Podcasts about biology department

Cassie Petoskey: Hi, everyone. Thanks for being here. I'm Cassie Petoskey. I use she or they pronouns. And I'm the Director of the Waldron Student Alumni Connections Program, where our goal really is to help Weinberg College students explore career options through connecting with alumni. So thank you so much for our alumni for being here with us today. And we're going to spend some time. Amelia is going to take us through some prepared questions for our speakers. We'll get into it. Are you okay? I feel like I always talk at the worst time too. So no worries. And then we're going to save plenty of time for questions at the end. And Shai is going to moderate questions from you all. So please, we'll save plenty of time for that as you all are writing [inaudible 00:00:44] down throughout. And I think that's it without... And of course, thank you to Geoclub for partnering with us on this event. Very excited to have you all bring this idea forward and work with you all on this. So thank you. And without further ado, I'll pass to Amelia and Shai. Why don't you introduce yourselves first and then we'll go to our alumni speakers? [inaudible 00:01:06]. Amelia: Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for coming. I'm Amelia. I'm a second year. I'm a Bio and Earth Science... Technically, Earth Science minor, but whatever. And I'm the president of Geoclub. And I'm so grateful that you all attended this event. We really wanted to be able to show people what Earth and Environmental Sciences can do for you in the future and expand the idea of there are [inaudible 00:01:29]. Shai: Hi, guys. I'm Shai. I use he/him pronouns. I'm a senior majoring in Earth and Planetary Science. I'm education chair of Geoclub. So also very glad to see so many [inaudible 00:01:40] here, and I'm excited to hear all the wisdom that our alumni have to offer. Thank you guys. Amelia: Yeah. So to start us off with some questions, can you share with us more about your industry and current job function and introduce yourselves while you're at it? And if you could speak to the microphone, that would be wonderful. Cassie Petoskey: Yeah. We're recording it. Sorry. Seems silly. Max Jones: Sure. Yeah. My name is Max Jones. And speaking of the future of your careers, I'm the near future because I graduated in June actually. So I am a class of 2024. I'm currently a Master's student at the Chicago Botanic Garden and I'm working as a conservation biologist and wildlife biologist. And so right now I've just returned from seven months of fieldwork in Panama doing work on forest fragmentation and animal movements. And I'm super excited to talk about all that and then also how I've kind of gotten to this point, especially so fresh out of undergrad. And then moving forward, I'm also going to be moving to Germany this summer to work with some scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior to keep working there. And so I'm going to be talking mostly I guess about my time networking at Northwestern and then how Earth and Planetary Science and Environmental Science has led me to the strange position I'm in right now. Margaret Isaacson: Hey, everyone. So my name's Margaret Isaacson. I graduated in 2015. It's been a minute. I'm a graduate of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, and currently I am a conservation and outdoors division manager at the Parks and Rec department in Evanston. So I'm pretty local. My position title is a long way of saying that I oversee our local nature center and all the programs that we run out of that facility along with the park services team that oversees the maintenance of the public restrooms around town and the athletic fields around town and picnic areas. So happy and excited to be here and talk to you all. And I think what I'll focus on, but happy to answer any questions, is how my experience in the department brought me to maybe an unusual career path and sector of the workplace, which is parks and recreation. Amelia: Thank you. So what were some of the impactful classes or experiences for you in your undergrad at Northwestern that led you to pursue your career path? Margaret Isaacson: Max, I feel like yours is in more recent memory, but I'll dig back. Max Jones: Okay. For mine, I think I'd probably start with saying ironically Spanish. Spanish led me down a snowball into this world of Latin American conservation that I've found myself in. And it was really that triggered the start, but then also I had everyone in the Environmental Science Department urging me to branch out and try new things, which was something super interesting. And so then specifically which classes, I'd say the GIS class with Elsa Anderson that I took was incredibly impactful in my senior year. That's been a skill that I've used all the time going forward. And just knowing these different kinds of programs like that have made it really easy for me to quickly pick up new kinds of analysis or feel comfortable going into different fields that I might not have experience with at the time. There was that, and then I'd also say my community ecology class from... That one's with the Biology Department, although I think Environmental Science students often take that too. That one just exposed me to a lot of different kind of paper readings. And so at first I thought those classes were very unfocused, but then I realized the goal is to expose you to so many different kinds of scientific thought that then you can... You find that one paper that you get really, really into for some reason and then that ends up being the rabbit hole that you follow down into the career that you want. Margaret Isaacson: The first thing that I'm thinking about back 10 years ago is some of the field experiences that I went on with the various classes, everything from Earth 201, that [inaudible 00:05:45] like trip, which hopefully is still around, to doing lake sediment coring up in Wisconsin on a frozen lake in the middle of February. That's right. Maggie remembers that hopefully. It was very cold. It was very, very cold that day. A lot of dancing on the ice to keep warm. So these experiences in the outdoors, they built on my passion for camping, my passion for spending time in the outdoors, but I got to be doing important science while I was out there. And now as a parks and recreation professional, my job is primarily outdoors and the goal of our Ecology Center here in Evanston is to inspire families, young kids, adults, people of all ages to spend time outdoors, whether that's through a quick class, through a whole summer of summer camp. But really it was those experiences doing science outside that showed me what can I do to inspire other people. "My professors are inspiring me now. Is there something more local, maybe less academic that I can have an impact on a broad range of people?" So I think those experiential moments were really important for me and really didn't guide me directly to parks and rec, but reinforced my passion for the outdoors and for inspiring that in others. Amelia: Max, you mentioned a bit about how your connections and networking that you had here are important. I don't know if that's applicable to you, but if you'd share a bit more about that, I'd love to hear. Max Jones: Yeah. Sorry. Give me just a second. You guys, it really was like... It's a funny thing on how you get started in these things because it's never the path you originally take that ends up to where you end up in the end. Because I think I started with one of the professors who was teaching an introductory climate change course my freshman year. I worked with her on processing photos of trees for a while and then that slowly led me to meet the people at the Chicago Botanic Garden. And then even though my research interests don't perfectly align with them, I did a thesis with Trish, with Patricia Betos, as my undergrad thesis advisor. And Trish is a mover. She loves pushing people to go do more and more and more. So I ended up going and doing a thesis in Costa Rica for my undergrad field work. And this is what I mean by the snowballs because I started taking photos of trees and then I ended up in Costa Rica doing sea turtle work with Trish and then from there I met the people that I worked with on this project as well. So that's the number one thing that I always recommend is don't be afraid to follow a lead, even if you don't know exactly where it's going to lead you to in that moment. Margaret Isaacson: Yeah. I could add a little bit to that. Not so much networking here on campus, but just post-grad when you start out at an opportunity. My first job was a part-time... My first job after post-grad was a part-time position with the Ecology Center. It was limited hours. I was learning on the job how to lead programs, completely new in the environmental education field, but I then left and came back two times and in four different positions leading to the one that I'm in now. So I think, like you said, following a lead, even if you don't know necessarily where it's going to take you, building relationships with the folks that you work with, the folks that... Whether it's academic or professional or just a summer experience, those are connections that you're going to take with you along the way. They might be people that you meet again. They might not. But like you said, Max, it's going to take you somewhere. And I think I wouldn't be where I was now if I didn't have the Ecology Center, for example, in the back of my mind and just building back towards that in some ways once I found something that I was excited about. Amelia: That's great. Thank you. What has surprised you about what you learned or did during your school days that helped you in your work today? I hope something you learned helps today. Margaret Isaacson: I can speak to that a little bit. So when I was an undergrad, I had two majors. I studied French all the way at the south end of campus, and then I was up here at the north end of campus doing Earth and Planetary Sciences. And having those two degrees really helped me flex some of my critical thinking skills. I wasn't always focused on data and reading scientific papers. I was also reading French literature and writing papers about French literature. I'm not fluent in French. I'm not using that skill very much. But that flexibility between two different majors or two different ways of using your brain has really served me well in how I organize my time at work, how I manage my staff, how we think critically about designing a new program in Evanston or figuring out how to make the bathrooms clean. Somebody's got to do it, so figuring out an efficient way to do that. I think the work ethic that you learn and practice at Northwestern is going to serve you no matter what. Maybe, Max, you have more data analyst that you use in your day-to-day than I do necessarily, but I think it's those soft skills and those hard skills that are going to come into play. Max Jones: No. I 100% agree with the soft skills part because so many of the random little things you do day-to-day as a college student end up translating in very strange ways to you being in a post-grad experience. For example, I never played soccer before, but then I played IM Leagues here and then all of a sudden, I felt very comfortable going and playing IM Leagues in Panama and that was my resource to going to meet people. And so you do just learn very good social skills in college, I'd say, that then translate very well to being outside. And I think that's especially true at Northwestern when you're surrounded by people who generally like to have conversations because sometimes you come across someone that might not want to engage with you in a way that you want to engage with them and so you have now this kind of depth of experience of having good productive conversations with people and that you can use going forward. And that's something that I always found super useful. I also took a drawing class that I found really productive here. Yeah. Amelia: So sort of going back to the networking question, what advice might you have for networking within your individual industries? Max Jones: Do not be afraid to cold call people. That's the number one thing I think, is the worst that can happen is... Honestly the worst that can happen is that they remember your name and that's a best case scenario in most fields because then a few years down the line you can meet them again and be like, "Oh, hi. Do you remember me?" They say yes, then you've won technically. Yeah, because I've also talked to friends about this because they say... Especially in science, people love to collaborate in science. You'll have people wanting to collaborate even when you don't really want to. And so if you just email them and you just express your genuine interest, not just trying to find a job out of it, then I've only had people respond very positively in these scenarios. And so even if you get told, "No, we don't have an option," a friend of mine once told me that every interview or every kind of reaching out is a networking opportunity, so even if you don't get it, you've done your job for that day at least because then you've met one more person who maybe five years down the line is going to help you out. Margaret Isaacson: I would add that more than likely you're going to end up in... You potentially end up in some kind of professional sphere that has conference opportunities, whether that's something that you're attending now or looking to in the future. I was surprised. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was surprised when I got into parks and rec that there's a parks and rec conference. There's an Illinois parks and rec conference. There's a national parks and rec conference. There's so many people in this industry that I can learn from and skills that I never thought I'd even touch. So like Max said, don't be afraid to reach out to people. They're excited to talk about what they do and how they got there and what they want to do. So I think if you don't hear from people right away, it's probably because they're busy, but hopefully they get back to you. It doesn't hurt to email them again. Yeah. Just keep a positive attitude when you're reaching out to folks. Amelia: [inaudible 00:14:20] question, what is your favorite thing about your job? Margaret Isaacson: Oh, man. There's so many things. I also thought of my least favorite things, but... Well, you guys know I'm in charge of bathrooms now. It's not so glamorous. Gosh. There's so many fun things about parks and recreation. Being able to be outside a lot of the time is pretty great. I do spend a lot of hours behind a desk like anyone, but having our seasonal special events that we get the community out for, building new opportunities too for folks to experience the outdoors. Is really powerful to see the Evanston Environmental Association and the Ecology Center are working on trying to build a new canoe launch so that we can access the canal more easily. It's going to have a really big local impact. And it's just an inspiring process to watch. There's other parts of my job, like I said, that I never thought I'd be doing, where our building is under construction right now. And I studied Earth and science. I didn't study construction or architecture, but I get to see that whole process play out. And I think you can really see a lot of variety in most professions and learn from each of those experiences. And yeah. Right now, the construction is actually really fun to see play out. Max Jones: Yeah. For me, I'd say the collaborative element is something that I really love in my profession. It's the fact that no science is ever done in a bottle, and so you're constantly just meeting with people. It feels like a very creative process as you go through it. So it's always evolving, always adapting. Even the things you think are going to be boring, like sitting on your computer all day, just coding in R, then ends up being like something's going on there. And then you just dive down the rabbit hole and then you text all the other people you're collaborating with. It's like, "Hold on. Am I seeing this correctly?" Hey, I find it very enjoyable the fact that the process is iterative and I always get a chance to learn from other people. And then, like I said earlier, people love to collaborate. So then I've had really brief meetings where they're just throwing out ideas left and right at me. And the concept of just putting together all of these people's collective knowledge and interests and passion into the project is something that really speaks to me. And then the other thing I'd say is definitely I have a very fieldwork heavy field, and I think that that is something that's I personally enjoy a lot is this balance of I get to do work outside and then I also get to do this collaborative, creative element and bring this... Synthesize it all into a living, breathing work that I can put out into the world afterwards. Amelia: Thank you so much. Not to be presumptuous, but I'm seeing some themes between the both of you, which you said you like to be outside and you like to be creative, which I think is awesome. I think that's a thing that a lot of us in the room can relate to. How have your work or how have your values and beliefs influenced how you approach your professional workplace? Margaret Isaacson: Oh. Max Jones: It's funny. I prepped for this question and I'm still not ready for it. Margaret Isaacson: So I spoke to a little bit my passion for the outdoors, passion for outdoor rec, whether that's camping, hiking, backpacking, canoeing. A lot of those things I don't do here in Chicago. There's not too many backpacking routes in Chicago, so I try to get out of town and state for those. But those core values, just spending time outside really inform my day-to-day work, like you said, Amelia. I think even just taking a little break during the workday to get some [inaudible 00:18:04] or planning a professional development program for the Ecology Center staff or the parks and rec department as a whole that gets everyone outside and gets them rejuvenated goes a long way to staff's mental health, having fun in the workplace, being inspired in the workplace, even when we have these boring administrative tasks that we have to do every day. So I think that outdoor passion is really something that's just stuck with me along the way. And then were it not for the Ecology Center existing in this parks and rec department in Evanston, I wouldn't be able to bring my passion for sustainability to work either. I think sustainability would inform a lot of the things that the department does and that the City of Evanston does. The city has its own sustainability staff. We've got a sustainable waste manager. So I would say the town is progressive in that aspect, but having a center that's dedicated to promoting sustainability and educating folks on sustainability in a fun way, not in like a, "Here's how you recycle. And here's a DIY workshop on how to," I don't know, "Swap your clothes or something with other folks." I think having that focus of a center dedicated to this brings the fun into the Department of Sustainability, and that's been really nice to take from my work in paleo-climatology to, "Okay. What are we doing now and here and in this time to help Earth?" Max Jones: I really like what Margaret said about passion driving a lot of the work because I think that's really prominent in this field, especially where passion for the subject matter is really what gets us out of bed in the morning and then gets us to go because not a lot of people choose what we do based on the money or it's not like a career path that's recommended. It's like, "Oh, you should go into Earth and Environmental Sciences because that's a high income field." It's like, "No. We're doing this because we love it." And I do think that that is something that's like... It helps motivate a lot of the work you do and a lot of the challenges you might face along the way. It's like you think that, "At the very least I'm doing this because I love it and not because anyone is telling me I should." Amelia: I totally agree. I'm guessing a lot of people in this room also have a passion that leads them to come here. I think I'm out of my questions. Does anyone else have questions that they want to ask the speakers? I mean, I have [inaudible 00:20:42] my paper. Yeah. Rose: Yeah. Thank you guys for both being here. My name is Rose. I'm [inaudible 00:20:49] major. I'm a sophomore. I'm kind of curious, when you both were juniors, seniors, what did you think you were going to do and what was the plan that you had in your mind and what were the factors, like, "Oh, grad school. Oh, this, that."