Eric Berger (born April 19, 1973) is an American journalist and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

who is the senior space editor at ''

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...

'' and the editor of ''Space City Weather'', a website covering weather in Houston.

Early life, education, and family

Berger, who was raised in Michigan, graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in astronomy. Berger then attended graduate school at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

where he received a master's degree in journalism. In 2014, Berger completed a distance learning program at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

to become a certified meteorologist. Berger lives in

League City, Texas League City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County, within the metropolitan area. The population was 114,392 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city of League City has a small portion ...

, with his wife, Amanda, and two daughters.

Career

Science journalism

Berger began working at the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' in 1998. He started his career at the ''Chronicle'' as a general assignments reporter before transitioning to the science desk in late 2001. In 2005, he launched a science and technology blog on the ''Houston Chronicle'' website called ''SciGuy'', which focused primarily on chemistry, physics, and astronomy. Berger also began writing about weather during his time at the ''Chronicle''. Berger's coverage of

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

contributed to the staff of the ''Houston Chronicle'' becoming a nominated finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting is a Pulitzer Prize awarded for a distinguished example of breaking news Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue ...

in 2009. After leaving the ''Houston Chronicle'' and joining ''Ars Technica'', Berger also started the ''Space City Weather'' blog in October 2015. The blog, which is operated jointly by Berger and forecast meteorologist Matt Lanza, provides weather forecasts for the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

area. The blog's readership increased drastically during

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

, with over one million visits to the site on August 27, 2017. In recognition of Berger and Lanza's service to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

as weather forecasters, the mayor of Houston,

Sylvester Turner Sylvester Turner (September 27, 1954 – March 5, 2025) was an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from January 2025 until his death in March 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democra ...

, declared June 8, 2021, as "Space City Weather Day".

Space industry journalism

In October 2015, Berger left the ''Houston Chronicle'' to write for ''

''. As the senior space editor at ''Ars'', Berger's primary focus is on

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and private aerospace companies. Berger authored ''Liftoff'', which was published by

William Morrow and Company William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The ...

and released in March 2021. The book chronicles the early history of

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

and the protracted development program of the

Falcon 1 Falcon 1 was a two-stage small-lift launch vehicle that was operated from 2006 to 2009 by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. On September 28, 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately developed fully liquid-fueled launch vehicle to s ...

launch vehicle. He released a sequel in 2024, ''Reentry'', that details the rise of the company through the first Falcon 9 launch, the development of the Dragon capsule, the inaugural Falcon Heavy launch, and the company's first human spaceflight.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Eric American meteorologists University of Texas at Austin alumni Missouri School of Journalism alumni American science journalists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1973 births