Artist of the Week: Cameron Duke, The 500-Word Scientist

By Maximus Vogt
The Ramspondents

Before he was the voice breaking down complex science into short animal clips for millions of subscribers on the Youtube channel MinuteEarth, Cameron Duke’s passion for science communication came from a background as a writer and biologist. 

Duke is currently a writer, director and narrator on MinuteEarth, a YouTube channel with 3.2 million subscribers and over 8 million views that explains virtually every natural science phenomenon under the sun in around four minutes. A Fort Collins resident since 2020, Duke is currently the fall writer in residence at Wolverine Farms, a coffee house and community gathering space. 

Duke said his path to video science communication was not exactly premeditated. Despite a lifelong passion for natural sciences and biology, he studied recording industry technology in his undergrad and focused on writing pursuits. 

“My willingness and interest to write is that I've always seen myself as a writer, I’ve always written fiction through school,” Duke said. “When I was in college, I wrote entertainment alt weeklies (and) I would interview bands mainly just to get free tickets to shows.” 

Duke then worked for an indie recording label but realized he wanted to get out of the music business. His interest in biology continued as he put his recording skills to use, capturing the sounds of song birds. 

“I got incredibly obsessed with recording bird sounds for a long time, seeing how I could get the clearest recordings,” Duke said. “I started learning to identify them and then I started wondering about their songs.” 

For Duke, this ended up being his ticket to focus on biology.

“I came across a lab at Western Carolina University that was looking for a graduate student to study birdsong,” he said.

According to Duke, the program needed someone with the technical know-how to run recording equipment, allowing him to become a scientist after all.

After graduate school, Duke spent time instructing a range of college biology courses, trying to find the most efficient way to explain complicated concepts. He began making short explainer videos for students that they ended up sharing with their peers. 

“I loved when it clicked,” Duke said. “I loved when I came up with some metaphor, like some vehicle to explain how a cell works.” 

While teaching, Duke was also a freelance writer for science communication publications. It was when he was working on the Curiosity Daily podcast for Discovery, Inc., that he met David Goldenburg, creative director and head of production at MinuteEarth. 

Duke began doing freelance work, later becoming writer and director. He said MinuteEarth was an offshoot of MinutePhysics when the creator Henry Reich got a flood of requests for videos on natural science and biology. 

“I feel like I'm well suited for what I do because I am prone to obsessive deep dives into things that are new and exciting to me,” Duke said. “That's sort of how my research process goes, I kind of become fixated on something really specific, like the fact that 90% of all meteorites that we've ever discovered on our planet were found in Antarctica.” 

Despite the ultimate medium of his research becoming videos, Duke still emphasises his role as a writer. He said each script he writes enters a massive editorial process requiring eight to 10 drafts before he even begins to narrate. 

The craft of getting a challenging concept down to 500 or 600 words is an art form in itself. 

“The challenge is part of what makes it interesting,” Duke said. “I always found that when I was in school, I was asked to write essays and it was such a pain to write more than three pages and now I feel the inverse of that. If only I had 2,000 words to express what I want instead of 600.”

He said that his favorite videos are those that seem simple on the surface but uncover something far more complex and fascinating. 

As the writer in residence this fall, Duke spends his time hanging around the shop, making the shop a collaborative space by bringing his background and what he does. In January, he will have a collaborative showcase with the Maker in Residence and Reader in Residence. 

Duke’s work at MinuteEarth is more than just making short videos. By explaining the natural phenomena in everyday life, he’s teaching people how to be curious, one four-minute script at a time. 

Maximus Vogt is an art history major and journalism minor at CSU, active in fine art happenings on campus. He is interested in the intersection of art, community and news. 

By Isabella Hemness
The Ramspondents

At 11:14 a.m. on Oct. 26, Fort Collins police began an investigation of a serious two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Rutgers Avenue and South College Avenue. The crash involved a 2009 Ducati 696 motorcycle and a 1999 Subaru Legacy. Each vehicle was occupied only by the drivers. The motorcyclist was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. 

Because of the severity of the collision, the Fort Collins Police Collision Reconstruction and Scene Handling took over the investigation. The investigation has revealed that the Subaru Legacy was making a left turn from South College Avenue onto Rutgers Avenue and the Ducati motorcycle was heading southbound on South College Avenue.

Southbound College Avenue was shut down from Prospect Road to Rutgers Avenue while the police investigated the scene. Police are currently investigating whether speed and/or impairment played a part in the incident. 

Anyone with information who has not already spoken to Fort Collins police is asked to contact Fort Collins Police Officer Matt Brede at (970) 221 6540. More information on the incident can be found on the Fort Collins government website. 

Isabella Hemness is a student at Colorado State University, studying journalism and international studies. With journalism experience through classes such as Newswriting, Video Editing and Advanced Reporting and an interest in community engagement and factual storytelling, Isabella works to inform and entertain through her writing.

By Cole Walters
The Ramspondents

From trick-or-treating to party hopping, Halloween is a day when most people spend a great deal of time traveling and doing outdoor activities. Here’s the weather that Fort Collins can expect this Halloween.

Currently, Oct. 31 is looking to be a relatively mild but slightly chilly day. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 50s during the day with partly cloudy conditions. 

By sunset, temperatures will be in the mid 40s, so ensure that any trick-or-treaters have appropriately warm attire to go with their costumes. 

By 9 p.m., the temperatures will fall to the 40s, with temperatures falling below freezing from 2 a.m. through 9 a.m. This makes for a chilly evening for anyone staying out late on Friday.

Chances for precipitation are relatively low, so no umbrellas or snow boots should be necessary throughout the day and night.

For live weather updates, continue to check weather apps and Boulder’s National Weather Service office.

Temperature and weather predictions are sourced from NWS Boulder and Accuweather.

Cole Walters is a junior at Colorado State University majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Science Communication. He has a diverse background in journalism and communication, including social media, written journalism and photojournalism.