? Max Jones: Do you want me to start because more recent? Margaret Isaacson: Yeah. Max Jones: Okay. My journey as an undergrad was pretty funny because I came in as an engineering student. I originally wanted to be an environmental engineer because I come from Kentucky and so then back home you're just pushed to be either a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer. And I was like, "Well, engineer sounds fun." And then I got here and then I was just surrounded by people who were following passions instead of then just what they wanted to do. And so then I began to explore this career as an ambiguous just environmental researcher in my mind, but I didn't know exactly what that was going to look like and I really didn't know what it was going to look like until very recently. I only started all of my work abroad and then all of my work as a biologist specifically late in my junior year. And so it's one of those things where it's like I feel like a lot of it will take shape in very sudden and dramatic ways. So even if you don't know exactly where you're going, there's going to be some kind of event that triggers it and it all starts moving into place in that way. At least that's how it happened for me. Margaret Isaacson: I remember my advisor asking, "What is your dream job?" And I didn't really have a good answer. I wasn't ready, like, "Oh, I want to be teacher," or like, "I want to get a PhD and go into academia," or, "I want to do this type of research forever because I'm super excited about." And I was like, "Well, I like to spend time outside. Maybe a park ranger." I literally oversee staff called park rangers now. So I made it. But I think that brought me to, "Hmm. How can I take..." I really like reading about all this research. I really like digging into it myself. I like looking at under the microscope and making that into a paper. But I didn't see myself necessarily going to grad school. It wasn't like a for sure thing. And it wasn't a certainty for me. It didn't quite set in as that's what I definitely want to do. But I saw all this cool research and wanted to know, "Well, how do we take all this amazing but very specific research and take it and communicate it to the general public? What are they getting out of all the great things that we do here on campus and elsewhere?" And that took me down the path of environmental education and science communication. I think for a little while I thought, "Oh, I'm going to maybe go and figure how to write and become a science communicator." I found local part-time jobs that were environmental education related because that was going to be how I took my expertise and my knowledge, build on that knowledge in other ways, and then inspire other people to maybe they end up getting a PhD. Maybe it's not me, but it might be them, or they're just excited about being outside and learning a new fact about local wildlife. So yeah, it was kind of circuitous. And over the last 10 years or so since finding science communication, I've gone more towards the administrative and managerial side, which is also really exciting. I like flexing those muscles and figuring out how to get a team to work all together and put on that science communication. I'm not in front of the campfire group leading the program anymore, and that's kind of a bummer sometimes, but we make it happen as a team. So you discover different talents along the way as well. Amelia: That was an awesome answer. Thank you so much. I did realize there's one more question on my paper that Rose's kind of leaned into, which is what do you wish you could tell yourself when you were in student's shoes? Margaret Isaacson: Do you wish you could tell yourself last year? Max Jones: I know, right? I do wish that... Because it's very natural that while you're wondering if what you're doing is going to work out, then you put a lot of pressure on yourself. It's like, "Why haven't I figured out what I'm going to do next right now?" And over the process of I guess the last year and a half for me, it's very much like a process of it happens. Progress happens very slowly until it just jumps forward. So you're going to feel like you're stuck and then you're repeating the same patterns a lot. It's like, "Why haven't I gotten this next connection yet? Why haven't I figured it out?" And then it really snaps into place when you least expect it. And so then you finally get that motion forwards and then things start rushing and then life moves faster again, but then it'll slowly trickle back down and then you have to ride the waves of sometimes it moves fast in terms of you're making these good connections and you're moving forward in your projects or in your career, and then other times you have to be very calm and weather the storm a little bit. So I'd say I tell myself to calm down and chill out. Margaret Isaacson: I would second that. "Just relax. It's going to work out. Okay?" I think that I was kind of similar in putting a lot of pressure on myself to do well academically. Again, not really thinking about what I wanted to do post-grad until I was in it. But I think just give yourself some grace and be patient with what you do. Work hard, but you can also be patient and not expect that you're going to do the same thing as your colleague or your friend who is in the same department. Your paths could look completely different. Clearly. Ours are completely different. So talk to your colleagues. Talk to your advisors. See what their experiences are. Ask alumni what their experiences are. But don't think that that is the experience that you have to do or take or follow. There's a lot of options and you can also pivot later. You might get into something right after graduation and then you might find out, "Oh, I'm really good at this one piece of that job and I'm going to pursue that." It's not a straight path. It's not one thing. You can always switch it up. I may switch it up. You never know. Max Jones: Yeah. If I can bounce back off that again, it's not comparing yourself to the people around you [inaudible 00:27:34] critical because then you end up in cycles where the person next to you gets a fellowship and instead of being happy for them and interested in it, you're just like, "Oh, damn. Why don't I have a fellowship yet?" And it really is like, yeah, everyone has a different path that they're going to take throughout this and it just feeds into an imposter syndrome if you let yourself make those comparisons. Margaret Isaacson: A lot of the staff who come and work at the Ecology Center are recent grads. They come and they do part-time work as program instructors. That's what I started out as. And I think I see in them bringing just so much positivity and excitement about their work. I think that's a really great thing to grab on when you're just starting out after graduating in your career. You're going to feel great about yourself if you're doing something you're excited about. You're going to meet people and learn what they do. And the staff that I work with, they work so hard, they cobble together multiple part-time jobs. They're pulling experience from multiple places and it's getting them where they need to be. Not to say that that's the path for everyone, but I think it's just important to keep a positive attitude while you're in it and know that you're not stuck when you start one thing. You don't have to do that for the rest of time. Max Jones: That was beautiful. Amelia: That was beautiful. Thank you. Shai, you want to keep taking questions? Shai: Yeah. For sure. Did anybody have any other questions they want to ask alumni? Sure. Speaker 7: Do you guys feel like your identity ties into what you do? Or do you guys feel like you found parts of yourself doing your work? Even like you said, you kind of trialed a little bit. Do you feel like that kind of connected you more to who you are and even to [inaudible 00:29:27] up to what you do? Max Jones: Yeah. It kind of radically changed how I viewed myself in a way because, yeah, so I'm from Kentucky. I'm from a low-middle-income family. And so coming here I was very out of my elements it felt like a lot of times, surrounded by very elite academic institutions. So I went through a lot of my first second year with a chip on my shoulder. But then I go start working in Latin America where scientists there have to work twice as hard as I do just because they don't speak the same language. And then all of a sudden all of that feelings of angst, I guess, flooded away because I was like everything that I've been angry about or anxious about has just been minuscule on a larger scale. Yeah. I say working in international communities like that has very much changed my perception on life and science and as an industry as a whole. Margaret Isaacson: I would add the industry that I'm in, parks and rec, is very service oriented and I've learned so much about customer service, not from a restaurant job, but from answering 311s and... So. I don't know if everyone knows what 311. You guys know what 311 is, right? Okay. Maybe. Yes. That's Maggie, right? Are you sending me the 311s? No. But I think I've found that it makes me happy to provide a service for a community and you feel fulfilled when you... Even if it's something unglamorous, like cleaning bathrooms, you still feel like, "Oh, I'm impacting people on a regular basis, on a daily basis. And with my small work or local work, it's still important." So I think finding your impact is really a powerful thing, Speaker 7: [inaudible 00:31:29] but they take... Not take away from your [inaudible 00:31:31], but like you said, having that chip on your shoulder when you look back and now that you fulfilled almost in what you're doing, [inaudible 00:31:38]. Margaret Isaacson: I was so stressed back then. You don't need to be stressed. It's okay though. You can be stressed. College is a stressful time. There's a lot going on. You guys have a lot on your plate. You're managing a lot of learning. You're managing a lot of growth. And that's just going to continue. But you're able to take that on. And this is just one experience that's going to teach... College is just one experience that's going to teach you that you're capable of taking that on. You're just going to keep taking on new things. Shai: [inaudible 00:32:13] question? Yeah. Sure. Speaker 8: How do you guys feel about your work-life balance or just your outdoorsy hobbies come [inaudible 00:32:25]? Max Jones: Do you want to say? Margaret Isaacson: Sure. My work-life, so... Okay. Speaker 8: Your balance is [inaudible 00:32:36] by [inaudible 00:32:37] having outdoorsy hobbies and also that in a job. Margaret Isaacson: Oh, I see what you're saying. Interesting. No. Work is still work, even when it's outside, but it's nice when it's outside because you get a little break from your desk. No. I think work-life balance is probably something that you all are learning even now. And it's one of those things that you're going to get into the work world and it's going to look a little bit different. You're going to be tired. But I think if you find the right gig or the right job that's going to be able to build that in and still make time for yourself. And it's important to make time for yourself even in your work. I'm not sure if that was your question, but... Yeah. Do you want to? Max Jones: Yeah. I think I understand exactly what your worry is here because I love outdoors. I love all things nature related. But I have been surrounded by people sometimes when I'm working where it's like we're in the field 10 hours a day and then they come back, they're like, "Wow. That was great, wasn't it?" And I was like, "I'm tired. I want to go home," even though I love what I've done, but then you do come across a lot of... Not a lot, but sometimes you do find scenarios where the people you're with don't view what they're doing necessarily as work. They also view it as very fun. And so then you have to set your own boundaries there where you have to be like, "Yes, I enjoy this work a lot, but this is not what I want to be doing in my free time right now. I don't want to give up another afternoon of my time to go work, even though I enjoy my work." So I have found myself in those dilemmas before where it's like you really enjoy being outside, but also after your 15th hour of it, you're just like, "Okay. Let me go read a book or something." Shai: Good question. Do you have any more question? Cassie Petoskey: I think [inaudible 00:34:28] question about the goal day-to-day. I'm guessing every day is different, but what are you doing in [inaudible 00:34:36]? What are you doing in your outside? What are the activities? And how often? Like 15 hour a day you're outside? That's [inaudible 00:34:47]. What does that look like a day? Walk us through a day. Max Jones: Okay. For me, well, my day-to-day has just changed dramatically because I finished up my field season, but when I was in the field, it would be we're up at 5:45, quick breakfast, and then we go out into the forest, and then... I was setting up camera traps and so we were specifically looking at arboreal cameras and arboreal species, like monkeys and stuff. And so we would set up cameras in the trees. And so to do that, we would have to climb trees. I'd be climbing trees myself. And so that sometimes could entail... If one tree could take almost six hours sometimes just because you'd have to take a slingshot and then put a line up in the tree. I don't want to get too into it, but... Cassie Petoskey: [inaudible 00:35:32]. Max Jones: "Get into it. Get into it." Okay. Do we want the break- Cassie Petoskey: We want to know how you climb. Max Jones: Okay. So you take a big slingshot, and then you shoot a weight with a string on it over a branch that you think can support your weight. And then you... I say think because you test it. And then you tie a climbing rope. You pull the climbing rope over. And then I just hook into a harness and then a few climbing equipments. And then I go up. And then sometimes, depending on if the tree is difficult, if there's ants in it or something, it can take me a few hours up there too. Then I took my data and then I'd come back down. And the idea was always we would do two a day. Sometimes we would push for three a day. And so that could take like... We could be working from sunrise right up until sunset. There was a few times when I was still up in a tree and I'd had to use a headlamp to finish up up there because we were just pushing so hard by the end of the day. Margaret Isaacson: Very cool. Max Jones: Now- Margaret Isaacson: Can you teach a tree climbing program for the Ecology Center, please? Max Jones: I'd love to. Margaret Isaacson: Perfect. We'll talk later. I want to tell you what my day-to-day looked like when I first started out and then where I am now because it's very different. When I was first starting on as a program instructor, so post-grad, I would come to work, I would write a lesson plan or write up a program, decide what materials I needed, gathered them. I took care of animals on a daily basis that we had for educational purposes. And then often I would be going out and leading that program. Sometimes it was a family campfire. Sometimes it was a critter visit, where I'm holding up animals and showing them to kids and letting them pet them. Super fun. Now my work is a little bit more behind the scenes. So I do a lot of emailing and a lot of administrative tasks. I coordinate with a lot of different departments, whether that's greenways, to make sure that the athletic fields are ready for the sports season, or touching base with my seasonal staff to make sure that they're doing their rounds on the lakefront bathrooms, or planning, budgeting and meeting with the program coordinators who are actually planning programs. So it's a lot of, like I said, more backend work and making sure that when we present these programs through the program instructors, the position that I used to do, to the public or through summer camp, that it's kind of ready to go, we're using taxpayer money wisely and well, and that the city has services that are meeting their needs and expectations. So it's a lot of email and payroll and some unglamorous things, but we also get outside occasionally. Shai: Do other people have question? Speaker 9: Well, with the... Thank you so much for being here for answering all our questions, but with the summer coming around, I'm sure many of us in this room are looking for internships and jobs and any experience in the field. Where do you recommend we look? And then a follow-up that would be how do you prepare for interviews? Margaret Isaacson: If you're local, Chicago Environmental Network has a ton of opportunities, wide-ranging, seasonal, full-time, part-time. That's a great site. Yeah. Of course. Chicago Environmental Network. And they have a job board. I think they also have volunteer postings. We always post our positions there and all of the area nature science adjacent companies and organizations post on there as well. Shai: We'll find that [inaudible 00:39:22] a follow-up. Speaker 9: Thank you. Max Jones: I'd say it depends a lot on what kind of work you want to get into, but I know that there's a really good job listing board. It's like UT Austin or something. I'm sure Maggie or Trish know it. But it really kind of depends on what you want to get into. Historically, the Scientists in the Parks have been a very competitive but credible internship. I don't know if they're operating this summer because of everything happening. The Shedd Aquarium I've also heard has some pretty interesting opportunities for research assistants over the summer. I had a friend who did actually like scuba diving with them and then went to found mussels in one of the Chicago rivers or something. It was pretty cool. And then I've also heard some good things about the Audubon Society. Sometimes they periodically have stuff around here. Besides that, I'd cold call or cold email professors because a lot of them have... Either they directly have a project that they might want you to work on or sometimes they'll redirect you to Master's students or PhDs. Right now in the listserv that I'm on in the Chicago Botanic Garden, we get emails forwarded to us from students at Northwestern being like, "Hi. Is anybody looking for help this summer? I'd love to work." Margaret Isaacson: I think I was on some environmental listserv of some kind. I'll try to track it down and send it to Cassie. And this was a while ago. But I remember... Gosh. Anyway. It took me to Great Basin Institute, which is out west, but they do all kinds of research and experiential education in the western states. I did that for a summer. One year I was basically a camp counselor, but they also have a lot of research positions as well that are seasonal. Max Jones: Lincoln Park Zoo also has some really cool stuff down there. The Urban Wildlife Division is... I wanted to work with them every single year I was an undergrad. It just never worked out. Yeah. Shai: [inaudible 00:41:16]. Do they have any other questions [inaudible 00:41:16]? Amelia: How do we take care of the internship [inaudible 00:41:19]? Speaker 11: When was your last interview? Margaret Isaacson: What was that? Speaker 11: [inaudible 00:41:27]. Margaret Isaacson: My last interview was two years ago, a year and a half. Yeah. So pretty recent. The way I prepared for that interview, I had a little insight being already in the department and the division that I was applying for a promotion. So I kind of knew some of the questions that they might ask me, but you can... The way that I did it is I like to think of questions that I might be asked, go ahead and answer them and just write down ideas and thoughts. For my most recent position, I also thought about what I would want as a manager. So I was applying for the position that had been overseeing what I... That's so confusing. I was a program coordinator and I applied for a promotion. So I thought, "As a program coordinator, what would I want to see in a manager? And what projects would I want to prioritize?" And I brainstormed those. But yeah, just thinking through questions that they might ask. Most interviews will ask some of those classic questions. They're always going to start out with, "Why are you applying to this job?" So your elevator pitch is really important and can speak to your passion and also experience. Yeah. Just jotting down some notes. That works for me. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone, but that's what I did. Max Jones: I haven't been in a lot of interviews at this stage of my career, honestly. Most of my interviews have been very informal conversations. And so I think that's just by luck how I've moved forward. Right now, I just haven't had any interviews, to be honest. So think Margaret's advice is sage. Margaret Isaacson: I guess I could add more. Yeah. I also have done a lot of interviews where I didn't get the job too. So sometimes you just don't know exactly what they're looking for, and that's okay. It doesn't mean that you're not experienced and that you're not knowledgeable of what you do. It just might not be what they're looking for for that position, or someone has just a little bit more in a particular area that they're excited about. I've also been on the other side of interviews where I get to see all the candidates and hear what they have to offer and see what does it look like for our department if we hire this person instead of this person and they have different experience and we're not really sure how to staff this new position, and the interviewees inform the position. So that can happen as well, where it's not necessarily just... Sometimes it's based on a feeling a little bit, which sounds kind of crazy, but... Yeah. Been on both sides. I think you can practice a lot for an interview. You can hone your speaking skills. You can keep your answers brief but interesting and show your passion, and then just know that you're going to do interviews and some of them are going to work out and some of them aren't. And that's okay. Amelia: [inaudible 00:44:31] just kind of silly. Do people ever reference the TV show in your workplace? Margaret Isaacson: All the time. One of my co-workers has Leslie Knope on her desktop. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Amelia: [inaudible 00:44:46]. Margaret Isaacson: No. There are moments where we have situations we're like, "This could be a Parks and Rec episode. We should just start our own show." Yeah. Cassie Petoskey: Thank you both so much for being here. And I know we have a few more minutes, so students, if you all have the questions or just want to make connections, we'll share out LinkedIn profiles after, but I encourage you to come up and chat with the alumni for a few minutes here. But really thank you all so much for coming out. Thanks, Geoclub, for bringing forward this idea. And thanks to Max and Margaret for being here. So... Amelia: Thanks again. Shai: Thanks [inaudible 00:45:28]. Cassie Petoskey: [inaudible 00:45:28].  

