Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd (born March 1, 1951 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American science journalist. She is executive producer and cohost of the internationally syndicated Earth & Sky radio series.

Byrd created and produced the astronomy radio show StarDate in 1978. With host Joel Block, Byrd left StarDate in 1991 and began producing and hosting Earth & Sky, which consists of 90-second radio spots on science.

Byrd has won numerous awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. Byrd was an early winner of the Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In 2003, Earth & Sky became the first radio show ever to win a Public Service Award from the U.S. National Science Board "for its achievement in broadcasting explanations of research and everyday science to a worldwide audience". In 2011, Byrd was awarded the Arts and Sciences Advocacy Award from the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). CCAS bestows this award upon an individual or organization demonstrating exemplary advocacy for the arts and sciences, flowing from a deep commitment to the intrinsic worth of liberal arts education.

Byrd is also the founder of the annual Texas Star Party, a week-long astronomy festival.