BA, Pomona College. MA and PhD, University of California, Santa Cruz. 1986-89, Correspondent, Nature. 1989-92, Correspondent, Science. 2009, Science Writer in Residence, Huntington Library and The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Currently, Science Correspondent, NPR. Former President, National Association of Science Writers. Co-Author of Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us (2011). Recipient: National Academies Communications Award; Science-in-Society Award, National Association of Science Writers; American Chemical Society James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public; American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Prize; Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Writing.