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The official podcast of the Society of Graduate Students at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. We aim to showcase the innovative research that graduate students are conducting at Western University and appeal to various audiences including those within and beyond the academic community.
Gr
adCast is the official radio show and podcast of the Society of Graduate Students at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2012, the mandate of the GradCast Editorial Board is to highlight graduate students at the University of Western Ontario in a media context. We aim to showcase the innovative research that graduate students are conducting at Western University and appeal to various audiences including those within and beyond the academic community.
The GradCast radio show airs every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am on Radio Western 94.9 FM, and episodes are uploaded to our website weekly. From History to Histology, we show you the cutting edge research of one of Canada's top research universities.
We are always looking to have more Western University graduate students on the show. If you are a Western University graduate student, email us at gradcast@sogs.ca
GradCast Editorial Board
Chair & Managing Editor:
Milan Mammen
Social Media Manager:
Ella Sicilano
Milan Mammen
Milan is the current Managing Editor of GradCast. She is an MSc student in Biochemistry at Western University, where her research focuses on nonsense suppressor tRNAs and tRNA-based therapeutics to treat premature stop codon mutations. Milan joined GradCast in August 2025 and continues to serve as both a host and producer on the show. Beyond GradCast, Milan has contributed to other podcasts such as Humans of Western and Teenage Tea with BMYC, reflecting her passion for amplifying student’s voices and bringing their stories to life. When she’s not behind the microphone or troubleshooting experiments in the lab, you can find Milan playing chess, reading, baking, or practicing yoga.
You can find out more about Milan’s research here: Episode 524 | Can We Treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy with Nonsense Suppressor tRNA?
Maris Schneider
Maris is the current Vice-President Academic of the Society of Graduate Students and served as Maris is a GradCast’s Managing Editor from May 2025 to April 2026. PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at Western. Her research examines archaeological remains to understand how bone quality is affected during growth and development when children are malnourished. Maris joined the GradCast committee in 2024 and looks forward to making new connections and learning about all the amazing research happening at Western. In her free time, Maris enjoys playing volleyball, golfing, and petting every cat she sees around her neighbourhood.
Twitter: @minischneidz3
Episode: 435 | Who’s That Mummy? Examining Animal Mummification in Ancient Egypt
Anthony Cruz
Anthony served as GradCast’s Managing Editor from May to October 2024, then as the Vice-President Academic of the Society of Graduate Students from October 2024 to April 2026. He is a PhD Candidate in Western's Department of Psychology, where he studies categorization, the process whereby our brains segment things into groups. How do we learn what constitutes a dog vs. a wolf? How does a doctor in training learn the difference between a melanoma and a benign skin lesion? Anthony tackles questions of this nature using ecologically valid research design and computational methods. The ultimate goal of Anthony's research is to figure out easy, effective ways to make this kind of learning easier for students of all levels. Anthony joined GradCast in July 2023. In his spare time, Anthony enjoys hiking, running, playing video games, and attending local comedy nights.
Episode 444: Cruz and Classify: A Study of Cognitive Categories
Ella Sicilano
Ella is the current Social Media Manager of GradCast. She is a second-year MA student in Anthropology at Western. Her research focuses on the archaeology of Italian immigration to Canada in the 20th century. She’s from Montreal, QC, where she completed her BA in anthropology and history at McGill University. Ella loves to ski, cook, try new restaurants, be outdoors and spend way too much time visiting museum exhibits.
Garth Casbourn
Garth Casbourn is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biology, embroiled in the arduous task of producing his thesis. He’s a songbird biologist whose research looks at the physiological underpinnings of large-scale movement behaviours in the song sparrow. More specifically, he studied the role that testosterone plays in shaping the behaviour of birds travelling large
geographical distances, such as during their annual migrations. Garth joined the GradCast committee as a host in 2023, encouraged to do so on account of his “radio voice.” He dabbles in literature, cinema, and classical music and enjoys the outdoors.
