Skype a Scientist Live: Recent Episodes
Skype A Scientist
Skype a Scientist connects people with scientists! These are recorded Q&A sessions with scientists. Listeners submit the questions!
Jaida Elcock is a graduate student at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on elasmobranch ecology and conservation. She is particularly interested in the movement ecology of migratory elasmobranchs, as this information is still unknown for many species. Jaida received her B.S. in Biology with University Honors from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. She has been recognized as an American Elasmobranch Society Young Professional Recruitment Fund Scholar and an Honorable Mention for the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Jaida is a science communicator through social media and enjoys doing outreach with any age group.
Nichole Broderick is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on impacts of the microbiome on animal health. Nichole’s teaching portfolio includes Tiny Earth, a microbiology-based authentic research course in which students search the soil and other environments for antibiotic-producing microbes. Through her role as the Director of Science and Training for Tiny Earth, she has helped train over 200 college and high school instructors to implement this course.Broderick received her PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a postdoctoral fellow at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland. She has won several awards including a Human Frontiers Long-term Postdoctoral Fellow, the 2020 Faculty Mentor Award from the University of Connecticut McNair & LSAMP Scholars Programs, and the 2021 American Society for Microbiology Award for Education.
Michael Baym is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard University. His research is centered around the problem of antibiotic resistance, at the intersection of experimental, theoretical and computational techniques. His work ranges from understanding the basic mechanisms of evolution to the development of algorithms for computation on massive biological datasets. Baym received his PhD in Mathematics from MIT and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in Systems Biology. He has won several awards including a Packard Fellowship, a Pew Biomedical Scholarship, and a Sloan Research Fellowship. He is also a part-time inventor, holding over four dozen issued US patents.
I grew up in New Philadelphia, OH and have always been interested in animals. I participated in 4-H equine projects and milked cows at local dairy farms in high school, but did not decide I wanted to pursue veterinary medicine until I was in college at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. There I earned a BA in Molecular Biology and minor in Environmental Studies. I went to veterinary school at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and have worked for the 5 years since serving the dairy, beef, equine, sheep, goat, and camelid patients and clients of Western NY state with the Perry Veterinary Clinic.
Watch her session here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83167298401
Abby Lewis is an ecologist who studies the effects of human activities on freshwater lakes. Her research has taken her everywhere from Southern California to Iceland, where she has studied how Los Angeles night lighting changes water quality in unseen ways and how invisible nutrient pollution affects Icelandic flies. Now, at Virginia Tech, Abby is working to help reservoir managers provide safe drinking water while also maintaining healthy lake ecosystems. The key to both of these goals? Invisible gasses in the water at the bottom of the lake.
Twitter: @lewis_lakes
Caitlin Cunningham is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at Dalhousie University. Her research looks at how cities can be better designed to support wildlife and meet biodiversity conservation goals. She is especially interested in how small spaces, like lawns and roadside verges can be used as wildlife habitat in the city. In her spare time, she is on a mission to find the best climbing tree in Halifax and the best recipe for peanut butter baked goods.
Wieteke Holthuijzen is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Northern Illinois University, where she studies the ecological impacts of introduced house mice on Midway through a collaborative research effort with Island Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Previously, Wieteke served as the Invasive Plant Control Specialist on Midway, helping to restore the atoll to a bustling seabird colony. She is intrigued by the nexus of nature and human presence and seeks to study and contribute to the conservation of imperiled species. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the cello, ukulele, banjo, and electric bass, and competing in roller derby with her local league (The Barbed Wire Betties).
An internationally renowned archaeologist with more than thirty seasons of excavation experience, Prof. Eric H. Cline has conducted fieldwork from Greece and Crete to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. Drawing on his forthcoming book, Digging Deeper, Cline will answer questions that archaeologists are most frequently asked: How do you know where to dig? How are excavations actually done? How do you know how old something is? This session will be filled with insights and practical advice about how archaeology really works. The webinar will begin with a short introduction and then will be opened up to the audience for a live Q&A session with Prof. Cline.
Dr. Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics and Anthropology, former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and current Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University (GWU), in Washington DC. He is an active field archaeologist, with more than 30 seasons of excavation and survey experience in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, and the United States. He is a former co-director at Megiddo (biblical Armageddon), where he dug from 1994 through 2014, and is currently co-directing the excavations at Tel Kabri in northern Israel, site of a 4,000-year-old Canaanite palace, where they have discovered the remains of the oldest and largest wine cellar so far known from the ancient Near East.
