Emily Kwong

Emily Kwong (she/her) is the co-host/reporter for NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast explores new discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, Monday through Friday. She is interested in reporting that unfolds at the community level, with a focus on the environment/climate and social justice.

 

Emily is also a proud AIR board member and longtime volunteer for AIR, deeply supportive of the mission to build an inclusive space for audio independents. She was a New Voices scholar in 2015 and the New Voices captain in 2016 and 2017.

 

Prior to working at NPR, Emily was a reporter and host at KCAW-Sitka, a community radio station in Sitka, Alaska. She covered local government and politics, culture and general assignments, chasing stories onto fishing boats and up volcanoes. Her work earned multiple awards from the Alaska Press Club and Alaska Broadcasters Association. Prior to that, Emily produced youth media with WNYC's Radio Rookies and The Modern Story in Hyderabad, India.

 

Emily won the "Best New Artist" award in 2013 from the Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition for a story about a Maine journalist learning to speak with an electrolarynx. She was the 2018 "Above the Fray" international reporting fellow, creating a series for NPR on climate change and internal migration in Mongolia.

 

Emily earned her bachelor's degree in Sociocultural Anthropology and Human Rights at Columbia University in 2012 and learned the finer points of cutting tape at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2013.