Paula S. Apsell (born July 4, 1947) is the television Executive Producer Emerita of PBS's NOVA and was director of the WGBH Science Unit.

Apsell received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Southern Methodist University "for her central role in enhancing public understanding of science"[8] and another from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

In the late 1970s Apsell was producing documentaries on artificial intelligence and genetic engineering; topics that rarely existed in the mainstream prior to the 21st century.

At WCVB, Apsell produced "Someone I Once Knew," a groundbreaking program essentially introducing the story of Alzheimer's disease and dementia into the public sphere.

In 2005, Apsell launched a NOVA spin-off series, NOVAScienceNow hosted first by Dr. Neil De Grasse Tyson and later by technology journalist David Pogue.

In 2011, in addition to overseeing the NOVA franchise, Apsell taught science communications at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara.

[14][15] Apsell is a fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and served a full term on the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History board.