Véronique LaCapra
Science reporter Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio documentaries at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France. LeCapra reported for St. Louis Public Radio from 2010 to 2016.
-
There's no barrier between the underground chemical reaction and nearby radioactive waste. Federal, state and local officials disagree about the danger it poses; residents are confused and concerned. -
Forty-five years ago this Sunday, Apollo 11 became the first space flight to land men on the moon. At Mission Control in Houston, Gene Kranz was the man... -
For years in most states, Medicaid eligibility had been limited to disabled adults, seniors needing long-term care and very low-income parents with... -
The tiny, speckled eggs of Japanese quail should be easy targets for hungry predators. But these quail have a survival advantage — each goes out of her way, research suggests, to choose a nesting location that best matches the particular color pattern of her eggs. -
There are as many as 47 million pet cats out hunting for prey. Add that to the tens of millions of feral cats and strays, and researchers estimate that the furry felines are responsible for billions of bird and small mammal deaths every year. -
Microbes can thrive in extreme environments, from inside fiery volcanoes to down on the bottom of the ocean. Now scientists have found a surprising number of them living in storm clouds tens of thousands of feet above the Earth. And those airborne microbes could play a role in global climate. -
The two washing machine-sized probes have been collecting data from the lunar surface down to the core. NASA ended the mission by flying the spacecrafts into the side of a mountain on the moon. -
Researchers wanted to take a census of all of the insects living in a small section of rainforest in Panama. To do this, they went up in a balloon, hung from a crane and walked atop the canopy in a huge tree raft. All told, they collected almost 130,000 specimens from more than 6,000 species. -
Viewing parties are scheduled across the country Tuesday, when the planet Venus will pass between Earth and the sun. "This is one of the most rare lineups that you'll experience in your lifetime," says the president of the St. Louis Astronomical Society.
