Award-winning science journalist Alison Richards is deputy supervising senior editor and a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. She oversees the desk's daily output of science, environmental and technical stories and also edits Robert Krulwich. As a deputy head of the desk, she plays a role in helping to manage health content. She has initiated and managed major series, including the year-long “Climate Connections” series with National Geographic, 2007-08. She is currently helping to develop the desk's presence and identity on the Web. She was a winner of the 2009 National Academies Communication Award in the online category

Richards is a strong advocate for the use of narrative journalism techniques in science reporting and for the use of a much greater variety of form and tone both on radio and on the Web.

Before joining NPR in 1998, Richards worked for many years for the British Broadcasting Corporation's radio science unit in London. She also prepared major exhibits on the physical sciences, ecology, Celtic and medieval archaeology, and modern art and craft at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. She has also co-authored several books, including A Passion for Science and Passionate Minds: The Inner World of Scientists, co-authored with Lewis Wolpert, as well as A Paradise Out of a Common Field and The New Book of Apples, co-authored with Joan Morgan.

Born in the United Kingdom, Richards received her bachelor's degree in English language and literature from the University of Oxford. She lives in Washington, DC.