GradCast

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)

In this week's episode, host Mark Ambrogio interviews GradCast alumna Amalie Hutchinson, a PhD candidate in Biology. Amalie was a GradCast host and producer, ultimately serving two terms as Chair and Managing Editor. She returns to GradCast as she prepares to enter the fourth year  of her program (after a maternal leave – congratulations, by the way!).In her research, Amalie studies how hummingbirds use torpor, a state of inactivity characterized by a lowered body temperature and decreased metabolic rate, to preserve energy at night. While this phenomenon is not entirely unique to hummingbirds, the extreme temperature they lower their body to is. Amalie is currently looking at the energy demands of migration, using the wind tunnel at Western's Advanced Facility for Avian Research to study how hummingbirds consume energy over long-distance flights.In their conversation, Amalie and Mark also discuss their shared history with GradCast as well as ways of staying grounded as graduate students.Anyone interested in Amalie's research may contact her at: asaab4@uwo.ca
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, July 28, 2026Produced by Evelyn MacKay-BarrTheme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)