Send us a textDr. Noel Gahamanyi, Ph.D. ( https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HWW6M_wAAAAJ&hl=en ) is Division Manager, National Reference Laboratory at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC).Rwanda Biomedical Centre ( RBC - https://rbc.gov.rw/ ) is the nation's central health implementation agency which strives to improve the health of the Rwandan population by providing high quality, affordable and sustainable health care services, accomplished through the implementation of preventative, rehabilitative, and curative health interventions. RBC conducts scientific research, provides diagnostics services, and implements innovative health interventions to protect the nation against diseases and other health threats.Dr. Gahamanyi is a Microbiologist with interest in Bacterial pathogens and their drug-resistance potentials and has served as a Lecturer of Microbiology in the School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda.Dr. Gahamanyi received his Ph.D. from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. Dr. Gahamanyi also holds a MSc in Microbiology from Jain University (India) and BSc in Biotechnology from the former National University of Rwanda. Before embarking on Ph.D. journey, Dr. Gahamanyi served as a Lecturer of Microbiology-related courses at Catholic University of Rwanda where he also served as Head of Biology Department and then as the Vice-dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. In Research, Dr. Gahamanyi has nine published papers and one book chapter all related to Microbiology. Five of these are indexed in PubMed. He also served as a reviewer for six international journals. Dr. Gahamanyi is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the Young East African Health Research Scientists (YEARS) forum affiliated to the East African Health Research Commission. Dr. Gahamanyi received a number of awards including the Best Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) Postgraduate student Research Award for the academic year 2020-21 and the First-class with gold medal after completing MSc in Microbiology at top of the class (2013).Important Episode Link - Students Against Superbugs (SAS) Africa - https://www.studentsagainstsuperbugs.org/ #NoelGahamanyi #Microbiology #RwandaBiomedicalCentre #NationalReferenceLaboratory #AntimicrobialResistance #AMR #AntimicrobialStewardship #Campylobacter #Marburg #ZoonoticSpillover #Ethnobotany #Ethnopharmacology #Phytochemistry #NaturalProducts   #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities #IraPastor #Podcast #Podcaster #ViralPodcast #STEM #Innovation #Technology #Science #ResearchSupport the show

