GradCast

In this week's episode, hosts Ryan Baxter and Mark Ambrogio interview Rory Succee as he graduates with his MA in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology.  A newly-minted Western graduate, Rory is about to begin a PhD in Art History – also here at Western. Congratulations, Rory!
In their conversation, Ryan and Mark ask Rory about research he undertook at St. Dominic's Cemetery in D'Hanis, Texas — a cemetery of German heritage.  Rory shares anecdotes about his fieldwork at the cemetery, as well as how he learned from oral history and archival research, not to mention enjoying the famous "southern hospitality" from the local Texans.
As he enters his PhD, Rory is interested in the work of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, as well as other noteworthy Latin American artists, including Frida Kahlo, Poty Lazzarotto, Candido Portinari, and Fernando Botero.
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, September 8th, 2026
Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr
Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by White Hot)

In this episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Ryan Baxter are joined by neuroscience PhD student Nima Zargarnezhad. An amateur musician from an early age, Nima relates how, as an undergraduate in electrical engineering, he developed a fascination with how the human brain works. For his Master's research, Nima was able to combine the strands of his musicianship, his computational skills, and his neurological interests, and bring all three to bear on a project at Western's Centre for Brain and Mind. Using a sound equipment array known as the audiodome, he created virtual sound spaces to study how the human brain interprets positional information from the sounds in its environment.
You can learn more about Nima and his research at the following links:
https://nimazargarnezhad.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nima-zargarnezhad/
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026
Produced by Garth Casbourn
Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by White Hot)

This week, freshly-graduated MA Cristina Lama talks about her research, and why it’s cool to be studying human bones.  Why can the tibia be a better candidate than other bones, when doing research in bioanthropology? What sort of problems and models can we take from the literature, and use that to develop hypotheses and investigate our own questions? What are some of the complexities in working with human samples?
 
Join Mark Ambrogio and Victor Lau as they hear more about some of the richness of Cristina’s investigations into the literature, and how she’s used that to translate her rigour and scientific approach to analyzing scans in the human tibia. 
 
Listen to hear about some of the fascinating methods Cristina is applying, as well as how she considers ethical questions around handling human samples in a respectful manner! Finally, Cristina shares a little about her upcoming doctoral studies at the University of Toronto.
 
Links:
PAVElab (https://www.pavelab.ca/) 
SchroederLab (https://www.laurenschroederlab.com/)  
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
Produced by Ella Siciliano
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Anika Bushra interview Stephanie Brocca, a master’s graduate in Health and Rehabilitation Science. Stephanie researches how current methods of communicating health information can be a barrier to health literacy, patient activation, and health competencies in individuals with specific learning disorders, a field not well studied. Outside of research, Stephanie is passionate about mental health awareness and has written a book of poetry on trauma, stigma, and mental health called The Pains of Living, taking inspiration from true stories across the GTA. Tune in to learn more about the health literacy, patient activation, and the importance of accessible communication in the health field!
 
Anyone interested can reach out to Stephanie via Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-brocca
 
Recorded on Tuesday, August 18, 2026Produced by Evelyn MacKay-BarrTheme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Ryan Baxter and Mark Ambrogio interview GradCast's own Garth Casbourn, a PhD candidate in Biology.  In his research, Garth studies how an animal's internal physiology shapes its behaviour, looking at the influence of testosterone on the song sparrow, a migratory bird.  
 
The changes in behaviour that Garth studies are chiefly migration-related, looking at both adult males and juvenile sparrows.  Garth is studying two related hypotheses:  First, the gonadal hypothesis is the idea that sex hormones, including testosterone, are actually what causes migratory behaviour to develop.  Secondly, it is hypothesized that migration in sexually mature birds may have evolved from the dispersal behaviour of juveniles.
 
During his PhD, Garth has been an active member of GradCast, serving as both a host and as a producer.  
 
Garth's research has been conducted through Western's Advanced Facility for Avian Research and the Centre for Animals on the Move.
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, August 11, 2026Produced by Anika BushraTheme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

This week on GradCast, hosts Anthony Cruz and Milan Mammen are joined by Jordan Sellers, a PhD student in Library & Information Science (LIS). Jordan researches sustainable digitization practices in community archives, challenging the traditional narrative that full digitization is the only way to accessibly and sustainably archive materials. Her long-term goal is to create an online toolkit to help community archivists figure out the best way to steward their knowledge. Tune in for a fun conversation about the way we store information!
Recorded on Tuesday, August 4, 2026Produced by Evelyn MacKay-BarrTheme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)