Alexandra Witze

I'm a science journalist in Boulder, Colorado.

I report on the earth, planetary and astronomical sciences for Nature and other journalism clients. Book work includes co-authoring ISLAND ON FIRE, about Icelandic volcanoes, and managing the ANNALS OF THE DEEP SKY amateur astronomy book series. Reach me at witzescience@gmail.com.

Nature • 17th December 2025

Trump team plans to break up ‘global mothership’ of climate science

Work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research underpins a wide array of discoveries.

Nature • 29th October 2025

This ‘impressive’ AI model predicted Hurricane Melissa’s perilous growth

An artificial-intelligence tool helps crack the challenge of forecasting hurricane intensity.

Knowable Magazine • 22nd October 2025

AI is changing our understanding of earthquakes

Machine learning is expanding catalogs of quakes and refining maps of faults.

Nature • 21st October 2025

PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold

Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.

Nature • 10th September 2025

These scientists left the US in Trump’s first term

I talked to researchers about why they moved and how they relocated successfully.

American Indian Magazine • 11th August 2025

Robots that speak to many

Danielle Boyer is an Anishinaabe engineer and inventor who uses science and technology to preserve Indigenous languages.

Nature • 21st July 2025

‘We dissent’: NASA staff declare opposition to Trump cuts

Employees warn of 'catastrophic' changes at the nation's space agency.

Nature • 17th July 2025

How to avoid nuclear war in an era of AI and misinformation

The Doomsday Clock sits at 89 seconds to midnight, nearer than it has ever been to signalling our species’ point of no return.

Nature • 6th June 2025

Trump wants to put humans on Mars — here’s what scientists think

A space agency in turmoil confronts an incredibly ambitious challenge.

Nature • 2nd May 2025

Trump gutted two landmark environmental reports

Can researchers save them?

Nature • 24th April 2025

How Trump’s attack on universities is putting research in peril

Stalled science includes cosmic exploration and public-health research.

Nature • 27th March 2025

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving

The unscientific survey is a glimpse into the mindset of some US scientists. “Don’t want to leave, but what’s the alternative?”

Nature • 18th March 2025

How astronomers are learning to live with satellite constellations

“There is growing interest in collaborating and finding solutions together,” says space-policy researcher Giuliana Rotola.

Nature • 20th February 2025

Trump’s siege of science: how the first 30 days unfolded and what’s next

Our team's coverage of the seismic changes to the US research enterprise.

Nature • 22nd January 2025

The physics of urban firestorms

Why fires spread quickly in modern cities — and how to slow them.

Nature • 19th December 2024

Dread and determination: how climate scientists are preparing for Trump 2.0

Many are bracing themselves.

Nature • 14th October 2024

Is there life on Jupiter’s moon Europa? NASA launches mission to find hints

The spacecraft will investigate a vast ocean buried under the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa.

American Indian Magazine • 30th September 2024

Inspiring youth to reach for the stars

Astronaut Nicole Mann is the first Native American woman to travel to space.

Nature • 29th May 2024

How NASA astronauts are training to walk on the Moon

I joined mission control in Houston to see how the space agency is incorporating science into its Artemis III planning.

Nature • 6th March 2024

Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate

“This is actually an invitation for us to completely rethink how we define what the world is experiencing," says Zoe Todd, an anthropologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada.

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