Matters Microbial #81: Viruses, Innate Immunity, and Undergraduates March 5, 2025 Today, Dr. Brianne Barker, Associate Professor of the Biology Department at Drew University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how her undergraduate research group studies how innate immune mechanisms of cells recognize viral invasion. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Brianne Barker Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode A video describing the immune system, both innate and adaptive. More of a focus on mechanisms of innate immunity, the focus for today. A description of basic immune cells. An introductory video describing the viral reproductive cycle in general. A description of PRRs (pattern recognition receptors) and MAMPs (microbially associated molecular patterns) An overview of interferons and disease. An introductory video overview of programmed cell death, called apoptosis. The role that retroviruses play in producing blue eggs in chickens.  Here is a very introductory summary.   The role that retroviruses play in placental mammals, including humans. How do cells recognize invading DNA during viral infection? A research paper by Dr. Barker's research group. Dr. Barker on This Week in Virology. Dr. Barker's faculty website. Dr. Barker's research group website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

Matters Microbial #79: How Amoebae Beat the Heat February 20, 2025 Today, Dr. Angela Oliverio, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Syracuse University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss what her research group has been learning about extremophilic single-celled eukaryotes! Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Angela Oliverio Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode An overview of protists.   A wondrous video of the types of protists to be found seemingly everywhere. A video about amoebae and how YOU can find them.   A video about the testate amoebae mentioned in this podcast. An essay about the testate amoebae. A very old article on temperature limits to eukaryotic life. A more modern article on this topic. An article from Dr. Oliverio's group on the temperature limits to eukaryotic life. The Mullin laboratory at UCSF does remarkable visualization. Genomics and the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. How mycoplasma move, with remarkable videos. A member of Dr. Oliverio's lab creates beautiful glass art at this Etsy shop. A wonderful local news report on Dr. Oliverio and coworker's research. A nice overview of Dr. Oliverio's research interest in extremophilic protists. An article from Dr. Oliverio's group explaining why we should all care about extremophilic eukaryotes. Dr. Oliverio's research website (and SO worth your time) Dr. Oliverio's faculty website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

Bees, butterflies, beetles — populations of almost any group of insects you can name seem to be falling. But how do we know they are falling, how can we find out how well insects are doing? Monitoring is an essential tool for understanding the abundance and distribution of species, as well as how they respond to conservation efforts.To explore this further, we are talking with Matt Forister, professor of biology and insect ecology in the Biology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has studied butterflies and other insects in the western US for the last 20 years, and has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters on issues that include insects adapting to exotic plants and butterflies responding to a changing climate. Matt is also a long-time scientific advisor to the Xerces Society and our staff have undertaken several research projects with his lab.Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Matters Microbial #74: Podcasting to Combat Microbial Misinformation January 16, 2025 Today, Dr. Jessica Coates of the Biology Department at Spelman College joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss her work combating microbial misinformation in the classroom and to share her journey to the microbial sciences.   Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Jessica Coates Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode A short talk I gave at ASM some time ago about Louis Pasteur and the term “germ.” An organization devoted to promoting microbial literacy. An example of using podcasting to increase learning outcomes in the STEM classroom. An example of using podcasts by scientists to promote learning by students. The interesting story of Spelman College. An interview with Dr. Coates. The academic website of Dr. Coates. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

******Support the channel****** Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao   ******Follow me on****** Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/ The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT   This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/   Dr. Michael Levin is Distinguished Professor in the Biology Department and Vannevar Bush Chair, as well as director of the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology at Tufts University. His work is focused on understanding the biophysical mechanisms that implement decision-making during complex pattern regulation, and harnessing endogenous bioelectric dynamics toward rational control of growth and form.   In this episode, we go through topics like living systems; self; planaria; morphology; cognition, and collective intelligence; multiscale competency; mind and sentience; regenerative medicine; cancer; and life after death. -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, EDWARD HALL, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, IGOR N, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, GEORGE CHORIATIS, VALENTIN STEINMANN, PER KRAULIS, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航 豊川, TONY BARRETT, BENJAMIN GELBART, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, AND TED FARRIS! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, AL NICK ORTIZ, NICK GOLDEN, AND CHRISTINE GLASS! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, BOGDAN KANIVETS, ROSEY, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!

As a special treat we've rounded up some of your most curious bird related questions and answered them in this episode (or tried to!). Why do some birds have red eyes? Can owls hybridize? Can birds smell? And of course, we'll try to solve the hotdog mystery.  Help us keep doing what we do best by donating today. Or another great way to help... Order some bird-friendly coffee for your cozy holiday season, and when you use the code "warblers", Birds and Beans will donate to this podcast.  Check out Winter is better with Project FeederWatch for more information about bird feeding, or How do birds survive the extremes of winter?! for some mind blowing winter bird facts! Some of you asked where to find ornithology jobs. We recommend checking the Birds Canada site if you'd like to work with us!  Or check out Work Cabin for jobs in the larger conservation community. Others asked for audio and birdsong resources for North America. Try:Merlin Bird ID: field guide app with soundsSibley Birds: field guide app with soundsLarkwire: quiz app to learn bird soundsxeno-canto: online database of soundsLindsay Lalach is currently working towards her Masters of Science in Biology at Simon Fraser University, her research is focused on the winter movement and foraging ecology of Brandt's Cormorants in the Salish Sea. David Toews is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Penn State University. He did his undergrad at Acadia University in NS, and MSc and PhD at UBC. He also serves as the “population genetics expert” for the Birds Specialist Subcommittee of COSEWIC. He has studied avian evolution since 2005, and has been focused on speciation and hybridization in warblers. Doug Tozer is the Director of Waterbirds and Wetlands with Birds Canada. His academic and professional career has focused on developing workable conservation solutions for birds, and raising awareness of the importance of these animals; through programs such as the Great Lakes Marsh Monitoring Program, Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, and Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Program.Jody Allair is an avid birder and naturalist who enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for the natural world. He is the Director of Communications at Birds Canada and has written numerous articles on birds, birding and connecting with nature. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @JodyAllair.Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan, and then as the Ontario Piping Plover Coordinator. Years of sharing her love of plovers with beach goers has turned into a full time communications role with Birds Canada.  

From time to time certain concepts rise to prominence in biodiversity conservation circles, and some of these follow in the footsteps of climate change analogs. One such concept is biodiversity credits. Biodiversity credits are a mechanism that allow for biodiversity conservation or restoration activities to derive a revenue stream through the production and sale of a quantifiable unit of improvement in biodiversity. Despite the technical and philosophical challenges involved in trading in biodiversity credits, or even defining a single unit, biodiversity credits are being used to offset damages to biodiversity. And given the explosion of private and public interest in biodiversity credits, they are worthy of further exploration. Helping us to explore them is Harrison Carter, an interdisciplinary conservation scientist at the University of Oxford's Biology Department. Harrison has studied biodiversity credits in detail and shares his personal views on this complex topic. This is a fairly technical conversation, but non-conservationists should still find it interesting, and it gets easier as it goes along. We talk about the good and the bad around biodiversity credits, starting with a broad description of the concept. Links to resources:What is a unit of nature? A webpage from the University of Oxford's Department of Biology about biodiversity credits including Harrison's workVisit www.case4conservation.com

Hosts Mark Ambrogio and Liam Clifford are re-joined by William Laur, PhD Candidate in the Biology Department. His research focuses on exploring representations of and attitudes towards snakes in online media, through an ethnozoological approach. He was previously in the GradCast studio over the summer (Episode 470). This time around, William completed his written scoping review and qualitative analysis of the snake and bear-specific scientific literature. William chats about human perspectives and attitudes towards snakes and bears, the theological perspectives, how snakes are charismatic and the importance of snake conservation.  Recorded on December 3, 2024 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Matters Microbial #62: Should I Stay, or Should I Go—How Bacteriophage are Released from Host Cells October 23, 2024 Today, Dr. Jolene Ramsey, of the Biology Department of Texas A&M University and Affiliate of the Center for Phage Technology, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how bacteriophages release themselves from host cells, her efforts to teach students to work with the primary literature, and her own path to the microbial sciences.   Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Jolene Ramsey Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode A truly wonderful reminder video about bacteriophages. A link with a 3D printer design of capsid model pieces (personally, I am really interested in making one of these!). A video demonstrating how the capsid model pieces self assemble—something like real viruses can? An essential book about bacteriophage authored by my late friend Merry Youle. A fine book describing how bacteriophages can be used to fight bacterial diseases. This “first person” book by #MattersMicrobial podcast guest Steffanie Strathdee about how she was able to use bacteriophages to save her husband's life is a must read. A link to the Citizen's Phage Library. A link to the truly fabulous (yes, I am jealous I am not part of this program) CURE program SEA-PHAGES and SEA-GENES for undergraduate students. A remarkable illustration of T4 bacteriophage bursting from host cells by the scientist-artist David Goodsell. The organization that designed Dr. Ramsey's laboratory logo. A link to the Clinical Genome Curation for Human Genes.   A link to the CACAO website for biocuration competition. A recent Ramsey lab mini-review on phage classification. A link to the Center for Phage Technology. The Ramsey lab Instagram page. The Ramsey lab YouTube channel. Dr. Ramsey's laboratory website. Dr. Ramsey's faculty website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

Dr. Kimberly Dickman discusses an epidemic of loneliness across the United States and the impact that it's having on mental health.  She also shares the importance of developing meaningful connections, and how those connections influence our overall well-being.     This podcast is made possible by generous funding from the USAA Foundation.     Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.   Show Notes:   Resources:   Dickman, K. (2024, July). Loneliness: The New Global Pandemic. On the Move. Summer 2024 https://militarychild.org/news-and-publications/   PERMA Theory of Well-Being https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/learn-more/perma-theory-well-being-and-perma-workshops   Barbara Fredrickson: How Love and Connection Exist in Micro-Moments https://psychology.unc.edu/2021/11/30/barbara-fredrickson-explains-how-shared-positive-emotions-make-us-happier-healthier-and-more-connected/   Bio: Dr. Kimberly S. Dickman serves as an assistant professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy Center for Character and Leadership Development (CCLD), where she leads the Healthy Relationship Education and Emotional Intelligence branch of the Development Division in the Center. CCLD's mission is to advance the understanding, scholarship, practice, and integration of character and leadership development, resulting in cadets and permanent party prepared for service to the nation.   Dr. Dickman is a licensed clinical professional counselor and certified educator. She began her work in education for the Department of Defense in 1991. During her 20+ years of civilian service she has performed at the Wing and Headquarters Air Force level before coming to USAFA. Of note is her work in the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program where she focused on education, analysis, and prevention science. Her extensive experience allows her to serve at USAFA as faculty and lead in topics such as healthy relationships, emotional intelligence, positive psychology, prevention science, human sexuality, and leadership development. She teaches Human Sex, Reproduction, and Sexuality in the Biology Department and Applied Positive Psychology in the Behavioral Science and Leadership Department.    Dr. Dickman is widely recognized and is frequently requested to present across the DoD and on a national scale.

