About Miles @milesobrien
Miles O’Brien is veteran, independent journalist who focuses on science, technology and aerospace.
He is the science correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, a producer and director for the PBS science documentary series NOVA, and a correspondent for the PBS documentary series FRONTLINE and the National Science Foundation Science Nation series.
For nearly seventeen of his thirty-two years in the news business, he worked for CNN as the science, environment and aerospace space correspondent and the anchor of various programs, including American Morning.
While at CNN, he secured a deal with NASA to become the first journalist to fly on the space shuttle. The project ended with the loss of Columbia and her crew in 2003 – a story he told to the world in a critically acclaimed sixteen-hour marathon of live coverage.
Prior to joining CNN, he worked as a reporter at television stations in Boston, Tampa, Albany, NY and St. Joseph, MO. He began his television career as a desk assistant at WRC-TV in Washington, DC.
O’Brien is an accomplished aviator and aircraft owner who often pilots his airplane to assignments, and is frequently called upon to explain the world of aviation to a mass audience.
He has won numerous awards over the years, including a half-dozen Emmys, and a Peabody and DuPont for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Born in Detroit and raised in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, he is based in Washington, DC. He has a son at the US Naval Academy and a daughter at Davidson College in North Carolina. He was a history major at Georgetown University.
Miles’s Recent Stories
Science Feb 27
LIVE: Climate change, explained; Miles O’Brien hosts discussionThe US National Academy of Sciences and the UK’s Royal Society have jointly released a report that uses simple language, pictures and accessible graphics to show that climate change is altering the planet and that the…
Science Feb 12
The highest tech Cheez Whiz you’ve ever seen3-D printers will never serve up a rare juicy steak, a baked potato or the salad the “Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle” can, but before too long, they might be able to produce “Earl Grey tea – hot,” as the Replicator does for Captain…
Science Jan 20
Scientists search for understanding of dark matterAt the bottom of a nickel mine near Sudbury, Ontario, scientists at one of the world's most sophisticated particle physics observatories are investigating one of the biggest mysteries of the cosmos: What is dark matter? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien helps…
Science Mar 13
Erin Brockovich: The Real-Life Unhappy EndingOn tonight's NewsHour, Miles O'Brien reports on the decline of Hinkley, Calif., the town featured in the movie Erin Brockovich. Here's the not-so-Hollywood version of what really happened in Hinkley and beyond.
Science Sep 19
The Return of the Gray WolfScience correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on the successful return of a once endangered species now caught in the crosshairs of cattle ranchers.
Science Mar 30
Miles O’Brien Visits Deserted Town at ChernobylThe nuclear crisis in Japan has evoked memories of the Chernobyl meltdown, the worst nuclear accident in history. Miles O'Brien and crew returned last week to survey the scene, 25 years later.
Science Jan 28
The day the world witnessed a nightmareEditor's note: As we mark the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, we return to this column by NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien. This piece originally ran on Jan. 28, 2011. I was fast asleep when…
Science Mar 29
NewsHour Plus ‘This Week In Space’ Talk Mars and Your Ticket to the StarsRecent developments have moved us a bit closer to "space (flight) for the rest of us," Miles O'Brien of 'This Week In Space' tells us in his first visit to NewsHour Plus. O'Brien catches us up on…
