Poynter Lecture: A Conversation with Alejandra Borunda, PhD, Climate and Health Reporter at NPR

"Climate change is hurting our bodies and minds: How climate health journalism can make a global problem personal"

Alejandra Borunda (she/her) is a reporter on NPR's Climate Desk, where she covers the intersection of climate change and health. She reports on how climate change is affecting people's bodies and minds—and how people can, and are, protecting themselves and others. Before Borunda joined NPR in 2023, she wrote about climate science and environmental issues for National Geographic, where she reported on glacier retreat in Greenland, shade and heat inequity in Los Angeles, climate change's impact on ice fishing in the Great Lakes, and much more. She has a PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University, where she studied how tiny dust particles in the atmosphere affected climate change thousands of years ago.

Yale University’s Poynter Fellowships in Journalism bring the best and most talented media faces to share their experiences and opinions with the Yale community. Established by Nelson Poynter (Yale M.A. 1927), the fellowship draws distinguished reporters, editors, and other media figures to the University. Yale students and faculty have the opportunity to interact with these outstanding individuals through lectures, symposia, and conferences on a variety of issues of public interest.

Yale affiliates are welcome to join us at the Sterling Memorial Library, Lecture Hall. Guests may stream the lecture virtually using this link: bit.ly/BorundaPoynterLecture2025.