Matters Microbial #57: Pitting Metabolic Inhibitors Against Viruses September 18, 2024 Today, Dr. Tracie Delgado of the Biology Department at Seattle Pacific University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss her undergraduate research team's explorations of how some herpesviruses can cause cancer . . . and how to use the host cell's metabolism to fight those viruses! Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Tracie Delgado Download MM#57 (39 MB mp3, 65 min) Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode An overview of the herpesviruses as a group. A description of gammaherpesvirus, the type of herpesvirus with which Dr. Delagado and colleagues work. The relationship between some herpesviruses and cancer. The mysterious Warburg Effect, discussed by Dr. Delgado today. A wonderful TED talk by Dr. Delgado. A talk Dr. Delgado gave at a 2017 March for Science Event, arguing for more and better representation in STEM. An article about Dr. Delgado's journey to science. Dr, Delgado's research team's website with links to research articles that were discussed. Dr. Delgado's faculty website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

Do you want to learn about practical ways to make changes that will help care for creation? J.D. and David have great ideas for you (and me)! Join us for part 3 of our September series and learn how you can help preserve the earth's resources through simple in your homes, in the grocery store, and in your landscaping.

In part two of our Sept series, J.D. and David share with us about:

Андрей Брагин: зоолог-натуралист, герпетолог, младший научный сотрудник биологического факультета МГУ, сотрудник Российско-Вьетнамского Тропического центра, автор проекта «In natural habitat/В естественной среде/inh_org», лектор и руководитель программ в эко-лагерях, научно-популярных проектах и эко-фондах, организатор экспедиций в России и за границей. Andrey Bragin: zoologist-naturalist, herpetologist, junior research fellow at the Biology Department of Moscow State University, staff member of the Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Center, author of the project "In natural habitat/inh_org," lecturer and program director in eco-camps, science popularization projects, and eco-foundations, as well as the organizer of expeditions in Russia and abroad. FIND ANDREY ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram | Telegram | Facebook ================================SUPPORT & CONNECT:Support on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/denofrich⁠Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/denofrich⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/mark.develman/⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/denofrich⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/den_of_rich/⁠Hashtag: #denofrichType of unconscious: 10© Copyright 2024 Den of Rich. All rights reserved.

We are kicking off our new four part series today! Each week in September, we will be unpacking the idea of caring for creation. We will be talking about how to partner with our Creator God to take care of the creation around us. We will looking at this topic from a theological and scientific lens. My friends, Dr. David Hille & J.D. Henry are going to guide us through these inspiring and important conversations this month. Today, in part 1 of the series, we are going to hear from David and J.D. about what has led them to be passionate about this topic, why this is a significant conversation for Jesus followers, and how caring for the earth and caring for people are intertwined. Let me tell you about my friends, David and J.D…. Dr. David Hille completed a Masters in Biology and PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Oklahoma, during which he studied the populations and conservation issues of parrots in the Central American country of Nicaragua and co-authored a field guide to the birds of Nicaragua. David is now a professor in the Biology Department at NNU where he teaches Wildlife Biology and Ecology. David is married to Sarah, and they have two wonderful kids. J.D. Henry received his Mdiv. From George Fox Evangelical Seminary (now Portland Seminary). He served as a youth pastor for 15 years in Phoenix and Portland. His family moved back to his hometown in Idaho, where J.D. now serves as the lead chaplain for Keystone Hospice. J.D. is married to his wife, Alaina, and they have three awesome kids. If you'd like to reach out to David or J.D. to let them know how much you appreciated what they shared, you can email them at dhille@nnu.edu and chaplain.j.d.henry@icloud.com. — If there is any way that I can support you in your ditching perfection journey, please reach out to me at carlycommunicates.com or on instagram at @carlycommunicates. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/carly-bartlett/support

Dr. Carly Anne York is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Lenoir-Rhyne University. There, she is also the founder and faculty advisor of the student organization SEEDS, which is focused on promoting diversity and accessibility in the life sciences. As an animal physiologist, Carly studies how animals' bodies have evolved to perceive and interact with their environments to help them survive and thrive. She focuses in particular on sensory biology, examining how animals experience the world through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. When Carly isn't in the lab, you can find her at the farm and animal sanctuary that she runs with her husband. They have donkeys, a horse, many cats, and a chicken. In addition to taking care of the animals, Carly and her husband grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Carly received her B.S. in Exercise Physiology from Elon University, her M.S. in Ecological Sciences from Western Kentucky University, and her Ph.D. in Ecological Sciences from Old Dominion University. Afterwards, she was a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Virginia Wesleyan College before joining the faculty at Lenoir-Rhyne. In our interview, Carly shares more about her life and science.

Today, Jessica Buchser, graduate of West Chester University and entering PhD student at Pennsylvania State University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss being an older student, how social media and podcasts fueled her interest in the microbial sciences, and her future path as a microbiologist! Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Jessica Buchser Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode The video that  Dr. Jennifer Quinn and yours truly did for Harvard University's Microbial Science Initiative this April. A link to the Microbial Science Initiative. An overview of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Website for West Chester University's Biology Department, where Jess Buchser just earned her undergraduate degree. The website of Dr. John Pisciotta, one of Jess Buchser's mentors at West Chester University. The website of Dr. Manu Ramalho, one of Jess Buchser's mentors at West Chester University (an prior podcast guest for #MattersMicrobial episode #32). The website of Dr. Seth Bordenstein, who will be Jess Bucher's PhD advisor at Pennsylvania State University in the Fall (and also a prior podcast guest for #MattersMicrobial episode #3). An essay on the importance of mentors and mentorship in the microbial sciences. Useful resources for older and nontraditional undergraduate students in STEM fields.  Here is another essay on this topic. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

What can worms teach us about carcinogen exposure or chemotherapy? Sophia Tintori, postdoctoral associate in the biology department at New York University, heads to Chornobyl to find out. Sophia Tintori is a postdoctoral associate in the Biology Department at New York University. She was trained in developmental biology, cell biology, and genetics at Brown University […]

On this West Virginia Morning, a researcher at Marshall University has discovered an entirely new type of plesiosaur after studying the fossils of two different creatures. News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Robert Clark, the academic laboratory manager for the Biology Department at Marshall to find out more. The post Marshall Researcher Discovers New Type Of Plesiosaur, This West Virginia Morning appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Dr. Pamela Kittelson of the Biology Department and Environmental Studies program at Gustavus talks about growing up in Colorado, her path to college and eventually an unanticipated PhD in plant biology, coming to Gustavus, teaching Gustavus students in the field and abroad in India and Bangladesh, the ingredients of teaching excellence, directing the campus Fellowships Office, her ongoing research on “diversity and change in plant populations,” the adverse impact of human beings on “the biological world” and how that affects her personally as a human being and someone who studies it, and what makes liberal arts colleges special.

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology Department at Tufts University, where he holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair, and he is also associate faculty at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Michael and the Levin Lab work at the intersection of biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Michael also appeared on the show in episode #151, which was all about synthetic life and collective intelligence. In this episode, Michael and Robinson discuss the nature of cognition, working with Daniel Dennett, how cognition can be realized by different structures and materials, how to define robots, a new class of robot called the Anthrobot, and whether or not we have moral obligations to biological robots. The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org/ OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:19 Introduction 02:14 What is Cognition? 08:01 On Working with Daniel Dennett 13:17 Gatekeeping in Cognitive Science  25:15 The Multi-Realizability of Cognition  31:30 What are Anthrobots?  39:33 What Are Robots, Really? 59:53 Do We Have Moral Obligations to Biological Robots? Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support

In this episode, we are again joined by Thomas Seyfried, a Professor in Boston College's Biology Department. Not only does Thomas have immense responsibilities educating students, but he also runs a research program that develops new drug therapies for managing cancer.  Thomas is focused on understanding how metabolic therapy impacts chronic diseases like epilepsy, neurodegenerative lipid storage diseases, and cancer. By looking into alternative cancer treatments, scientists like Thomas are revolutionizing the future of healthcare – using natural metabolic therapies such as caloric restriction, fasting, and ketogenic diets in place of toxic alternatives… Jump in now to uncover: The types of cancer that Thomas is trying to understand and target.  Strategies for cancer management without toxicity.  What fermentation pathways are, and how they can generate energy without oxygen.  The #1 problem that all cancer cells share.  What the origin of cancer is. To learn more about Professor Thomas Seyfried and his work, click here now! Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit bit.ly/3uiVX9R to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

Today Dr. Nichole Broderick, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Johns Hopkins University, will chat with us about how the study of the fruit fly microbiome can give us insights into human health and disease. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest Nichole Broderick Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode The artist “Chocolate Menagerie”'s Etsy site. Another nice introductory video about the microbiome for new micronauts. An article describing how the press reports on microbiome-related issues. A review describing how fruit flies can be good model systems for the study of disease. Dr. Nichole Broderick's faculty website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com  

In episode 97 of The Gradient Podcast, Daniel Bashir speaks to Professor Michael Levin and Adam Goldstein. Professor Levin is a Distinguished Professor and Vannevar Bush Chair in the Biology Department at Tufts University. He also directs the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts. His group, the Levin Lab, focuses on understanding the biophysical mechanisms that implement decision-making during complex pattern regulation, and harnessing endogenous bioelectric dynamics toward rational control of growth and form. Adam Goldstein was a visiting scientist at the Levin Lab, where he worked on cancer research, and is the co-founder and Chairman of Astonishing Labs. Previously Adam founded Hipmunk, wrote tech books for O'Reilly, and was a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator.Have suggestions for future podcast guests (or other feedback)? Let us know here or reach us at editor@thegradient.pubSubscribe to The Gradient Podcast:  Apple Podcasts  | Spotify | Pocket Casts | RSSFollow The Gradient on TwitterOutline:* (00:00) Intro* (02:37) Intros* (03:20) Prof. Levin intro* (04:26) Adam intro* (06:25) A perspective on intelligence* (08:40) Diverse intelligence — in unconventional embodiments and unfamiliar spaces, substrate independence* (12:23) Failure of the life-machine distinction, text-based systems, grounding, and embodiment* (16:12) What it is to be a Self, fluidity and persistence* (22:45) The combination problem in cognitive function, levels and representation* (27:10) Goals for AI / cognitive science, Prof Levin's perspective on building intelligent systems* (31:25) Adam's and Prof. Levin's recent research—regenerative medicine and cancer* (36:25) Examples of regeneration, Adam on the right approach to the regeneration problem as generation* (45:25) Protein engineering vs. Adam and Prof. Levin's program, implicit assumptions underlying biology* (48:15) Regeneration example in liver disease* (50:50) Perspectives on AI and its goalsLinks:* Levin Lab homepage* Forms of life, forms of mind* Adam's homepage* Research* On Having No Head: Cognition throughout Biological Systems* Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere* Living Things Are Not (20th Century) Machines: Updating Mechanism Metaphors in Light of the Modern Science of Machine Behavior* Life, death, and self: Fundamental questions of primitive cognition viewed through the lens of body plasticity and synthetic organisms* Modular cognition* Endless Forms* Future Medicine: from molecular pathways to the collective intelligence of the body* Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere: an experimentally-grounded framework for understanding diverse bodies and minds* The Computational Boundary of a “Self”: Developmental Bioelectricity Drives Multicellularity and Scale-Free Cognition* Machine life Get full access to The Gradient at thegradientpub.substack.com/subscribe

Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology Department at Tufts University, where he holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair, and he is also associate faculty at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Michael and the Levin Lab work at the intersection of biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. In this episode, Michael and Robinson discuss what it means—if anything determinate—to be intelligent and to be alive before turning to the various fascinating ways collective intelligence arises at all levels of the spectrum, from microbes to synthetic chimaeras, which all adaptively solve complex problems using sophisticated cognition. The Levin Lab: https://drmichaellevin.org/ OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:55 Introduction 03:38 Michael's Research Program 05:48 What Is Intelligence? 23:26 Does It Mean Anything to be Alive? 34:50 What Is Morphogenesis? 53:20 Slime Molds, Exploding Planaria Brains, and Intercellular Communication 01:11:48 Why Is Synthetic Life Useful in the Lab? 01:27:48 Final Thoughts Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support

It is true that microbes are everywhere, and have impacts and applications that are often unexpected. Today, a true microbial force of nature visits Matters Microbial: Dr. Irene Newton of the Biology Department of the University of Indiana. Irene will tell us about some of her laboratory group's recent research on how microbes interact with honeybees! Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Irene Newton Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode A review of manganese oxidizing bacteria can be found here.  An essay on ice nucleating bacteria can be found here.   A review of bacterial siderophores can be found here.   A press release on the work that Dr. Newton and her research group does can be found here. Here is another such press release.   A sample publication from Dr. Newton's laboratory is here.   Dr. Newton's  faculty website is here Dr. Newton's laboratory website can be found here. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

In episode 8 of the Honest Scientists, the team has a discussion on development and they talk about how development leads to biodiversity loss. The Honest Scientists are Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, who are graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is their podcast on Biodiversity Loss. They aim to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. They also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada helps make Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

In episode 7, the Honest Scientists discuss oil drilling, list everyday products and services that rely on oil, and describe the impact of oil drilling on ecosystems. We are Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is our podcast on Biodiversity Loss. We aim to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. We also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada helps make Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology Department at Tufts University, with a background in both computer science and biology, including PhD from Harvard, and post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School. Find Michael at: - Website: https://drmichaellevin.org/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmichaellevin Michael's businesses: - https://www.morphoceuticals.com/ - https://www.faunasystems.com/ PODCAST INFO: - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3IVDF2W - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3oEZYmJ - Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/paradigm-on-google - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MatthewGeleta SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Follow, share with friends, and leave a 5-star review - Make a one-off donation: https://bit.ly/donate-to-paradigm - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgeleta/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewGeleta Music written and produced for the Paradigm Podcast by James Mckernan: jamesoctobermusic@gmail.com

Dr Tom Moorhouse is a conservation research scientist who has worked for twenty years at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, part of Oxford University's Biology Department. His work has focussed on the conservation ecology of water voles, the management of signal crayfish, hedgehog conservation and the impacts of wildlife tourism. He is the author of Elegy for a River and also award-winning children's fiction. His latest book is Ghosts in the Hedgerow: A Hedgehog Whodunnit. He lives with his wife and daughter in Oxford. With thanks for your support for 5x15 online! Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

In Episode 6 of Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny talk about the impact of logging and deforestation on biodiversity loss. We are Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is our podcast on Biodiversity Loss. We aim to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. We also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada helps make Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

In their second episode about hunting and fishing, the Honest Scientists explain how hunting and fishing are (and have long been) a significant driver of biodiversity loss. They talk about the ecological problems caused by removing species from ecosystems and provide some solutions to reduce the impact of hunting and fishing on biodiversity loss. We are Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is our podcast on Biodiversity Loss. We aim to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. We also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada helps make Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

We welcome former Writers Guild of America (West) president and current co-chair of the negotiating committee, David Goodman, who also happens to be the head writer for many of your favorite TV shows like “The Family Guy” to tell us why TV and movie writers are on strike. Then, grad students Sandra Oseguera and Jesus Gutierrez stop by to update us on their continuing fight to save the anthropology library at UC Berkeley, a battle that has wider implications for how more and more universities across the country are becoming corporatized. Plus, Ralph highlights some trenchant listener feedback.David A. Goodman has written for over 20 television series. His best-known work is as head writer and executive producer on Family Guy. He was the president of the Writer's Guild of America West from 2017 to 2021. In that capacity, Mr. Goodman led the Guild in a campaign to force the Hollywood talent agencies into adopting a new Code of Conduct to better serve the needs of their writers.  Today, he serves as co-chair of the WGA negotiating committee in their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.These companies that we work for are spending billions of dollars, making billions of dollars on the product that we create. And writers currently (many of them) can't afford to pay their rent. Can't afford to live in the cities where they're required to work. Need to take second jobs. Now, that's a very familiar situation in labor across this country. And what we're saying is if these companies are profitable… we need to fight.David Goodman, co-chair of the WGA negotiating committeeThe reason that our strike does have power is because America and the world relies on this product that we create. Those stories that we create are a connection, are a way for people to connect. And because of corporatization some people are losing sight of that, and hopefully this strike will bring them back.David Goodman, co-chair of the WGA negotiating committeeLet our listeners know that a lot of those programs that they watch on TV or listen to on the radio all over the country are written by the people who are on the picket lines and are pretty mercilessly exploited by the corporate titans that rake off the profits.Ralph NaderSandra Oseguera and Jesús Gutiérrez are graduate students in the Anthropology department at the University of California, Berkeley.  Earlier this year, campus administration announced their plan to close the Anthropology Library, one of only three dedicated Anthropology libraries in the US. In response, stakeholders including students and faculty have organized to demand that the Anthropology Library be protected and fully supported by the University.We truly disagree with the vision that the administration has for this university, and we believe that it can be different. That this can truly be a public university for students, underrepresented minorities, but also for the public. The public can come here—especially to our library— and be curious, collect knowledge, and have a refuge where they can find themselves in the shelves.Sandra OsegueraIt has been really inspiring to see our occupation space make our Anthropology Library into the space of encounter and transformation that it is supposed to be. The administration— and the press, to some degree initially— portrayed us as passively occupying, just sleeping and reading in the space. But the reality on the ground has been that the library has become an organizing space. Those of us who are occupying also gather, and then from there we fan out and make plans to go talk to our fellow students, make plans to go confront these core decision makers and hold them accountable for what they are doing to our education, what they are doing to these essential public resources.Jesús GutiérrezWe are not chasing symbolic wins. We want a fully functional library. That is what matters to us. And the overwhelming desire of the department, faculty, and grad students is to keep our library open.Sandra OsegueraDear Ralph Nader & Radio Hour Staff,I Hope that you and your families are all doing well. I look forward weekly to your Radio Hour via KPFA.org Mondays 11am-12pm.I was excited at the beginning of the hour that you were addressing the topic of sports in the U.S.A. By the end of the hour, I was extremely disappointed at the coverage. I have never been disappointed in the years listening to your radio show and otherwise.Neither the staff, your guest speaker, nor yourself, mentioned the state of affairs for women in sports, their unfair disadvantages, lack of equity in competing for sports funding from cradle to grave, competing for funding in infrastructure building of training centers, stadiums…, unfair medi coverage, and lastly focusing on the today's show coverage, girls and women's injuries, physical, psychological, whether she plays recreationally, professionally, or is not able to reach her potential due to discrimination against her gender, race, ethnic composition, language/cultural barrier, disability visible and non-visible. Shocking that you did not address sexual harassment, abuse, and rape of female athletes at all levels by coaches and male peers! As well as sexual abuse of boys and male athletes by male coaches and peers! Specially in the light of the well documented but short-lived media stories, selective amnesia, about the sexual abuse and rape of many Olympic gymnastics athletes by their team doctor!!!Concussions are very serious injuries in many sports including but not limited to: football, soccer, baseball, martial arts, boxing, gymnastics, skiing, skating, cycling, surfing, even running slipping and falling on ones head. Serious injuries in many sports are not exclusive to boys and men players! They are definitely not only prevalent in boys and men's football and baseball only! But as usual, girls and women are not mentioned even in one of the most progressive radio shows in the U.S!!! Shocking and infuriating!How many more centuries will it take for all of you to acknowledge, research, interview, respect, fund, divulge girl and women's issues, reality, financial inequity, needs, demands, and listen to Her-Story??!!I urge you to have an entire show on girl's and women's sports addressing the above points I wrote about and much more.FYI. I follow the news all day. I read papers and online, listen to the radio and follow it on TV. When the sports news section is on, I listen to the first couple of seconds. Undoubtedly and unfortunately, coverage always starts, ends and with boys and male sports and hardly ever over girls and women sports as if we don't exist and/or don't play sports at the same rate and intensity!!! Infuriating! So after a couple of seconds, I turn the medium off as a protest and because I can't bear not being represented!I am 67 years old and have been, until recently due to health challenges, a serious athlete and played a variety of sports since I was very young. I was born and grew up in Lebanon of a Palestinian athletic father who was a refugee in Lebanon, and an Argentinian artistic mother. I competed in swim competition in Beirut at the age of 9 and on. Started practicing Taekwondo-Do at age 12at the YMCA in Beirut. Practiced 7 days a week about 3-5 hours daily until age 19. I am the first Arab woman receiving a Black Belt in Martial Arts. I also taught Taekwondo-Do to men, women, and children At the YMCA and the AUB.At age 17 in Lebanon, I was SCUBA Certified by the Lebanese Gov't via the American University of Beirut's Biology Department and Diving Club.  At 19 I had to flee Lebanon due to the deadly and long civil war.In the U.S, among other things, I practiced Taekwondo-Do and Judo. Taught Kickboxing. Did skydiving, swimming, backpacking, camping, spinning, cycling, Tango dancing master classes, practiced and performed Dabkeh Palestinian folkloric dancing, and other sports and activities. When my son turned 10 and I turned 53, him and went on a 278 mile ride across California in 6 days, riding through the most spectacular California scenery, coast, high desert of Anza Borrego, sand dunes, pastures…under the hot sun, sand wind, and rain. The ride of a lifetime!I am writing, briefly, about my life and some of my accomplishments, to bring home to you that this herstory is one of billions that needs to be talked about every day, in all industries, and in all aspects of life and living. My story is different but not unique. Every action, gain, and defeat was earned by working more than double than white men in the U.S. and men in general in other parts of the world. I forge ahead against all odds: Ethnic and gender discrimination, gender and general violence, war, trauma, immigration, poverty, housing and food insecurity, divorce, single motherhood, injuries, chronic and degenerative disease.I urge you to pay attention, and not ignore 52% of the world population. We have the same feelings and get injured at the same rate as men. We are your mothers, grandmothers, sisters, relatives, girlfriends, friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, doctors, farm workers, nationals including Native Americans, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, prisoners, governors, and hopefully soon president of an equitable and peaceful  U.S.A nationally and internationally.Sincerely,Randa BaramkiDear Ralph,I have to take issue with a few things Shanin Spector stated. I'll confine this comment to one: The advice that no lawyer can afford to take a $250,000 medical malpractice case and at least, implicitly, that elderly people are out of luck if they fall victim to medical malpractice (which is probably the largest demographic that are victims).Lawyers, even well-seasoned ones with profitable practices, can and do take risky malpractice cases for elderly people for a variety of reasons-even in venues where the jurors are instinctively in favor of local doctors. See, E.g., Cooper v. Hanson, 2010 MT 113, 234 P.3d 59. In fact, most trial lawyers--even good ones-- don't have the luxury of Cherry Picking only multi-million dollar cases. We take risks, which is why we are allowed to charge contingency fees.A medical malpractice case for an elderly person can be done profitably, although the lawyer is not going to get rich. Most jurisdictions have mechanisms to cut costs and streamline some of the proceedings, at least if you have a good judge. Depending on the facts, you could conduct the whole case for less than $100,000 in legal costs and at any rate, costs are the client's obligation if you win and should only be the lawyer's if he or she loses (Although some lawyers regrettably charge either way. Avoid them if that is what they do).Moreover, a general statement about pain and suffering damage caps on elder cases needs to be qualified for a variety of reasons. Loss of earning capacity may not be the driving generator of damages. It might be the medical costs and rehabilitation costs, which could run into the millions and hence, would generate millions in damages. Moreover, the presence and amount of caps varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Washington, for instance, has no caps.I will agree that risks have to be considered. One has to make a back of the envelope determination if the firm, given its financial status, can take the risk. An expensive, complicated case of questionable liability probably could not be considered. On the other hand, a relatively straightforward case with relatively clear liability could be.A big factor is the seriousness the lawyer pays to his or her duty to perform pro bono work. You are supposed to take cases as part of your duty to the community. You don't always take cases--even risky cases-- to make the big bucks. At least, you should not.There are benefits other than getting paid a lot. An ambitious young lawyer with a limited practice, but good skills, might jump at the opportunity to go to trial (Though sad to say, many who call themselves trial lawyers do everything they can to stay out of the scary courtroom, but there are some serious trial lawyers too.).One thing, which was not touched upon, is that an elderly person who suffers the injuries of a medical mistake SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING FOR A CONSULTATION WITH A CONTINGENCY FEE LAWYER. THAT SERVICE IS FREE IN ALL CASES. As should be clear from the above, whether or not the lawyer can take the case depends on the facts and circumstances and there is no charge for telling the lawyer the facts.I know Mr. Spector qualified his advice near the end of the podcase, but judging from some of the listeners' questions, they got the impression that if you are old and injured by medical malpractice, you were out of luck. I think that impression needs refinement.Thanks for giving me this opportunity to present my little dissertation. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Spector, but I felt as if a more nuanced response would help your listeners.Erik Thueson Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