An archaeologist's daily life is quite different than the images portrayed in popular movies and media. However, there is still plenty of discovery, adventure, and personality. Blogging has offered archaeologists the opportunity to communicate both their work and their lives in a personalized and ongoing way that departs from printed books and documentaries. This session explores the speakers' experience in blogging archaeology for the past 5 years and how this medium has impacted her archaeological research, as well as other facets of her life.
Smiti Nathan is an archaeologist specializing in interdisciplinary approaches to food and resource decision-making strategies of ancient societies around the Indian Ocean region. Currently, she works on archaeological projects in Oman and Ethiopia. She received her PhD in the Department of Anthropology at New York University and is an Assistant Director of Life Design at the Johns Hopkins University. Over the past 5 years, she has documented her work and travels on her website, Habits of a Travelling Archaeologist.
**This webinar presents evidence for the late Roman/early Byzantine leprosy epidemic that affected Thebes, and probably a much wider area of Greece. It also will look at individuals who were buried in two mass graves, suggesting that they died in a catastrophic event, such as an epidemic disease. The Justinianic plague, known to be the first wave of bubonic plague to sweep through Europe, was ravaging the Mediterranean world during the centuries this cemetery was in use. We anticipate that DNA analysis will identify the disease that killed the individuals in these mass graves, but we know already that many of them also were suffering from leprosy when they died.
Maria Liston received a BA and MA in Classics a BA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee. She is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Waterloo, ON, and a 2020-2021 Honorary Research Associate in the Malcom H. Wiener Laboratory of Archaeological Sciences at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. She is a skeletal biologist and archaeologist, focusing on the excavation and analysis of human remains and their mortuary contexts. She co-authored The Agora Bone Well (2018), a study of a well containing 449 infant and fetal skeletons, probably deposited by midwives working in Hellenistic Athens. She is currently documenting skeletons from an early Christian cemetery found in in the Sanctuary of Apollo in Thebes. This cemetery was associated with an early hospice or hospital; many of the individuals buried there suffered from leprosy, and two mass graves suggest there were victims of the Plague of Justinian, and she will be talking about this project in the webinar.**
What can Roman toilets teach us about daily life in ancient Rome? What does the archaeology of these structures reveal about Roman hygiene, public sanitation, customs related to purity or cleanliness? In a talk that investigates and illustrates some key examples of public and private Roman toilets from Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Ostia, we take a trip down into the black holes of ancient space for some answers.
Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow has done archaeological fieldwork in Italy at Herculaneum, Pompeii, Ostia, and Rome, and in Jordan, Tunisia, and survey work or archaeological study in Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, and Turkey. She works especially on Roman daily life, including urban infrastructure, plumbing and hydraulics, baths and bathing practices, and toilets and sanitation. At Brandeis University, she is Kevy and Hortense Kaiserman Endowed Chair in the Humanities, Professor of Classical Studies, and Head of the Division of the Humanities. She was the 2016 winner of the Archaeological Institute of America's award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Dr. Murty Studies the influence of neuromodulatory systems on both memory and memory-guided decisions using human neuroimaging.
Dr. Sarah Ward studies behavioral and pharmacological effects of the cannabinoid, serotonin, and opioid receptor systems on neuropathic pain and neuroprotection, learning and memory, and addiction.
Dr. Russ Buono is a science educator and researcher in molecular biology and the genetics of the human brain and disease states.
Janelle Shane's AI humor blog, AIweirdness.com, looks at the strange side of artificial intelligence. She has been featured on the main TED stage, in the New York Times, The Atlantic, WIRED, Popular Science, All Things Considered, Science Friday, and Marketplace. Her book, "You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How AI Works, Thinks, and Why It’s Making the World a Weirder Place" uses cartoons and humorous pop-culture experiments to look inside the minds of the algorithms that run our world, making artificial intelligence and machine learning both accessible and entertaining. Shane is also a research scientist at an optics R&D company, where she has worked on projects including a holographic laser tweezers module for the space station, and a virtual reality arena for mantis shrimp.
Chelsea Connor is a herpetologist focusing on anoles at university in Texas. She's studying the interactions between an invasive species, Anolis cristatellus (Crested anole), and an endemic species, Anolis oculatus (Eyed anole), on the Commonwealth of Dominica where she's from. Chelsea is also a science communicator who loves sharing fun facts about anoles on her Twitter page with #DidYouAnole.
