoring Faces Legal Hurdles
Communities around Louisiana continue collecting data on the impacts of industrial pollution, despite a law restricting its use.
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One Year Into Trump’s Term, Where Does Science Funding Stand?
The CEO of AAAS is cautiously optimistic about federal funding for science, even as uncertainty makes research challenging.
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Are Raccoons On The Road To Domestication?
Recent studies on raccoons and dark-eyed juncos investigate how urban wildlife is evolving.
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Are Ultramarathoners Just Built Different?
Ultramarathoners can run with what seems like superhuman stamina. But are their bodies much different than the rest of ours?
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‘Just’ A Blue Jay? Don’t Overlook These Magnificent Common Birds
This Christmas Bird Count, we salute the fabulous, underappreciated, common species. Here’s to you, house sparrow.