Episode 376 | T-test: Sex Hormones and Sparrow Migration
Ryan Baxter
Ryan Baxter is a candidate in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music, studying solo piano performance. At Western, Ryan also takes courses in Indigenous studies through the Memegwaanh Indigenous Learning Honour program. Beyond academic life, he is Organist and Music Director at Rowntree Memorial United Church in London. He has been a host with GradCast since fall 2023, and loves learning about the many programs at Western! When Ryan is not practicing, writing, working, or GradCasting, he can be found wandering outside, cooking, baking, and applying to more programs.
Episode 445: Pianos and Pedagogy, A Journey into the Doctor of Musical Arts Program
Mark Ambrogio
A graduate of Western, Laurier, and York universities, Mark is a PhD candidate in Library and Information Science (LIS), here at Western. His primary research interest is in exploring the topic of genre delineation (how genres are understood in popular fiction reading), looking at science fiction, specifically. Mark is also interested in the relationship that local archives have with other so-called "GLAM" institutions (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums), in preserving and promoting Ontario history. Mark enjoys reading, hiking, movies (especially at the movie theatre), and having tea (or a pint) with friends. He enjoys being an active member of the local community.
Episode 415: Next Stop: Station Science Fiction
Kelly Wang
Kelly is a PhD student at Western University’s Faculty of Education in the fields of Curriculum Studies and Applied Linguistics. Her main research interest involves using media and digital tools to enhance English language learning for older adults and seniors. As a former journalist at Global News Radio (980 CFPL), Kelly is deeply passionate towards broadcasting and sharing people’s stories. She is a GradCast host and part of the social media team. In addition to being a member of GradCast, Kelly also serves as a Faculty of Education student councillor for Western’s Society of Graduate Students (SOGS). When Kelly is not behind the microphone or buried in research, you can find her painting her nails, watching reality TV, and spending time with her favourite person: her 5-year-old nephew, Miller.
Bruno Mesquita
Bruno (he/him) holds a bachelor's and teaching degrees in Biology from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. In 2021, he moved to Canada, where he's pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience. His research delves into how our experiences shape the way we perceive the world—like how we are better at attending to and understanding the voices of friends and family over strangers.Outside the lab, Bruno is a self-proclaimed science nerd with a passion for science communication, and was excited to join the GradCast team in 2024. He also loves diving into board, card, and video games whenever he gets the chance.
Chrishma Perera
Chrishma is a PhD student in Geography and Environment at Western University. Her research focuses on Urban Indigenous Food Sovereignty. Prior to joining Western, she completed her MS in Geography at Virginia Tech, USA, where she began a podcast series aligned with Earth Day 2024 and 2025. Continuing this passion, Chrishma also initiated a new mini-series within the GradCast, titled “ Thinking with the Earth.” Chrishma serves as both a host and a producer for GradCast. When Chrishma is not behind the microphone or doing research, you can find her practicing yoga, reading, painting pottery, or hiking.
Evelyn McKay-Barr
Rafaela Platkin
Rafaela is a first year PhD student in CDBS Psychology. Rafaela studies auditory processing, particularly through the lens of developmental cognition. By studying how children listen to stories and the world around them, Rafaela hopes to inform best practices in classroom settings by considering different individual characteristics such as hearing ability and attention capacity. In her free time, Rafaela can be found singing along to popular karaoke songs and buying trinkets.
Anika Bushra
Anika Bushra a graduate student doing an MSc in Organic Chemistry, where she develops helical peptides for SPECT and PET imaging of tumours. Due to her love for audio editing, she joined GradCAST in 2026 as a producer. When she isn’t in the lab, she can be found reading a mystery/fantasy novel, playing Minecraft, or having a blast editing episodes for GradCAST.
Kuljeet Chohan
Kuljeet is a medical student at Western University who previously studied psychology at the University of Calgary. Kuljeet joined GradCast in November 2025 as a host and producer, and she loves chatting with the grad students on the show. She also produces a podcast for the CFMS, and previously hosted and produced a spiritual storytelling podcast at her alma mater, UCalgary. To keep herself extra busy, Kuljeet loves to sing and recently joined a band with her classmates called 21 Platelets!
