Nancy Shute

Editor in Chief

Nancy Shute joined the staff in February 2018 as the editor in chief of Science News. Shute is a science journalist in print, digital and broadcast, and a lecturer and trainer in science writing and multimedia journalism.  She is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers, the United States’ largest and oldest science writing membership organization. Before joining Science News, Shute was cohost of NPR’s health blog, Shots, and contributed news coverage and radio features to NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.  She also has written for national publications, including National Geographic and Scientific American. While serving as assistant managing editor at U.S. News & World Report, Shute led the magazine’s award-winning coverage of science and technology.  As a senior writer for U.S. News, she led group investigations and reporting projects, and authored dozens of cover stories. Shute trains journalists and scientists in the uses of social media and other new media technologies. She taught science writing at Johns Hopkins University’s Advanced Academic Programs. Additionally, Shute has been a science writer in residence at the University of Wisconsin, and guest lecturer at major universities, including Columbia, NYU, the University of Maryland, Georgetown and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

All Stories by Nancy Shute

  1. Where do we draw the line between life and death?

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the challenges of defining brain death and the first GM mosquitoes in the United States.

  2. When science doesn’t yet have the answers

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about going back to school in the midst of a pandemic.

  3. Data visualizations turn numbers into a story

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the power of using data visualizations in storytelling.

  4. What it takes to save species, locally and globally

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the struggle to save species on both the local and global levels.

  5. Can science help create a more just society?

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about how science can create a more just society and how journalists and journalism needs to change for the better.

  6. History reveals how societies survive plagues

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about how societies have survived plagues, racial inequity, the coronavirus and racism as a public health crisis.

  7. Science News will observe #ShutDownSTEM on June 10

    Our staff will use this time away from the daily news cycle to start working to improve our coverage of race and inequity.

  8. We have learned much, and need to learn much more

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the challenges of covering emerging scientific discoveries in the time of COVID-19.

  9. Adapting to climate change, our next global challenge

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the many ways Science News is covering climate change adaption.

  10. Susan Milius, your guide to the peculiarities of nature

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the rambling route Susan Milius, life sciences writer, took before landing at Science News. And how we're all richer for her writing.

  11. Sticking to our mission: covering science writ large

    The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has suddenly overturned every corner of life, editor in chief Nancy Shute writes.

  12. When coronavirus is both work and worry

    Our editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses what it's like to cover the current coronavirus pandemic.