Kara Manke completed a Ph. D. in Physical Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June 2015 and is currently a Science Writer in Duke University's News & Communications office. As a graduate student, she used high-frequency sound waves to study the properties of complex materials under the advisement of Keith Nelson. In 2014 she was awarded a AAAS Mass Media Fellowship to write for the science desk at National Public Radio, and her science writing has also appeared in The Scientist, Frontiers in Energy Research, and the CASW New Horizons Newsroom. She is originally from the Twin Cities, where she received her B. A. in Chemistry from Macalester College.