New staffing updates to the Short Wave team
In a note to edtorial staff, Beth Donovan, Senior Director of Platform Integration and Rebecca Ramirez, Short Wave, Supervising Producer, made the following announcement:
Rachel Carlson, Regina G. Barber and Berly McCoy NPR hide caption
Rachel Carlson, Regina G. Barber and Berly McCoy
NPRWe are delighted to announce some permanent staffing changes to Short Wave. Regina G. Barber is now a full-time co-host, and Berly McCoy and Rachel Carlson are permanent producers.
Over the past two years, Gina has been such an asset to the show. She's proven not only to be an excellent colleague while making the transition from astrophysicist to astrophysicist-journalist, she's hosted an award-winning video series. Thanks to her old life as a badass professor, we've been able to up our space and physics coverage – topics our audience can't ever seem to get enough of. She's also developed her own distinctive voice as a host, which you can hear regularly on our All Things Considered science news roundups she's helmed for over a year. In addition to her regular responsibilities hosting and reporting for Short Wave, Gina loves filing for the Science desk, has guest-hosted for Life Kit and made a few Pop Culture Happy Hour appearances. We only want to live in this version of the universe, where Gina is taking over NPR alongside co-host Emily Kwong.
Berly McCoy joined us while she was still leading Joe's Big Idea, a science communication community created by former science correspondent Joe Palca. Berly has truly grown into a fabulous, reliable producer in her time on the show. After getting her start as a fact checker extraordinaire, she now is a Producer I, who is learning to edit and leading our DEX charge. She makes the incomprehensible comprehensible, highlights science in pop culture and even demystifies itchiness. We are better for her skeptical science brain (she also casually has a PhD in biochemistry). She's got that magical mix of efficiency, rigor and play. PLUS! She has recently graced the world with ANOTHER MCCOY (see attached photos)! She, of course, followed her curiosity during her IVF journey and turned it into an episode. Berly is our rock, and we thank ourselves everyday for her existence.
Rachel Carlson is a phenom. She is growing her producer chops, but is already a strong digital writer, fact-checker and a great reporter in our regular ATC science news roundup rotation. She has an excellent instinct for tape, narrative and a knack for picking exactly the right songs to score an episode. And she adeptly covers a range of topics — everything from how space changes astronauts' dreams to social robots and the neuroscience of pleasure (Down with guilty pleasures; yay, romantasy!). She also just received a year-long reporting grant from the Ferriss - UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship. We first met Rachel as an intern, and we could not be prouder that Rachel chose to begin her career with Short Wave — now as a Production Assistant. Remember us when you're internationally recognized for your award-winning journalism, Rachel. You, too, are the best of us.
Please join us in welcoming Regina, Berly and Rachel even further into the NPR fold.
And look for another email from us soon — we're in the middle of hiring another Producer I to help us pilot a 4th weekly episode.