Victor Lau
Victor is a PhD student in Anatomy and Cell Biology, with co-supervision at Robarts Research Institute . His projects aim to develop proof-of-concept diagnostics for brain diseases involving iron buildup, alongside flagging iron-rich immune cells for potential therapeutic targeting. Victor joined GradCast in January 2026. In his free time, Victor enjoys working out, meditating, petting cats (in scarce supply!), playing with LEGO, and pondering about metaphysics.
Show Hosts:
Anthony
Maris
Scott
Garth
Ryan
Mark
Bruno
Chrishma
Milan
Kelly
Kuljeet
Spencer
Anika
Victor
Ella
Zoe
Rafaela
Evelyn
Producers:
Anthony
Bruno
Scott
Mark
Chrishma
Milan
Evelyn
Kuljeet
Anika
Victor
Ella
Zoe
Rafaela
Garth
Meghan Voll
Meghan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) at Western. Originally from Waterloo, Ontario, her research looks at mobile dating apps and industry, and how design options and values about intimacy they promote often emphasize app’s commercial goals. Meghan joined the GradCast committee in November 2022. In her free time, Meghan enjoys bullet journaling, listening to podcasts, metal music, running on her treadmill, and bothering her two cats, Pancake and Waffles.
Twitter: @meghan_voll9
Episode 395-Behind the Scenes of Swiping Right
Maria Khan
Maria is completing her Master of Clinical Science in Audiology, working towards professional designation as a CASLPO registered audiologist. She is involved in different areas of research, working as a Graduate Student Assistant at the Pediatric Audiology Strategies and Systems Lab and working with the Re:Searching LGBTQ+ Health Team at the University of Toronto. Maria joined GradCast in 2023 as a producer. When she is not looking into ears, Maria is producing for another podcast, Hear Here Podcast, based out of the Archie’s Cochlear Implant Lab at the Hospital for Sick Children. In her free time, she's listening to more podcasts, sketching, baking, writing and running a TikTok showcasing life as a graduate student.
TikTok: @maari_bar
Liam Clifford
Liam is a third-year PhD student with Western’s Department of History. His research focuses on
the Orange Order, an institution founded exclusively for Irish Protestants in 1795, and their
connection to facilitating settler colonialism in Canada and Ireland. He hopes that this will raise
greater awareness to the importance of accosting colonial narratives that persist into the modern
day. Having previously served as a host, producer, and segment founder on GradCast from 2020-
2021, they just couldn’t keep him away! Liam also serves as the Chair for the History Graduate
Student Association. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games and watching football (or
soccer, depending on your persuasion). Sláinte!
Episode 268: Internal Colonialism: The World Turned Outside-In
Riya Sidhu
Riya is currently a PhD candidate in psychology at Western. She studies how we move and synchronize to a wide range of contexts, and looks at the individual differences that affect synchronization. Riya joined the GradCast editorial board in Spring 2024 and loves learning about the wide range of research at Western. She enjoys reading and a wide range of craft hobbies in her free time.
Episode: 453 | Synchronize and Groove: a Three Part Story
kirstyn seanor
kirstyn (any pronouns) is completing a PhD in Library and Information Science (LIS) within the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS). Their research is focused on the organization of online pornography, specifically how sexual vocabulary, folksonomies, and website design influence people's experience of searching for sexual content online. kirstyn joined GradCast in 2024 but has previous experience as a guest, primarily speaking about SOGS ❤️ kirstyn procrastinates on their dissertation work by watching long video essays about heavy topics, making crass friendship bracelets, and trying new recipes.
Jessica Eblie
Jessica Eblie is a graduate student studying in the Master of Media in Journalism and Communications. She hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba and is a prairie girl at heart. Her favourite activities include, figure skating, singing and listening to classic rock.
Past Members
Jina Kum
Richard Raycraft
Jenna Schlorff
Taniya Nagpal
Chantal Lemire
Sarah Klapman
Hira Nadeem
Ana Moyer
Rosemary Giles
Elizabeth Mholer
Bahaa Helal
Maria Khan