Melissa Molho is a Ph.D. candidate in the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Kentucky where she studies virus-host interactions in plants. She likes doing outreach activities and advocating for diversity and inclusion in science. Melissa is originally from Mexico City and she loves learning about different cultures. She also enjoys reading suspense books and historical novels.
Dr. Wei Wei is a plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture. She obtained her PhD in Microbiology from Oregon State University. Her research focuses on understanding the interactions between bacterial pathogens and their plant hosts to help improve plant disease control and prevention strategies. When she is not working in the lab, Wei enjoys painting, cooking, and traveling.
Chelsea Newbold is a master’s student at Oregon State University where they study the effects of fungicide resistance on the growth and development of grape powdery mildew. Chelsea is visually impaired, from a low-income background, and a member of the LGBTQ+ community giving them a unique perspective on plant science and the world of plant health. Chelsea is a passionate activist for the rights of marginalized communities and a proud union member who currently sits on the executive council of their graduate student union. Chelsea has experience in a broad range of scientific fields including high school research in the catalytic chemistry of solar panels, undergraduate research in the study of root rot pathogen detection in avocado and blueberry, and now in their position as a graduate student. They hope to continue their education through to a Phd, eventually work in agricultural extension and to empower other queer and first-generation students to pursue a career in plant pathology.
Peter Soroye is a PhD Student in Biology at the University of Ottawa studying the impacts of climate change and habitat loss on pollinators. Peter's research focuses on pollinators like bumblebees and butterflies, but he's interested in finding solutions to help wildlife more broadly. When not doing research, Peter enjoys camping, hiking, playing basketball, and listening to rap/hip-hop.
Imari Walker's travels have influenced her concern for the future of clean accessible water and our growing islands of plastic pollution in the sea. She completed her Bachelors in Marine Science at University of California, Berkeley and is a PhD candidate in Environmental Engineering at Duke University. Her research investigates the fate, occurrence, and transformation of plastic additives within water. Imari also produces entertaining, easy to understand Youtube Videos focused on environmental science and how to be successful in undergraduate and graduate programs.
Dr Chris Baker is an ecologist who uses DNA sequencing to work out how species interact. His current research uses DNA from blood-feeding leeches to measure animal biodiversity in the Ailao Mountains of China’s Yunnan Province. His previous research took him to the savannas of Kenya where he worked on termites that grow fungus for food, and ants that protect trees from elephants and giraffe. Website: bakerccm.github.io Twitter: @bakerccm
I am a botanist that loves plants and travels the world searching for them! I am also interested in science communication and policy. I want my work to have a positive impact on society.
Dr. Rob O’Malley is an evolutionary anthropologist and primate behavioral ecologist who works for the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program (www.aaas.org/DoSER). The program fosters constructive science engagement between scientific and religious communities, recognizing that these often overlap. He will share some background and best practices for scientists, educators, and others, drawing on DoSER’s recent and ongoing projects. He also hopes to learn about others’ perspectives and experiences related to this area of science engagement.
Alexis Stutzman, BIG Founder
PhD Candidate, Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum at UNC Chapel Hill
UNC-IMSD Genetics Diversity Excellence Fellow,
B.S. Univ of Chicago ‘18
Alex studies molecular determinants of 3D genome architectural changes during fruit fly wing development.
Markia Smith, BIG Co-organizer
PhD Student in Pathobiology and Translational Science at the UNC Chapel Hill
B.S. University of Delaware
Markia uses integrative genomic approaches to study tumor biology, including genetic and environmental determinants, that cause racial/ethnic disparities.
Aarin A Williams, MS, LCGC
Licensed Certified Genetic Counselor
MS Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling, Stanford University. BS Biology, Howard University.
Aarin currently practices prenatal, cancer and general genetics at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
Loydie A. Jerome-Majewska, PhD
Ph.D. Columbia University, Post-doc: Sloan Kettering Institute, Associate Professor at McGill University, Depts of Pediatrics, Human Genetics and Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Dr. Jerome-Majewska studies the genetic and molecular basis of abnormal organ development in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and spliceosomopathies.
Dr. Janina M. Jeff is a senior scientist and population geneticist, with over 20 scientific publications. In addition to her public speaking and prominent position in STEAM, She also is the host and executive producer of a podcast called In Those Genes! The show uses Black culture and hip hop as a vessel to teach genetics to the Black community.
