About Us
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 Wednesday at 1:30 pm on CHRW 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 gradcastradio@gmail.com.
GradCast Editorial Board
Managing Editor:
Social Media:
Recording Secretary:
GradLife SubCommittee:
Trivia Guru:
Recruiters:
Show Hosts:
Past Members:
Jina Kum
Richard Raycraft
Jenna Schlorff
Taniya Nagpal
Chantal Lemire
Sarah Klapman
Ariel Frame
Ariel is a PhD student in the neuroscience program at Western University. He moved to London from Vancouver in 2016 in order to begin graduate school at Western. He is a neurobiologist who is currently researching aging, metabolism and memory in hopes that his future work will address the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease etiology. Ariel likes in depth discussions on controversial topics, playing soccer and the number three.
Lab website: www.thecumminglab.com
Twitter: @ArielFrame
Interview: Episode #167: The Super Secret Sex Life of Fruit Flies
Yimin Chen
Yimin is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies whose research interests encompasses all sorts of online communication: from fake news to internet memes. When he isn't busy with GradCast, Yimin likes to spend his time not working on his thesis on the classification of internet trolling behaviours.
Viki Tellios
Viki Tellios is currently a PhD student in Neuroscience and has been a part of the Western community for 7 years (and counting), previously completing her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Classical Studies. Her research journey began during undergrad, working on a wet lab project at Lawson Research Institute. Here, she investigated the role of nitric oxide on corneal wound healing. Becoming interested in nitric oxide as a therapeutic target in a variety of diseases, she continued this research into her PhD, focusing instead on its elusive role in neuronal development in the cerebellum at Robarts Research Institute. Outside of her research, Viki enjoys engaging with other graduate students at Western and considers GradCast the ideal outlet to do so.
Contact: vtellios@uwo.ca
Interview: Episode #153: When Dendrites Go Dend-Wrong
Nicholas Handfield-Jones
Nicholas Handfield-Jones is a second-year Master’s of Neuroscience student. His work uses high-powered magnetic resonance imaging to uncover the anatomy and function of a brain region called the striatum. He joined GradCast because of his interest in podcasts and editing. In his free time, Nick can be found writing fantasy books or playing tactical RPGs.
If you would like to contact Nick, please send him an email at nicholas.handfield@gmail.com, or catch him at twitter @NHandfield
Interview:Special Episode #173: The Blackhole of the Brain
Gregory Ian Robinson
Gregory is a first year Master's student in Physiology and Pharmacology / Developmental Biology. His research includes maternal insults on brain and heart development. Among making and listening to podcasts, Gregory's hobbies include music, sports, and socializing. Gregory loves to play the guitar and sing covers of his favourite songs. His favourite sports are football, basketball, and tennis. If you need to talk to Gregory, you can find him at the GradClub with a beer in hand after a long day in the lab.
You can reach him through social media or email...
Instagram: @GregoryIanR
Twitter: @GregIanRobinson
Email: Gregory.Robinson@uwo.ca
Interview: Special Episode: Greg Goes to Grad School!
Gavin Tolometti
Gavin is a PhD candidate in the Earth Sciences department and the Center for Planetary Science and Exploration. He moved to Canada in 2016 after completing his undergraduate degree in Scotland, and immediately became involved with his department and field work. His research focuses on the surface properties of lava flows and rocks melted during meteorite impacts. If you ever talk about going for hikes, kayaking in a lake or river, or just wanting to chill at a pub Gavin will always be interested and excited!
Twitter: Follow @GavinOnTheMoon
Interview:Episode #184: Billie Jean is Not My Lava
Nikol Posnov
Nikol Posnov is an M.Sc. student in the Department of Earth Sciences and the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration studying Geomicrobiology. Her research focuses on microbial habitat generation through impact bombardment by combining geological impact alteration classification methods with biological life-detection techniques. Her goal is to explore the relationship between shock-induced alteration and microbial colonization, thereby determining the extent to which these rocks can serve as an effective habitat for life on Mars. She did her bachelor in Medical Sciences and she is extremely undecided on whether she would like to pursue to do her Medical Degree or Ph.D. Nikol secretly wants to become an Astronaut once she finishes school. In her free time, Nik likes to run, play volleyball, have drinks with her friends and family at the cottage, and of course participate in GradCast!
