Dianna Cowern

Dianna Cowern (born May 4, 1989) is an American science communicator and physicist who has created the YouTube channel ''Physics Girl'' since 2011. Her videos explain physical phenomena in everyday life using an informal, fast-paced style. She worked in partnership with the PBS Digital Studios from 2015 until 2020. She is one of the most-subscribed science communicators on YouTube.

Cowern started ''Physics Girl'' in 2011 after graduating with a bachelor's degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After winning a 2014 video competition from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, the series started being produced by PBS Digital Studios, and she began working on content creation full-time. Cowern won Best Web Personality at the 2018 Webby Awards and was included in the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30. She developed long COVID in July 2022, during which she was housebound and unable to produce videos.

Early life and education

Dianna Cowern was born on May 4, 1989 and raised on Kauai island in Hawaii. Her father was a tree farmer and her mother ran a bed and breakfast. Through most of her early education, Cowern was fascinated by mathematics. She went to a high school with eighty students, crediting her two physics teachers with her interest in the subject. During this time, she was inspired by Neil deGrasse Tyson and became interested in science communication.

Cowern studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science. During her time at MIT, she researched dark matter under Jocelyn Monroe. After graduation, Cowern was a research fellow at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where she researched low-metallicity stars under Anna Frebel. After her fellowship, she moved to San Diego.

Career

Cowern started her YouTube channel ''Physics Girl'' on October 21, 2011. Her first video, "What to do with a physics degree...", was made shortly after she finished college. Cowern made it as a joke for friends, but it got more views than she expected. As her videos gained viewers, she renamed her channel ''Physics Girl'' and shifted toward teaching physics concepts.

When Cowern started making videos, she worked as an iPad app developer at General Electric. She then worked as an educator at Fleet Science Center and the outreach coordinator at University of California at San Diego's Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences research unit.

In 2014, Cowern won the top video prize in the Flame Challenge from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, with the topic "What is color?", as voted by fifth grade students. Her channel became popular around this time; in following months, she had some viral videos and collaborated with YouTubers such as Veritasium. A December 2014 video, explaining fluid dynamics by creating a vortex in a swimming pool, was her first to get five million views. After news coverage of Cowern winning the Flame Challenge, she was contacted by PBS Digital Studios. The studio began producing ''Physics Girl'' in 2015, when the channel had about 35 videos and 125 thousand subscribers. The channel became Cowern's full-time job. That year, she participated in a conference organized by the U.S. News & World Report in San Diego.

By 2017, PBS Digital Studios produced thirty-two ''Physics Girl'' videos per year. The channel featured ArcAttack in a 2016 video about electromagnets and Rodney Mullen in a 2018 video about axes of rotation in skateboarding tricks. Cowern hosted the 2019 Google Science Fair. Cowern announced on September 25, 2020, that her channel was ending its partnership with the PBS. A 2021 series of ''Physics Girl'' videos, sponsored by Toyota, demonstrated a hydrogen fuel cell car and discussed renewable energy. By 2022, she was one of the most-subscribed science communicators on YouTube.

Style

''Physics Girl'' is about physical phenomena in everyday life. The videos have an eccentric, informal style. The channel has covered topics including curveballs and creating a cloud with one's mouth, as well as higher-level physics concepts. It also has an AP Physics exam review series. People who have appeared on the channel include science communicator Bill Nye, then–YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and skateboarder Tony Hawk. Cowern's videos are edited with frequent jump cuts; she told ''Nature'' in 2018 that her videos took up to a week to make and that she made fast-paced videos because "they can click away at any moment."

Cowern has said her goals are to give children an interest in physics and to show underrepresented groups such as women in science. According to media scholar Nicholas Qyll, Cowern is part of "a new generation of self-confident scientists who use entertaining communication of scientific topics on social media to reach and give lasting inspiration to an increasingly large audience".

Awards and honors

In 2018, Cowern won a Webby Award for Best Web Personality. The following year, she was listed in Forbes 30 under 30 in the category of education. The asteroid 21943 Diannacowern, previously designated as 1999 VG114, was named on March 17, 2025, in recognition of her contributions to science communication.

Personal life

In May 2022, Cowern announced that she had recently married Kyle Kitzmiller. Cowern developed long COVID in July 2022. She was hospitalized in March 2023 as her symptoms similar to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome continued to worsen. She became unable to move and stayed at home with her husband as her caretaker. Cowern's sister created a donation fund. In a January 2025 YouTube video, Cowern said that she is able to stand on her own for short periods of time. In May 2025, she posted an update to her channel indicating that she had improved significantly and was able to walk independently again.

References

Primary sources

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowern, Dianna
1989 births
Living people
Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni
People from Kauai
American science communicators
Science-related YouTube channels
People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
YouTubers from Hawaii