Tykee James moved to DC and joined the National Audubon Society as Government Affairs Coordinator in December of 2018. His background is highlighted with experience as an environmental educator, community organizer, and environmental policy advisor in his hometown, Philly. Tykee is a birder and his passion for the hobby stems from his experience seeing how environmental health reflects community health.
wildlifeobservernetwork.com
Twitter: @Tykee_James
Instagram: @TykeeJames
Arik (he/him/his) is a huge herp-nerd and graduate student in Zoology at the University of Florida, where he researches amphibian disease ecology. He is currently trying to understand the impact and presence of the amphibian killing fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), throughout amphibian communities in Florida, and researching how coinfections of pathogens might affect the future of North American salamander species. Arik has previously worked with the USGS and NPS to identify possible pathogen spillover from invasive Burmese pythons to native snake assemblages in the Everglades.
A Board Member and President of BioCurious, a community lab space, a leader on two iGEM teams in 2014 and 2015 and a member of multiple community lab science projects including Open Insulin, Real Vegan Cheese, CuttleWranglin, DIY Bioprinter, and Kombucha Genomics. I push for open source science and for the creation of more community lab spaces.
Bret Grasse is the manager of cephalopod operations at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He has advanced the field of cephalopod husbandry (aka raising and taking care of cephalopods in an aquarium), and has figured out how to keep many cephalopod species happy and healthy in captivity that humans were previously unable to culture!
Dr. Carly Anne York is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. Her interests lay in the field of animal physiology, and she earned her doctorate studying how squid use their sensory systems to evade predators.
Laura is a Program Coordinator at the Center for Disaster Risk Policy and an instructor in the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program at Florida State University. She conducts research in UAS integration and applications, operates as a public, unmanned pilot and member of the CDRP UAS Team, and occasionally serves as a UAS Coordinator in the Air Operations Branch at the Florida State Emergency Operations Center during disasters. She also maintains the CDRP UAS equipment cache.
Laura is interested in policy analysis (specifically innovation and diffusion) at the federal, state, and local levels, and applies this interest to UAS policies, laws, and regulations. She is nearing the end of her third year as a doctoral student at the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University.
Riley Black is the critically-acclaimed author of natural history books such as Skeleton Keys, My Beloved Brontosaurus, and Prehistoric Predators. Her bylines have appeared in publications from Slate to Nature, and she’s a frequent volunteer with paleontology field programs around the west. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I am a Chilean astronomer searching for optical counterparts of short gamma-ray bursts and gravitational waves. Currently, I am a third year Astronomy PhD student at the University of Maryland (UMD). I am working with Dr. Leo Singer from NASA using the Zwicky Transient Facility to cover large portions of the sky and maximize the probability to find transients in the northern nightsky. I obtained my undergraduate degree from the P. Universidad Católica de Chile where I majored in Astronomy. While there, I worked using machine learning algorithms to find quasars in the ATLAS survey. During my senior year summer, I was part of the Cerro Tololo (CTIO) Reaserch Experience for Undergraduates and worked on identifying globular clusters an a shell-elliptical galaxy. After my graduation I interned at the Gemini Observatory and further analyzed the morphology of the galaxy.
Kandrea Wade is entering her second year as a PhD student in the Information Science department at CU Boulder focusing on algorithmic identity and the digital surveillance of marginalized groups. Along with developing her research at CU Boulder, Kandrea seeks to discover and assist in creating proper ethical regulations and education on algorithmic identity and digital literacy. With a background of over 15 years in entertainment and media, her interests have evolved from demographic programming for entertainment and media theory to corporate user ethics and legal protections for the digital citizen. Kandrea holds BA in technical theatre from The University of Texas at Arlington and an MA in media, culture, and communications from New York University.
Nick did his Master's at the University of Connecticut studying what people think about black bears and black bear management. He has also researched human-beaver coexistence, and media portrayals of grizzly bear conservation. Now he's a research associate at the University of Alberta, where he uses GIS to understand the impacts of resource development on human wellbeing, particularly for Indigenous and rural communities.
