This week, Amalie Hutchinson and Brittany Melton are joined by guest Soren Coulson, a PhD candidate in Biology. Together, they discuss Soren's research on the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) in migratory birds and its role in energy metabolism in muscle. Soren shares with the Gradcast a day in the lab and his best advice for those interested in a PhD in Biology.
Recorded on December 14th, 2021.
Produced by Hira Nadeem.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
This week Claire Bottini and Ariel Frame met with Shannon Compton, a PhD student in Neuroscience. Shannon studies how video games and violent games in particular can impact cognition and empathy in players. Shannon describes how her protocol mixes fMRI neuro-imaging technology and volunteer participants playing on Grand Theft Auto V. Shannon explains how her study found no impact of violent video games acutely but a potential link with long-term play. Lastly, Shannon enlightens us about her future plans to study virtual reality gaming.
Recorded Dec 7, 2021
Produced by Ariel Frame
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ produced by White Hot.
Join hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Rhys Paterson as they talk to Frangel Lopez Cesena, a violinist who analyzes music from a hermeneutical perspective. What’s that you ask? Musical meaning. Listen in as Frangel, Elizabeth and Rhys talk about becoming a violinist, practicing, songs that make them feel good, and how we interpret and imagine music.
Recorded on November 30, 2021.
Produced by Rhys Paterson
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
In this episode Zara Diab speaks with Ariel Frame and Claire Bottini about her ongoing PhD in English and Writing Studies. Zara describes how her research will be focusing on contributors to rape culture and the involuntary celibate (Incel) community. Listen in as Zara discusses examples of violent acts relating to these phenomena and how contemporary media reflects and perpetuates narratives that can lead to this kind of behaviour.
To hear more from Zara, find @ZaraDiab on Instagram and Facebook or email zdiab@uwo.ca
Recorded on November 23, 2021.
Produced by Laura Muñoz Baena.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
Having recently completed her MSc in Neuroscience at Western University, Kyla Lee has embarked on the next step in her career, a Medical Science PhD at University of Toronto. Kyla speaks with Ariel Frame and Yimin Chen about both her MSc research and her plans for PhD studies. Kyla explains how her MSc work modelling schizophrenia in rats aimed to elucidate how brain development contributes to the disease and how her PhD work will focus on cultural competency of primary physicians with immigrant patients.
To hear more from Kyla, follow her on Twitter @kylaaalee
Recorded on November 16th, 2021.
Produced by Hira Nadeem.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Laura Munoz-Baena as they sit down with recent PhD grad Gavin Tolometti to learn about how space rocks, rock! Gavin shares how he uses remote sensing techniques and field research here on Earth to figure out how impact craters and lava flows affected the landscape of the moon. In addition to rocks beyond our planet, our conversation flowed into some impactful advice about life beyond the degree.
To hear more about Gavin, you can find him on twitter as @GavinOnTheMoon, visit his website, or listen to his podcast The Diaries of Space Explorers.
Recorded on November 9, 2021.
Produced by Laura Munoz Baena.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
Kate Onuska is a PhD student in the Department of Neuroscience. She is working on new ways to trace changes in the brain cholinergic system associated with age. She described the different brain imaging techniques before diving into her research on a new marker for cholinergic neurons called FEOBV in association with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Her work with mice increases our understanding of proteins and how neuronal tracts change with time that could lead to pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease.
To hear more about Kate's research, follow her on Twitter @k8onuska and check out the INCA Lab here.
Recorded on November 2nd, 2021.
Produced by Hira Nadeem.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
If you ever wonder about the survival of some organisms during the winter, you won't want to miss this episode, where hosts Amalie and Laura talk to PhD student Brynne Duffy about one of the most interesting survival strategies in mammals: hibernation. Particularly, the conversation centers around thirteen lined squirrels, obligated hibernators that almost shut down their entire body during several days, significantly reducing their body temperature. Find out how climate change could affect the survival of squirrels and discover other potential uses of hibernation, way out of the burrow, in human organ transplant.
To learn more about the science of hibernation, find Brynne on twitter as @BrynneDuffy.
Recorded on October 26, 2021.
Produced by Laura Munoz Baena.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
Jeff Hutchinson is a PhD student in Physiology and Pharmacology studying the intervertebral disc and back pain. Jeff explains to Elizabeth Mohler and Ariel Frame how his research is conducted using a variety of models and involves understanding the effects of sex hormones.
Recorded on Oct 19, 2021
Produced by Ariel Frame
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
In this special episode in honour of Asexual Awareness Week, hosts Laura Muñoz-Baena and Ana Moyer chat with PhD Philosophy student Katrina Zmavc, in partnership with SOGS Graduate Peer Support (GPS). Join us in discussing the spectrum of possibilities surrounding asexuality, which is often categorized as a lack of sexual attraction.
If you would like to continue this discussion in a safe space, check out our collaboration with GPS’s Shared Experiences event on November 4th, 2021 at 7:00PM. You can find more information
here and register for the event
here.
Recorded on October 14, 2021.
Produced by Laura Munoz Baena.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.