In this episode, Honest Scientists Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny dive into the cultural and evolutionary reasons behind hunting and fishing, discuss ethical issues related to trophy hunting, and introduce how hunting may affect biodiversity loss. We are Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is our podcast on Biodiversity Loss. We aim to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. We also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada helps make Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

 In the first of their resource extraction-focused episodes, Honest Scientists Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny discuss the impacts of mining on biodiversity loss. We are Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is our podcast on Biodiversity Loss. We aim to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. We also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada helps make Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

We are Honest Scientists, Lauren, Taissa, Ivan, and Ronny, graduate science students at the University of Nevada Reno, and this is our podcast on Biodiversity Loss. Our aim is to communicate the effects of human activities, behaviors, perceptions, and values on plants, animals, their habitat, and the natural world within which we all live. We also aim to rebuild trust and confidence in scientists and interest in science. To learn more about us, our research, and our interests and experiences with the natural world, tune in to our pilot discussion on Climate Change. We conducted research and presented that research in roundtable discussions recorded for podcast and radio distribution. We found that excessive consumption (food and other resources) was the main driver of 5 causes of Biodiversity Loss: climate change, pollution, invasive species, development, and overharvesting resources. The Biology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, made Honest Scientists possible. Earn a graduate degree in Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, or Neuroscience. Learn more, reach farther. Get more information at unr.edu/biology.

We're talking to NMSU professors Martha Desmond and Tim Wright this week. Desmond is a Regents professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, while Wright is a professor in the Biology Department. We're diving into the mystery of a recent die-off of migratory birds in New Mexico. In 2020, possibly hundreds of thousands of migratory birds were found dead across the state. We'll talk to Tim and Martha about what caused it, what is being done to address it, and a new partnership with Las Alamos National Labs that is designed to help. Wright explained the program will provide graduate and undergraduate students with research experience, life skills, critical thinking and broader experiences to be successful leaders in the face of rapidly changing biomes. During the academic year, students will conduct mentored research on migratory bird biology. During the summer, they will intern in agencies, present their work at scientific conferences, take core courses in migration biology (with a foreign study component), scientific communication and science and ethics, and work with individualized mentor teams. But what does all that mean, on a practical level? This week, we're happy to have Tim and Martha joining us.

We thought winter was safe! We were wrong… Brandon and Angela dive into the world of snow bugs, uh, we mean arthropods, to discover how they can survive and thrive on the snow. Dr. Brent Sinclair, a professor in the Biology Department at Western University in Canada shares his research on how insects, spiders, and more can live and move over the snow. 

In this conversation Steve Rossi speaks with Michael Asbill and Amanda Heidel, about Amanda's Mushroom Shed MFA thesis project, which explored the mushroom lifecycle as a model for community engagement through developing connections between the State University of New York at New Paltz Sculpture Program, the Biology Department, and the surrounding community. Themes relating to interdisciplinary collaborations, faculty mentorship, and individual vs. collaborative authorship are all explored. Steve Rossi is currently an Assistant Professor and Sculpture Program Head at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he has been developing interdisciplinary studio art pedagogy connected to the varied fields of environmental ethics and occupational therapy. He received his BFA from Pratt Institute in 2000 and his MFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2006. His work has been exhibited at Dorsky Curatorial Projects, Eco Art Space, NURTUREart, the Open Engagement Conference at the Queens Museum, Bronx Art Space, the Wassaic Project, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Jules Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts, and the public art festival Art in Odd Places among many others. He has participated in artist residencies with the Vermont Studio Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Gallery Aferro in Newark, New Jersey. As a part-time faculty member, he has taught in the First Year Program at Parsons School of Design and the Sculpture Program and Art Education Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Michael Asbill weaves arts advocacy, community engagement, environmentalism, and curatorial endeavor into his installation and public art practice. His work has been experienced in venues such as Sporobole and Galerie Zybaldone (Sherbrooke, QC), Flux Factory (Long Island City, NY), The Oregon City Elevator, and the Poughkeepsie Train Station. As a core collaborator with Habitat for Artists, Michael contributed to eco and social engagement projects for Smack Mellon (Brooklyn, NY), Arts Brookfield (New York, NY), Washington DC's Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Corcoran Museum (Washington, DC), and 601 Tully (Syracuse, NY). He has received numerous grants, awards, commissions, and honors including the New York State/Province of Quebec Artist in Residence Exchange Grant, inclusion in the “Introducing” series at the Roger Smith Hotel, and was honored, at the 2018 Arts Mid-Hudson/Ulster County Executive Arts Awards, with the title of “Artivist” which was invented to acknowledge his community contributions. Michael is the founder and director of CHRCH Project Space (Rosendale, NY), a residency for the development of pioneering, community-based, participatory artworks. Michael is a visiting lecturer, and currently head of the sculpture program, at the State University of New York in New Paltz. Amanda Heidel is an artist and educator living in Ithaca, NY. Her research in life cycles, collaborative structures, and community engagement led to the creation of Mushroom Shed, a community project that looks to the mushroom lifecycle as a model for community engagement. In addition, Amanda teaches outdoor mushroom cultivation and facilitates the Community Mushroom Educator program through Cornell Small Farms Program. She is also the Grants Manager for Choice Words Ithaca, a grant writing and fundraising firm that helps businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, and municipalities identify and acquire grant funding.

We all remember the devasting school shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed seventeen people and upended the lives of so many more. While for most of us it was a painful headline that evoked sympathy for the town and its victims, for Dr. Nancy Wiley it was so much more. She lived there, knew some of the people who died and felt firsthand the terrible pain of the entire community. For years before that, Nancy had been living a life which enabled her to stay centered and calm under any circumstance. She used her training to help her community cope with its losses and learn to start healing. She documents her experiences in her book Divine Trust: A Practical Guide To End Suffering And Find Your Way Home and on this episode tells us: • What Divine Trust means to her • The daily practice everyone needs to do • The revelations she had that conflicted with her scientific mind and how she reconciled them • What happens when you surrender • The importance of having a guide • The concept of ‘snap back' and how that helps us find our power • How anyone can discover their own Divine Trust If you're seeking a way to handle suffering in any area of your life, you won't want to miss this enlightening episode of Dream Power Radio. Dr. Nancy Wiley, D.D.S. is a highly trained scientist who is an expert in the physical body as she is in the subtle body and spiritual realms. After having received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Maryland, Dr. Wiley went on to receive her M.S. in Nutrition and her D.D.S. and a Certificate of Orthodontics from Columbia University. She also received her Diplomat to the American Board of Orthodontics and Qualified Orofacial Myology Certification. She has done research at the Biology Department of UMBC and Columbia University as well as Johns Hopkins Medical School and is the publisher of multiple scientific research papers. She has practiced clinical orthodontics for more than 27 years. Concurrently, Dr. Wiley has immersed herself in the study of meditation and the subtle energy body for her entire adult life. Since the age of 16, she has practiced various forms of meditation, including Transcendental Meditation, Holosync (brain wave entrainment), and guided meditations with many teachers, including Jeddah Mali, her most treasured teacher and to whom she attributes the attainment of Unity Consciousness. She is also a Reiki Master and expert in several energy healing modalities, including EFT, Spring forest Qigong, and Diamond Feng Shui. As her experience and confidence in navigating through her inner realm continued, Dr. Wiley was able to reach a state whereby she no longer suffered, no matter what life presented. She became certain that there was a Divine Presence that wanted everyone to know and trust It, and her Divine Trust became unshakeable. On February 14, 2018, the urgency to share this message accelerated in the aftermath of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida where Dr. Wiley lives and works. One of her patients and others close to her were killed in the shooting, and her community was suffering terribly. Dr. Wiley knew that Divine Trust could help ease their pain and suffering and committed herself to that cause. She now dedicates herself to igniting a massive shift in human consciousness, using Divine Trust as the cornerstone. In her first book, Divine Trust: A Practical Guide to End Your Suffering and Find Your Way Home, she lays out a blueprint that anyone can easily follow to achieve the incredible state of Divine Trust and, thereby, be free of suffering. Website: https://trustthedivine.com/Want to know why dreams are the fastest and clearest way to understand yourself? Sign up here for a complementary Dream Discovery Session with me and never leave your dreams on your pillow again! https://calendly.com/thedreamcoach53/30min

We're kicking off our third season with a deep dive into how faculty inspire academic excellence in students. Listen to this episode to hear questions about how faculty support students in succeeding in and outside classrooms, how to design curriculum that brings out their best work, and what excellence means in the current era. _______________ Bios Mun Chun (MC) Chan, Assistant Teaching Professor, Biology Department and Faculty Fellow at CNDLS Charisma X. Howell, Visiting Associate Professor and Street Law Director, Georgetown Law Abigail Marsh, Professor, Department of Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience Georgetown Resources Georgetown's Street Law Program website Understanding Student Learning, resources from CNDLS Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship website (C The Prospect blog Additional Resources Brockman, A.J. (2021). “‘La Crème de la Crème': How Racial, Gendered, and Intersectional Social Comparisons Reveal Inequities That Affect Sense of Belonging in STEM.” Sociological Inquiry, 91(4), 751–777. Cardamone, C. (2021). “Balancing Flexibility and Rigor to Advance Equity in Course Design.” Teaching@Tufts. Gruber, M. J., Gelman, B. D., & Ranganath, C. (2014). “States of Curiosity Modulate Hippocampus-Dependent Learning via the Dopaminergic Circuit.” Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.), 84(2), 486–496. Holstead, C.E. (2022). “Why Students Are Skipping Class So Often, and How to Bring Them Back.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. McMurtrie, B. (2022). “Teaching: Staying Flexible Without Becoming Overwhelmed.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. Mathews, J. (2022). “Should we be easy on students after the pandemic? Maybe not.” Washington Post. Newman, J., & O'Brien, E. L. (1973). Street law. District of Columbia Project on Community Legal Assistance, Georgetown University Law Center Pryal, K.R.G. (2022). ““When ‘Rigor' Targets Disabled Students.” The Chronicle... Saul, S. (2022). “At N.Y.U., Students Were Failing Organic Chemistry. Who Was to Blame?” ProQuest.

