Regina G. Barber is an astrophysicist-turned-broadcaster who co-hosts Short Wave, NPR’s daily science podcast known for making new discoveries and the science behind the headlines accessible to a broad national audience. Barber earned her PhD in physics from Washington State University, focusing her research on astrophysics and using Hubble Space Telescope imagery to study globular cluster systems in distant galaxies. Before moving into media, she spent nearly a decade at Western Washington University teaching physics and astronomy and serving as the university’s first STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist, where she built programs to recruit and retain underrepresented students and faculty in STEM fields. During that period, she also created, hosted, and executive produced the podcast Spark Science for seven seasons, mentoring a rotating team of student producers in science storytelling. In January 2022, Barber joined NPR as Short Wave’s first-ever Scientist in Residence before advancing to full co-host, bringing her research background and enthusiasm for pop culture, cartoons, and fandom into the show’s signature blend of rigorous science and irreverent humor. Her efforts to advance diversity in STEM earned her Western Washington University’s Womxn of Color Empowerment Faculty Award in 2019, and she is an alumna of the SACNAS Leadership Institute and a former Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow. Barber has described her career mission as combining racial and gender equity, science, and pop culture into a single path \u2014 a philosophy that continues to define her voice as one of public radio’s most distinctive science communicators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"