Adam Cole

Adam Cole is a reporter and producer for the Science Desk, where he creates short documentary videos, radio pieces, animations, musical podcast segments, data visualizations, and GIFs about science. In 2014, Cole launched Skunk Bear, a visual science blog and YouTube channel that has built a robust audience on social media: Skunk Bear's videos have been viewed more than 9 million times.

Cole came to NPR as an editorial intern for the Science Desk in January 2011, and was then hired to stay on as a production assistant from 2011 to 2012.

He got his start in journalism at The Ferndale Enterprise, a small but mighty local weekly paper in Northern California. Before that, he worked as a research scientist, studying the genetics of pancreatic cancer and the physics of mussel beds.

Cole has won and been nominated for various awards, including Webbys and Vimeo awards, WHNPA awards for Multimedia Feature and Multimedia Linear Storytelling, a second place Best of Photojournalism 2015 award, a first place National Association of Black Journalists Salute To Excellence 2014 award for Digital Media: Feature Story, two Best American Infographics awards, and an EPPY award.

He currently serves as an instructor with Johns Hopkins University's Master of Arts in Science Writing program.

Cole received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, and a Master of Science in Biology from Stanford University.

On Orders From Mao, Researchers Set Off On Nobel-Winning Drug Work

By • Oct 5, 2015

The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists for their work on parasitic diseases.

William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura were recognized for discovering a compound that effectively kills roundworm parasites. A Chinese scientist, Dr. Youyou Tu, won for her work in isolating a powerful drug in the 1970s to fight malaria.

What Happens When You Get Your Period In Space?

By • Sep 17, 2015

Hundreds of you sent in questions for Skunk Bear's live conversation with three astronauts and NASA's chief scientist on Tuesday. Thanks! The most common question was: "What happens when you get your period in space?"

I didn't end up asking them this question because:

a) The question itself has a lot of historical baggage;
b) The answer is pretty boring.

But since people were genuinely curious, I decided to answer it here.

12 Ancient Giants: An Ode To The Enormous And Extinct

By • Aug 12, 2015

In the history of life on Earth, evolutionary forces have pushed some species to become incredibly large. After most dinosaurs died off 66 million years ago, some mammals and marsupials grew bigger and bigger, taking the dinos' place.

Pluto Mission Gets A Poetic Tribute

By • Jul 14, 2015

Make Lava, Not War

By • Jun 25, 2015

The Neighs Have It: Horse Outruns Man, But Just Barely

By • Jun 19, 2015

The Man v. Horse Marathon starts out like a typical cross-country race. Hundreds of runners stream past the starting line, through the town of Llanwrtyd Wells and then up into the Welsh hills.

But 15 minutes later, a second set of competitors takes off. Fifty horses and their riders chase the runners up and down ridges, across streams, and past hundreds of bewildered sheep.

Could A Quokka Beat A Numbat? Oddsmakers Say Yes

By • Mar 6, 2015

It's March, and that means college basketball fans are gearing up for the NCAA tournament. But there's another tournament taking place this month — and animals aren't the mascots, they're the competitors.

"Mammal March Madness" is organized by a team of evolutionary biologists. They choose 65 animal competitors and then imagine the outcome of a series of simulated interspecies battles. Who would win if a kangaroo took on a warthog? Or if an orca fought a polar bear?

Science-Based Artist Gives Celebrity Tortoise A Second Life

By • Mar 2, 2015

George Dante fell in love with taxidermy as a young child. His parents took him to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the dioramas in the Hall of African Mammals.

A Musical Memorial For The Face Of Extinction

By • Jan 11, 2015

Lonesome George was a celebrity tortoise. Millions of humans made the pilgrimage to see him while he lived, and his death was international news.

Why?

The Mystery Of The Missing Martins

By • Dec 4, 2014

VIDEO: You Don't Know Jack-O'-Lanterns

By • Oct 30, 2014

Decorative gourd season has arrived, and we decided to celebrate by investigating the science and history of pumpkins.

Do you know what happens when you feed ostriches pumpkin seeds? Or when the first pumpkin beer was brewed? Or what to call a zucchini-pumpkin hybrid? Watch our new video to find out.

Pages