Meet Dora Mills:Dora Mills, M.D. is the Chief Health Improvement Officer of MaineHealth. Previously, she was the Vice President for Clinical Affairs and Director for the Center of Health Innovation at the University ofNew England. She also served as the Medical Director of MaineCare, and the Director of Public  Health for the Maine State Government. Dr. Mills received a Bachelor's in Biology and Russian from Bowdin College, an M.D. from the University of Vermont, and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University.Key Insights:Dr. Mills' experience exemplifies the power of partnerships in healthcare and public health. • Words of Encouragement. One day in college, the head of the Biology Department  told Dr. Mills she should consider medical school. It was the first time someone  encouraged her to think about a medical career, and it gave her the confidence to  pursue one. Today, Dr. Mills tries to provide the same encouragement as a mentor. • Public-Private Partnerships. Maine achieved high levels of vaccination through  partnerships. Companies like L.L. Bean lent employees to staff vaccine clinics.Additionally, breweries and restaurants across the state hosted clinics, offering free  beer and food to those who got vaccinated. • Women in Public Service. Dr. Mills has seen many great women leaders, including  her sister, the current Governor of Maine. For women interested in running for  office, there are programs to help. And if you run for office, seek out advice, butmake sure to still be who you are and use your own voice. This episode is hosted by Joanne Conroy, M.D. She is a member of the Advisory Council for Her Story and serves as the CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. 

Dr. Nancy Wiley, D.D.S. is a highly trained scientist who is an expert in the physical body as she is in the subtle body and spiritual realms. After having received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Maryland, Dr. Wiley went on to receive her M.S. in Nutrition and her D.D.S. and a Certificate of Orthodontics from Columbia University. She also received her Diplomat to the American Board of Orthodontics and Qualified Orofacial Myology Certification. She has done research at the Biology Department of UMBC and Columbia University as well as Johns Hopkins Medical School and is the publisher of multiple scientific research papers. She has practiced clinical orthodontics for more than 27 years. Concurrently, Dr. Wiley has immersed herself in the study of meditation and the subtle energy body for her entire adult life. Since the age of 16, she has practiced various forms of meditation, including Transcendental Meditation, Holosync (brain wave entrainment), and guided meditations with many teachers, including Jeddah Mali, her most treasured teacher and to whom she attributes the attainment of Unity Consciousness. She is also a Reiki Master and expert in several energy healing modalities, including EFT, Spring forest Qigong, and Diamond Feng Shui. As her experience and confidence in navigating through her inner realm continued, Dr. Wiley was able to reach a state whereby she no longer suffered, no matter what life presented. She became certain that there was a Divine Presence that wanted everyone to know and trust It, and her Divine Trust became unshakeable. On February 14, 2018, the urgency to share this message accelerated in the aftermath of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida where Dr. Wiley lives and works. One of her patients and others close to her were killed in the shooting, and her community was suffering terribly. Dr. Wiley knew that Divine Trust could help ease their pain and suffering and committed herself to that cause. She now dedicates herself to igniting a massive shift in human consciousness, using Divine Trust as the cornerstone. In her first book, Divine Trust: A Practical Guide to End Your Suffering and Find Your Way Home, she lays out a blueprint that anyone can easily follow to achieve the incredible state of Divine Trust and, thereby, be free of suffering. Website: https://trustthedivine.com/

In this month's episode of The American Blue Economy Podcast, our host Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet leads part 3 in a 3-part subseries on leading women wavemakers in the American Blue Economy. Borrowing from the name of the Wavemakers podcast on ASPN hosted by Tamara Kahn, he highlights 3 women who are making waves under the water to advance our ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes economies. First up is Mehgan Heaney-Grier, a champion freediver, ocean explorer, educator, and conservationist. Next, he is joined by Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser, Assistant Scientist in the Biology Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and technical and scientific diver extraordinaire. Also joining is Stephanie Gandulla, Resource Protection Coordinator & Maritime Archaeologist at NOAA's Thunder BayNational Marine Sanctuary. professional dive instructor, and small business owner. Be prepared to dive in and go deep!

Author Nancy Wiley discusses her book Divine Trust: A Practical Guide to End Your Suffering and Find Your Way Home.Dr. Nancy Wiley, D.D.S. is a highly trained scientist who is an expert in the physical body as she is in the subtle body and spiritual realms. After having received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Maryland, Dr. Wiley went on to receive her M.S. in Nutrition and her D.D.S. and a Certificate of Orthodontics from Columbia University. She also received her Diplomat to the American Board of Orthodontics and Qualified Orofacial Myology Certification. She has done research at the Biology Department of UMBC and Columbia University as well as Johns Hopkins Medical School and is the publisher of multiple scientific research papers. She has practiced clinical orthodontics for more than 27 years.Concurrently, Dr. Wiley has immersed herself in the study of meditation and the subtle energy body for her entire adult life. Since the age of 16, she has practiced various forms of meditation, including Transcendental Meditation, Holosync (brain wave entrainment), and guided meditations with many teachers, including Jeddah Mali, her most treasured teacher and to whom she attributes the attainment of Unity Consciousness. She is also a Reiki Master and expert in several energy healing modalities, including EFT, Spring forest Qigong, and Diamond Feng Shui.As her experience and confidence in navigating through her inner realm continued, Dr. Wiley was able to reach a state whereby she no longer suffered, no matter what life presented. She became certain that there was a Divine Presence that wanted everyone to know and trust It, and her Divine Trust became unshakeable.On February 14, 2018, the urgency to share this message accelerated in the aftermath of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida where Dr. Wiley lives and works. One of her patients and others close to her were killed in the shooting, and her community was suffering terribly. Dr. Wiley knew that Divine Trust could help ease their pain and suffering and committed herself to that cause. She now dedicates herself to igniting a massive shift in human consciousness, using Divine Trust as the cornerstone. In her first book, Divine Trust: A Practical Guide to End Your Suffering and Find Your Way Home, she lays out a blueprint that anyone can easily follow to achieve the incredible state of Divine Trust and, thereby, be free of suffering. Learn more at: https://trustthedivine.com/Host Bonnie Burkert melds the worlds of media and higher consciousness, sharing tools for transformation for wellbeing and spiritual awakening . www.instagram.com/yogi_bon

Read the companion article here. Dr. Matt Ritter is a professor in the Biology Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and director of the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory. He is the author of many books, including California Plants: A Guide to Our Iconic Flora. “If you are just an average American, and you’re going about your business spewing carbon into the atmosphere, how many trees do you need to plant a year to offset the amount of carbon that you put in the atmosphere? The answer is somewhere around 80, that need to be planted where trees don’t exist.” – Dr. Matt Ritter If you are interested in how to use the SelecTree tool, check out Pacific Horticulture’s recent how-to video on our YouTube channel with Dr. Jenn Yost.

Wondering if Dental School is for you? [Show Summary] Dr. Barry Rothman shares everything students should know about the dental school application process drawing on his knowledge as an Accepted Admissions Consultant and former Health Professions Advisor and Director of SFSU's Pre-Health Profession Certificate Program. Interview with Barry Rothman, Dental School admissions expert [Show Notes] Welcome to the 464th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. The challenge at the heart of admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools, and stand out in the applicant pool. Accepted's free download Fitting in and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions will show you how to do both. Master this paradox, and you are well on your way to acceptance. You can download this free guide and accepted.com/fiso.  Our guest today, Dr. Barry Rothman, is the former Health Professions Advisor and Director of San Francisco State University's Pre-Health Profession Certificate Program, which served pre-med, pre-dental, pre-nursing, and other pre-healthcare students who are preparing themselves to apply to their graduate professional schools of choice. Since 2015, Dr. Rothman has helped Accepted's clients in all aspects of the application process to graduate healthcare programs and graduate schools and life sciences, including of course dental school, which is the subject of today's podcast. How did you get involved in dental school admissions? [2:17] I think around 1995, I was asked by my university to be the Health Professions Advisor. This was something I had never even thought about. I had been teaching in the Biology Department for nine years at that point. I taught Molecular Medicine and I was interested in Physiology. I had a number of pre-meds and pre-dents in my classes, and I was kind of interested so I figured I'd give it a try. What I discovered was that there was a huge need at my university, and probably in many universities, to have a Health Professions Advisor who could relate to the students and really give them service. I decided to take it on, and I fell in love with it. I fell in love with being the Health Professions Advisor for all sorts of health professions, including dentistry. Also, I had had some contact with the UCSF Dental Post Bac Program, which was doing well at UCSF, and because I was the Health Professions Advisor at SF State, and UCSF is two miles down the road, we put our forces together and I joined them. I got to learn how they ran their post-bacc program. Then I took my own ideas about having programs that were extremely supportive of students, and had lots of mutual support, and not competitive, a nurturing environment, and decided after a year or two delay to create my own post-bacc program at San Francisco State, starting with a sort of multipurpose pre-health program mainly for pre-meds and some pre-dents. The students at SF State actually asked me to create this program. At that time, pre-meds were allowed to be Second Baccalaureates in the whole CSU system, but they weren't given much in the way of service. It was more like, "Okay, you can take classes, but don't expect anything." They were willing to pay more money for a post-bacc program in order to get more service. Over a period of a year, the Dean, the Academic Senate, and I put our heads together and created the program. It was a win/win situation. It made me happy. I continued running the post-bacc program, and actually expanded it into dental and into nursing over the next nine years. What are the prerequisites for applying to dental school? [5:24] They're very much like the medical school prerequisites, with some exceptions. You need a year of Intro to Bio with Lecture and Lab, a year of General Chemistry with Lecture and Lab, a year of Organic Chemistry with Lecture and Lab, and a year of Physics with Lecture and Lab.  Unlike medical school,

Dr. Lauren O'Connell is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Stanford University. She received an associates degree from Tarrant County Community College before transferring to Cornell University where she received her bachelors degree. Lauren then completed her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin and after that she went to Harvard where she was a Bauer Fellow. This program is a post-doctoral fellowship that funds independent research for five years and prepares post-docs to run their future labs. Lauren is now an assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Stanford University and the principal investigator of the Laboratory for Organismal Biology at Stanford University.  In this episode, we discuss Lauren's path to becoming a professor, some of the difficulties that community college students face when trying to get involved in research and STEM fields, what good mentorship looks like, the importance of having a life outside of work, and so much more. Get in touch with Lauren and check out the research in LOBSU (Laboratory of Organismal Biology at Stanford University): Lauren's Twitter LOBSU Twitter Lab Website: https://oconnell.stanford.edu/ LOBSU YouTube Channel Get in touch with Steph: Twitter Get in touch with the podcast: Email: rootstostempodcast@gmail.com Website: rootstostempodcast.com