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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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.
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Can We Just Throw Our Plastic Garbage Into A Volcano?
A volcanologist answers your questions about glass-shard hairballs, cooking breakfast over lava, Gollum’s end on Mount Doom, and more.
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Why Is Bubonic Plague Still With Us?
When cases of plague pop up in the US, it can feel straight up medieval. It’s treatable, but how and why does it persist?
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A Startling Plan To Save Spotted Owls—From Barred Owls
To save spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest, one plan suggests killing thousands of barred owls. Conservationists and activists are at odds.
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‘A Many-Headed Beast’: Telling The Story Of Cancer
Science writer and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee discusses what we get wrong about cancer, and why he leans into nuance as an author.