Bianca Nogrady is an Australian science journalist and author. She has written about science, medicine, technology and the environment for Australian and international publications including Nature, The Guardian, The Atlantic, WIRED, MIT Technology Review, Cosmos the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC.

Nogrady is the author of several books, including The End: The Human Experience of Death and Climate Change: How We Can Get to Carbon Zero

Early life and education

Nogrady studied science at university, majoring in biology, before completing a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication at the Australian National University. She initially considered a career in medicine but became interested in science journalism as a way of combining science and writing.

Journalism

Nogrady began working as a freelance science journalist in the mid-2000s. Her reporting has covered subjects including medicine, climate change, environmental science, technology, astronomy and biology. Her work has appeared in publications including Nature, Scientific American, New Scientist, The Guardian, The Atlantic, WIRED, Australian Geographic and Undark, as well as on the ABC and BBC.

She has also worked as a broadcaster and commentator on science. She has appeared on ABC radio programs including The Science Show and Dr Karl, and has discussed the state of science journalism and the growth of freelance journalism in Australia.

Books and editing

Nogrady's first book, The Sixth Wave: How to Succeed in a Resource-Limited World, was co-written with James Bradfield Moody and examined technological and economic responses to resource constraints.

Her book The End: The Human Experience of Death, published in 2013, examines the biological, medical, psychological, social and ethical aspects of death. It was reviewed by Scientific American, which described the book as an examination of scientific knowledge about death alongside questions surrounding near-death experiences and the politics of death.

In 2015, Nogrady edited The Best Australian Science Writing 2015, the fifth edition of the annual anthology of Australian science writing. She later edited The Best Australian Science Writing 2019.

In 2021, she published Climate Change: How We Can Get to Carbon Zero, a book examining technologies and approaches for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Science journalism organisations

Nogrady was a founding president of the Science Journalists Association of Australia (SJAA), established in 2019. She served as president until September 2023 and was involved in establishing the organisation's grants program for Australian science journalists. In 2024, she became the organisation's first life member in recognition of her contribution to establishing and developing the association.

Selected works

Books

  • The Sixth Wave: How to Succeed in a Resource-Limited World, with James Bradfield Moody
  • The End: The Human Experience of Death
  • Climate Change: How We Can Get to Carbon Zero

Edited works

  • The Best Australian Science Writing 2015
  • The Best Australian Science Writing 2019