The Shorenstein Center

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Cristine Russell

Freelance Science Journalist;Former Senior Fellow, ENRP, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs, HKS

Cristine Russell is an award-winning freelance journalist who has written about science, health and the environment, particularly climate change, for four decades. She is a former Senior Fellow (2006-2024) at HKS’ Environment & Natural Resources Program who has worked with the Arctic Initiative and is also a former HKS Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy. 

Russell has written for Columbia Journalism Review, Scientific American, the Atlantic, Undark, Science News, Arctic Today and other publications. Earlier she was a national science reporter for The Washington Post and The Washington Star. She is active in efforts to improve international science journalism and communication to the general public about controversies in science. At HKS, Russell has organized speaker series on Climate, Energy and the Media. She is a current member of the HKS Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Board and was a Spring 2006 Shorenstein Fellow. 

Russell is past President of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) and of the National Association of Science Writers and currently serves on the CASW executive committee. In 2020, Russell was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is an honorary member of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

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