NPR’s Short Wave talks about elephants’ sniffing abilities, the remarkable migration of painted lady butterflies and a surprising discovery about the early universe.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Kimberly (Berly) McCoy (she/her) is a producer for NPR's science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast tells stories about science and scientists, in all the forms they take.
McCoy started working with NPR as the program coordinator of the NPR Scicommers, a group founded by Joe Palca and Maddie Sofia to teach scientists and engineers how to better communicate and find community.
After lending a fact-checking hand to the Short Wave team on and off, they graciously taught McCoy the production ropes, where she now produces regularly, with stories ranging from axolotls to physics.
In another life, McCoy earned her PhD in biochemistry transforming viruses into nanoreactors. She dug through garbage to understand human recycling behavior, counted rattlesnake tongue flicks to gauge their diet preferences and caught endangered butterflies on mountain tops for population surveys.
She lives just outside of Glacier National Park and enjoys rock climbing, ice fishing, her rambunctious dogs and making food magically appear from dirt. [Copyright 2024 NPR]