Twitter: @NickYarmey
Steven is currently finishing his master's at the University of Connecticut, studying people's perceptions of roadside tree trimming. The goal of the project is to create more sustainable management decisions to mitigate conflicts. He has an interest in invasive species, native pollinators, and map-making. Steven likes using iNaturalist, which is an online community of citizen scientists, to document and discover species found while exploring local protected areas. Twitter: @stevendifalco / website: stevendifalco.github.io
She's DINO-mite! Puzzler, detective, anatomist, geologist, which would you choose? Fossil Preparator at the Perot Museum Myria Perez does it all! Right now she is puzzling back together a skull of a Pachyrhinosaurus. By researching fossils, she can understand our Earth's history and in turn, understand its future. Some of the fossils she has worked on are even on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.Ask a Fossil Preparator! With Myria Perez
Most of us think of Antarctica as a big, white, icy wilderness. But what about the 1% that isn’t covered by ice? Though small, these areas are fragile and easily damaged. I’m a professional rock collector and drone pilot, using observations from the ground and the sky to find ways to reduce our impact on the environment and figure out how it will change into the future.
Earth Day Network joined us for a Q&A about how to celebrate earth day... even when you're stuck indoors during a pandemic.
Where on earth is the most diverse and how can we protect species diversity? Let's get into it.
We talk about how you can use old coral to learn about previous climates and what that means for today!
What even is political science?
How do political scientists collect data and how is that data used?
Are politicians political scientists?
Learn the answers to all these things and more in this episode of Skype a Scientist LIVE.
Hot Science in Cold Ice: Exploring the Greenland ice sheet for signs of change with Mike MacFerin
Author of Does it Fart, Dani Rabaiotti joined us for a questioning on farts! Her co-author, Nick Caruso joined us for a bit too!
Feeding your gut bacteria: what we know about how gut bacteria influence health with Jessica McCann
We talked about everything from how bats fly to how they poop, echolocation to butt blankets. Buckle up, this one's a wild ride.
Check our Chuck's Book Wanderers at his local book shop https://www.doylestownbookshop.com/book/9780399182105
Dr. Matt Mizuhara is an assistant professor of mathematics at The College of New Jersey. He specializes in applied mathematics and mathematical biology. His work combines rigorous theory and numerical simulations to study synchronization and pattern formation in biological systems. For example, certain species of fireflies spontaneously synchronize their light flashes. Using mathematical models Matt can investigate how this synchronization occurs and what minimal mechanisms allow such order to emerge.
Dr. Nick Battista is an assistant professor of mathematics at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). He is an applied mathematician specializing in the mathematical modeling of biological systems using a variety of techniques, including numerical simulation and physical and/or organismal experiments. Nick works on a variety of problems in biomechanics, from heart development to aquatic locomotion to collective behavior, produces open-source fluid dynamics software for the scientific community, and investigates ways to thwart the on-going opioid crisis, all with his team of undergraduates. His favorite scientists are the Ghostbusters.
Hi I'm Dr. Kaeli Swift! I study the behavior of corvids, which are the family of birds that includes crows, ravens, magpies and jays. Right now my work focuses on understanding how climate change may affect the feeding behavior of Canada jays.
Jason Ward is a bird scientist, writer, science communicator, and all around bird nerd. He loves changing people’s minds about the world around them, and sharing his love for birds, our modern-day dinosaurs. Jason also has his own show now Birds of North America, which you can watch on Youtube!
Today we'll be hearing from Kate Marvel, a climate scientist at NASA! She uses climate models and satellite observations to track and understand the ways in which our planet is changing. It's bleak but important. Here's Kate.
"Life sometimes gives you a path that you have to just go with and find the beauty in it. And this is how I found myself. I currently am a science communicator and an international model. I spent years studying astrophysics because it begins to define us and who we are in our place in the universe. But I learned that communicating science and space to people around the world is what my calling was. I am a science host on YouTube channels like Astroathens, which I created and Seeker from the Discover Channel and the TMRO show. Explaining science through television is so much fun and you get to experiment with all the fun ways one can translate very complicated science topics and concepts to the rest of the world that may not know too much about science! When I was a researcher in Astrophysics my focus was on Proto-planetary disks (PROPLYDS) and low mass stars formations."- Athena Brensberger
David Steen is a wildlife ecologist and the founder of the Alongside Wildlife Foundation!
Today we're going to be hearing from the volcanologist Doctor Janine Krippner! She's a great science communicator and I hope you enjoy the conversation we had with her.
Katherine O'Reilly is a freshwater Fish biologist at Notre Dame in the Lamberti lab!
Katherine's twitter is hilarious - this past Christmas she launched the #25DaysOfFishmas, celebrating the season with a fish a day! She is a science communication fellow as part of the National Sea Grant!
Sarah McAnulty is a squid biologist at the University of Connecticut! In this episode she gives us the low-down on squid.