My Science Story

In this interview with Erica Cirino, we discuss the various adventures she has gone on as a freelance science writer. I also love her attitude of valuing experiences and relationships over items. I really think you will love to hear Erica's Science Story!

I meet with Dr. Lesley De Souza, an ichthyologist who studies the Amazon watershed. She focuses on arapaima, a 10ft 200 pound fish that lives in oxbow lakes. She also discusses included local people on research teams to ensure they are invested in the conservation. She also gives encouragement to young, female scientists about pursuing their dreams! I hope you enjoy the interview.

I sit down with Chris Helzer to talk about his Blog, theprairieecologist.com, his background and various other prairie topics. I loved when he discussed the skills he regularly uses to work with land owners and how they aren't the "sciencey" skills. I also appreciated him talking about all the work that goes into maintaining healthy prairie ecosystems.

Dr. Lauren Diepenbrock is an entomologist who studies invasive fruit flies. The flies to $100 million+ in crop damages every year! She also talked about the importance of collaboration in science and having mentors to help you. She also has some hilarious field work fail stories you need to hear!

In my first interview with a lab researcher, I get to talk to Science Sam a neuroscientist from Toronto. She studies stem cells in brain development. Not only is she a scicomm genius, but she also can grow brain cells in a dish! You will love her enthusiastic and infectious attitude about science.

Meet Dr. Paula Cushing, a curator at the natural history museum in Denver! She is an arachnologist who specializes in camel spiders. She also has great advice for any student who is interested in pursuing a career in science!

In this interview I talk to Thomas Clements, a paleontologist from the UK. He studies how fossils are formed especially how soft tissues become fossils. He also talked about how working hard is more important than being smart and that the purpose of school is to learn how to enjoy learning.

I talk with Dr. Immy Smith who studied science, before deciding to focus full time on doing art. Immy's emphasis is on crypsis and camouflage and how humans impact animals' ability to blend in with its environment. The main thing I learned from Immy is the deep connection between art and science.

I got the opportunity to talk with Dr. Meaghan Pimsler, an entomologist who studies the impact of climate change on bumblebees. Our conversation went from the pros and cons of post doc work, to ways insects convince females to mate with them, to how genes are expressed in bees. It was a fascinating conversation and I know you will love it!

Max Czapanskiy is a scientist studying spatial ecology of marine birds. I loved hearing his perspective on being a scientist with ADHD and how field biology is drastically different than science in school. Enjoy listening!

Auriel Fournier is a post doc working on making a comprehensive management strategy for rail conservation throughout the Gulf of Mexico. I was honored to get to talk to her about her work and what skills are important for scientists to have. Enjoy!

In the first episode of My Science Story, I have a conversation with Asia Murphy a scientist who uses camera traps to study fossa in Madagascar. I really enjoyed learning about the value of using camera traps to gain interesting insights on animal behavior. I really think my students will relate to the wandering path she took to get where she is. She shows that you can like science, English and art and combine any of your passions in an interesting way. We even get raw and real about the mental health challenges students face and the strategies to help people who are struggling with that. I know you’ll enjoy listening to my conversation with Asia and thank you for checking it out.