Interview: Locating the Homes of Extinct Martian Microbes
Laura Munoz
Laura is a PhD student in the department of Microbiology and Immunology. Her research focus on understanding evolution in virus genomes. She is particularly interested in overlapping reading frames, which are chunks of the genome that encode more than one protein and are though to be used for viruses to create new genes. Since Laura moved to Canada, she has had to learn to enjoy the winter, so she now likes to take long walks around London and escape the city every time she has the chance in order to visit new places of what she describes as a freezing but fascinating country.
Yousuf Hasan
My name is Yousuf and I'm currently doing my PhD in Philosophy at Western. Broadly speaking, I’m interested in 20th century History and Philosophy of Science and Mathematics. I’m fascinated espeically by methodological issues that are discussed between scientifically minded philosophers. These philosophers were also physicists, mathematicians, or logicians who were engaged in philosophical questions such as:
1) Can we be optimistic about our current best scientific theories given the graveyard of theories?
2) What makes mathematical statements such as ‘2+2=4’ certain and distinct from statements about the world say, ‘it is raining outside’?
3) Can we know the limits of our language and what can be said meaningfully?
Although my research is on understanding scientific theories, I end up engaging with the above questions as they are discussed by 20th century philosophers such as Rudolf Carnap, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Bertrand Russell. At GradCast, I enjoy hosting shows and nowadays I’m focusing on #gradlife issues especially on wellness and wellbeing given the pandemic.
Interview: The Graveyard of Scientific Theories
Contact: Rotman Institute of Philosophy
Rhys Paterson
Rhys Paterson is an M.Sc. student in the Department of Earth Sciences at Western University. Her research focuses on Ontario’s Paleozoic geology, specifically sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Silurian-age Clinton-Medina Groups. In her free time, Rhys likes to hike, bake cookies, do yoga, as well as go on adventures around Ontario.
If you want to talk science or just hang out at the grad club (with poutine in hand), you can email her at rpaters9@uwo.ca
Liam Clifford
Liam is a Master’s candidate with the Department of Political Science. Originally hailing from Dublin, Ireland, he moved to London from Mississauga, Ontario to undergo his first Master’s in History at Western. While dealing with past research including the perpetration of internal colonialism and cultural genocide in Ireland, his current interest involves Russian geopolitical strategy in Eastern Europe’s “frozen conflict” zones. When school is not occupying his time, he enjoys soccer (football!), playing Fallout, and trivia at the Grad Club. Don’t get him starting on his love of flags or ability to name any country’s capital.
Twitter: @LNJClifford
Email: lcliffo@uwo.ca
Interview: Episode #268: Internal Colonialism: The World Turned Outside-In. Listen to it on Podbean or YouTube!
Elizabeth Mohler
I am excited to be joining the GradCast team, and am a new member as of this fall (2020). I am no stranger to Western, having graduated in 2012 from the master’s program in Health and Rehab Sciences, Occupational Sciences from Western University. After graduating, I worked for the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) as a research consultant, developing resources for students with disabilities transitioning from post-secondary to employment. In 2016, I moved to work as a community engagement lead at Balance for Blind Adults for 3 years and am now at Ryerson Magnet as an inclusive hiring project coordinator.
In addition to my full-time work, I sit on the Education Standards Committee for the Ontario Government, where I advise and deliberate on educational policies pertaining to students with disabilities. I provide recommendations around how to make Ontario’s post-secondary sector more inclusive for students with disabilities.
This fall, I will be starting my doctoral work at Western University in the school of Occupational Science, cross appointing in Disability Studies.
My doctoral research will explore the impact that access to direct funding has on the occupational performance and engagement of people with disabilities (PWDs) who receive funding from the Ontario Direct Funding (ODF) program to ‘self-manage’ their attendant services.
You can get in contact with Elizabeth on Twitter @MohlerC or by email: cmohler@uwo.ca
Francesco Colosimo
Francesco is currently a second-year Master’s of Health Information Science (HIS) student at Western University. His research involves looking at the various misinformation and fake news that is currently emerging regarding health-related information in today’s society and strategies to mitigate them. He has been a part of the Western community for 6 years, previously completing an undergraduate degree in Health Sciences and assisting with research at the Western University Health Promotion Research Lab. During his undergraduate years, he also co-founded the Butterfly Effect club whose purpose is to, through random acts of kindness, spread positivity at Western and in the great London community. When he isn’t busy with school, Francesco loves watching hockey and listening to music!
- June 20, 2020
