Steve Curwood

Steve Curwood created the first pilot of "Living on Earth" in the spring of 1990, and the show has run continuously since April 1991. His relationship with public radio goes back to 1979 when he began as a reporter and host of NPR's "Weekend All Things Considered." He has been a journalist for more than 30 years with experience at CBS News, the "Boston Globe," NPR, WBUR-FM/Boston and WGBH-TV/Boston. He shared the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service as part of the "Boston Globe's" education team. Read full bio.

Steve Curwood created the first pilot of Living on Earth in the spring of 1990, and the show has run continuously since April 1991. Today, it is aired on more than 250 public radio stations in the United States.

Curwood's relationship with public radio goes back to 1979 when he began as a reporter and host of NPR's Weekend All Things Considered. He has been a journalist for more than 30 years with experience at CBS News, the Boston Globe, NPR, WBUR-FM/Boston and WGBH-TV/Boston. He shared the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service as part of the Boston Globe's education team.

Curwood is also the recipient of the 2003 Global Green Award for Media Design, the 2003 David A. Brower Award from the Sierra Club for excellence in environmental reporting and the 1992 New England Environmental Leadership Award from Tufts University for his work on promoting environmental awareness. He is president of the World Media Foundation Inc. and lectures in Environmental Science and Public Policy at Harvard University. He lives in southern New Hampshire on a small woodlot with his family.

Smoke rises from a processing mill at a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia

The world's tropical forests can help us limit climate change — if we let them

Tropical forests are a treasure trove of biodiversity and contain vast stores of carbon that, if released through deforestation, threaten the stability of Earth’s climate system.

The world's tropical forests can help us limit climate change — if we let them
This Dec. 22, 2018, file photo shows a pump jack over an oil well along Interstate 25 near Dacono, Colorado.

Will big oil finally be held accountable for decades of climate misinformation?

Will big oil finally be held accountable for decades of climate misinformation?
Climate activist Vanessa Nakate, of Uganda, delivers her speech during a Fridays for Future demonstration in Milan, Italy, Friday, Oct. 1, 2021.

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate: 'We want climate action and our voices will not be silenced'

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate: 'We want climate action and our voices will not be silenced'
A Tesoro Corp. refinery, including a gas flare flame that is part of normal plant operations, in Anacortes, Washington.

Are carbon offsets really as effective as advocates claim?

Are carbon offsets really as effective as advocates claim?
Air pollution in Tehran on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012.

New WHO air pollution standards could save millions of lives each year

New WHO air pollution standards could save millions of lives each year
In this April 4, 2013, file photo, a mining dumper truck hauls coal at Cloud Peak Energy's Spring Creek strip mine near Decker, Montana.

'They Knew': A new book chronicles 50 years of US govt's failure to address the climate crisis

For the past 50 years, the US government has known about the problem of climate change but has continued to promote fossil fuel development and done little to avert a crisis. Lawyer James Gustave Speth chronicles this failure in his new book, “They Knew: The US Federal Government’s 50-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis.”

'They Knew': A new book chronicles 50 years of US govt's failure to address the climate crisis
The Shell Norco oil refinery along the Mississippi River in Norco, LA.

Hurricane Ida adds misery to 'Cancer Alley': Part II

“The chemical plants are really having a ball with this hurricane,” says Sharon Lavigne, a local activist who has been fighting to stop pollution in a highly toxic area of southern Louisiana.

Hurricane Ida adds misery to 'Cancer Alley': Part II
Founder of RISE St. James and 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Sharon Lavigne

Hurricane Ida adds misery to 'Cancer Alley': Part I

Black residents in Louisiana communities hit hard by Hurricane Ida have been fighting for environmental justice there for decades. Hurricane Ida made their task even harder.

Hurricane Ida adds misery to 'Cancer Alley': Part I
A record number of wolves are roaming the forests and fields of Oregon, 20 years after the species returned to the state.

Charlotte McConaghy's new novel imagines reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands

“Once There Were Wolves” tells a mysterious tale about a woman-led team working to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish Highlands, the people who confront them, and the deadly toll of domestic abuse.

Charlotte McConaghy's new novel imagines reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands
Buildings burn as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.

Climate change is driving extreme weather events around the world in 2021

As a slew of extreme weather events hit the headlines, the evidence of climate disruption is becoming undeniable. One climate expert warns that humanity is headed for dangerous thresholds of climate disruptions that would be beyond our ability to adapt.

Climate change is driving extreme weather events around the world in 2021
Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck

Ford hits a 'home run' with its new all-electric F-150 pickup

Ford’s F-Series pickup trucks are the best-selling vehicles in the United States. Now the all-electric version of the popular F-150 is the talk of the auto industry.

Ford hits a 'home run' with its new all-electric F-150 pickup
In this July 27, 2018, photo the Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun.

Fossil fuels cause 1 in 5 premature deaths worldwide, study says

Ultra-fine particulate matter emitted from fossil fuel combustion is known to cause numerous health issues that disproportionally effect people living in poverty.

Fossil fuels cause 1 in 5 premature deaths worldwide, study says
The Gaia hypothesis, devised by James Lovelock, posits that Earth is a living, self-regulating organism.

Imagining Gaia, the Earth, as 'one great, living organism'

James Lovelock's hypothesis could unlock a whole-systems approach to protecting the amazing life forms on Earth.

Imagining Gaia, the Earth, as 'one great, living organism'
Mossbrae Falls in the Shasta Cascade area in Dunsmuir, California. In many spiritual traditions, like the Lakota in the US, water represents “the living relationship between you and I and all things."

Spiritual leaders seek to spur an 'ecological conversion'

From Native American traditions to Eastern thought to mainstream Catholicism, spiritual teachings call on humanity to live in harmony with nature.

Spiritual leaders seek to spur an 'ecological conversion'
President Joe Biden speaks about Russia in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 15, 2021, in Washington.

Biden's Earth Day summit tests US, global commitment to slowing climate change

For Earth Day this year, President Biden is convening leaders from around the world for a virtual conference on the climate emergency.

Biden's Earth Day summit tests US, global commitment to slowing climate change