Dianna Leilani Cowern (born May 4, 1989) is an American

science communicator Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...

. She is a

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

; she uploads videos to her YouTube channel ''Physics Girl'' explaining various physical phenomena. She worked in partnership with the

PBS Digital Studios PBS Digital Studios is a non-profit organization that through which PBS distributes original educational web video content based in Arlington, Virginia. It comprises both original series and partnerships with existing YouTube channels. Most of t ...

from 2015 until 2020, when she discontinued her partnership. She has collaborations with other YouTube personalities, including fellow science communicator

Derek Muller Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium. Muller has also appeared as a correspondent on the Net ...

of the channel ''

Veritasium Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium. Muller has also appeared as a correspondent on the Net ...

'', maker

Simone Giertz Simone Luna Louise Söderlund Giertz ( ; ; born 1 November 1990) is a Swedish inventor, maker, robotics enthusiast, TV host, and professional YouTuber. She has also previously worked in mixed martial arts sports journalism and was an editor for ...

, and mathematics animator Grant Sanderson of ''

3Blue1Brown 3Blue1Brown is a math YouTube channel created and run by Grant Sanderson. The channel focuses on teaching higher mathematics from a visual perspective, and on the process of discovery and inquiry-based learning in mathematics, which Sanderson cal ...

''.

Education

Cowern was born May 4, 1989 and raised in Hawaii. While in high school, she was inspired by

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a po ...

and became interested in communicating science. She studied Physics at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor's degree.

Career

After graduation, Cowern was a research fellow at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. Cowern began as outreach coordinator at

University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

's Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciencesbr>research unit
She started making science videos while working as an app developer at

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

. In 2014, she won the top video prize from the

Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science is a cross-disciplinary organization founded in 2009 within Stony Brook University's School of Communication and Journalism, in Stony Brook, New York. Its current director is Laura Lindenfeld. Its go ...

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. She has discussed science on national media, including '' U.S. News & World Report''. In February 2017, she did a talk at Google titled 'Becoming YouTube's Physics Girl'. In December 2017, she was featured in an interview in

APS News The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. Cowern has been featured in the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', ''Slate'', and ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'' blogs. In 2018, Cowern won a Webby Award for Best Web Personality and was listed in Forbes 30 under 30 in the category of education. On September 25, 2020, Dianna announced on her YouTube channel in the video, "Why RED BUBBLES are impossible… or are they?!" that she would be ending her five-year partnership with PBS Studios. It was announced on June 23, 2022 that Cowern would be doing a science-based

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

for

Curiosity Stream Curiosity Stream also know as (Curiosity Channel) is an American media company and subscription video streaming service that offers documentary programming including films, series, and TV shows. It was launched in 2015 by the founder of the Disc ...

's Originals called ''Proof of Concept''. The show started streaming in August 2022.

Personal life

In May of 2022, Cowern announced that she had recently married. In an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

post dated November 8, 2022, she revealed that, since July, 2022, she had been dealing with the health effects of

long COVID Long COVID or long-haul COVID (also known as post-COVID-19 syndrome, post-COVID-19 condition, post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), or chronic COVID syndrome (CCS)) is a condition characterized by long-term health problems persisting or appe ...

, suffering physical and mental symptoms associated with the syndrome. For this reason, her video release schedule had slowed dramatically, with the only videos released during her convalescence consisting of material filmed prior to her illness. She indicated the intention to release a video on her channel documenting her experience with the syndrome, but with no firm release date.

References

External links

*
Physics Girl Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowern, Dianna 1989 births American YouTubers Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni People from Kauai Science communicators Science-related YouTube channels