GradCast

333 | Happy Lives of Yeast and Flies

Remember those fruit flies that annoy you by incessantly buzzing around? They are an essential part of PhD in Biology candidate Yanira Jimenez Padilla's work. In her time at Western, she has worked with her winged friends by introducing yeast during their growth cycle to observe  any anatomical changes that take place. Why, you ask? Well as hosts Liam Clifford and Elizabeth Mohler learn, it's because these changes can help us understand how microbes (or the lack thereof) can impact the development in a living thing. As a result, the conversation that ensues seeks to familiarize listeners with all sorts of super cool bugs that influence our daily lives.

 

Full video available on YouTube

Recorded on June 29, 2021

Produced by Ariel Frame

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

332 | Remembering a Forgotten War: Memory, Nostalgia, and the Falklands War

Many people have never heard of the Falkland Islands, let alone the Falklands War. However, for History MA student, Ryan McLachlan, it is the source of much interest. In this episode, hosts Rosemary Giles and Ana Moyer get a crash course history lesson about the Falklands War from Ryan.

The small islands in the South Atlantic were the setting for a defining moment, and on 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falklands, which had been British territory for almost 150 years. What followed was a short, fast paced war, concluding with a British victory on 14 June 1982. Ryan’s research focuses on the empire-related nostalgia that was produced by the war and felt throughout the United Kingdom. After the Second World War, and over the following three decades, the sun slowly set on the British Empire. The Falklands were a source of pride when the British stood up against an aggressor, rejuvenating the spirit of the British people, and marked the rebirth of the nation. An integral part of Ryan’s research is the material culture produced during and after the war. These objects are part of a large collection that Ryan has amassed, which he soon hopes to build into an accessible, fully digitized website, which will allow a large audience to interact and appreciate these items.

 

Full video on YouTube

Recorded on June 22, 2021

Produced by Ariel Frame and edited by Gavin Tolometti

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

331 | The Baby Researcher

In this episode, hosts, Elizabeth Mohler and Francesco Colosimo, sit down with fourth year Integrative Bioscience PhD student, Megha Rao. For her research, Megha is currently looking at understanding the process of inter-facility transport of acutely ill and preterm neonates in Ontario. In other words...the path of care an ill newborn takes to recovery. Megha has extensive experience in this area of research previously working at SickKids in Toronto.

For more on Megha’s research, you can find her on Instagram @TheBabyResearcher where she shares things that she’s learnt with a community of HCPs, parents, academics, researchers and graduate students.

Full video on YouTube

Recorded on May 15, 2021

Produced by Ariel Frame

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

Special Episode: Executive Decisions Veep’s Part 2

In this special episode Danica Facca and Becky Horst, the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) VP Academic and VP Finance respectively, speak with Rhys Paterson and Francesco Colosimo about their positions as SOGS VPs and give us the details on what it’s like to have these roles, how their responsibilties have changed due to the pandemic and their experiences holding such responsibilities while being students. 

To get in touch with Danica, you can contact her through her email academic@sogs.ca. Alternitively, you can follow her in Twitter and Instagram. To contact and Beck you can send her an email to finance@sogs.ca.

Recorded on June 15, 2021.

Produced by Laura Munoz Baena.

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

330 |The Flight of the Drone

Did you ever wonder how, exactly, a drone operates, or how disease is detected in farmers’ fields?  Well, in this episode of Gradcast, we sit down with Nicholas Mitchell and learn about his masters work witch was focused on multispectral cameras that are attached to drones for agri-tech applications. Some of the things you can use this for is: detecting diseases in farm fields, giving locations for farmers to increase or decrease fertilizer and assessing nitrogen and chlorophyll content of plants! 

To learn more about Nicholas' work, check out the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Western's CubeSat team Ukpik-1, or you can email him at nmitch6@uwo.ca!

Recorded on June 8, 2021.

Produced by Hira Nadeem.

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

Special Episode: Executive Decisions Veep's Part 1

Have you heard of SOGS (Society of Graduate Students), but not really familiar with what SOGS is or what SOGS does?  In this episode, hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Gavin Tolometti unpack all things SOGS and sit down with VP Student Services, Effie Sapuridis and VP Advocacy, Yousuf Hasan to learn more about their roles. Elizabeth and Gavin hear about Empower You, a free, confidential counselling program offered to all graduate students, and learn that the work of advocacy includes much more than speaking up for students. Want to know more, check out this episode at the link below., and stay tuned for our next episode where gradcast host members sit down with the rest of the SOGS executive.

If you would like to learn more about Effie's and Yousuf's roles as SOGS Executives, you can check out the SOGS website here.

Full Video on YouTube 

Recorded on June 2, 2021

Produced by Gavin Tolometti

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Special Episode: Executive Decisions President

In this episode kirstyn seanor, the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) President, speaks with Ariel Frame and Yimin Chen about their role as president and recent developments coming from the SOGS structural retreat. kirstyn delves into the history and structure of SOGS and elaborates on the big issues SOGS is addressing at the moment. 

 

To hear more from kirstyn, contact them through email president@sogs.ca or follow them on Twitter @kirstynasdf or the SOGS Discord

 

To find out about SOGS activities or get involved in SOGS, check out the website sogs.ca or Twitter @WesternSOGS and Instagram @WesternSOGS

Recorded on May 20, 2021.

Produced by Hira Nadeem.

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

329 | Filming Female Fighting Flies For Science

Sebastien Heine has nearly finished his 2 year MSc in Biology. He explains his research on Drosophila (fruit fly) female aggression to hosts Ariel Frame and Laura Munoz. Sebastien goes into details about his history with research and how he developed a general fascination with  neuroscience and how these brain cells connect with each other. His passion began at a young age and was fuelled by his reading of Connectome by Sebastien Seung. To find out more from Sebastien, check out his LinkedIn profile, his Facebook or email him at sheine@uwo.ca

 

Recorded on June 1st, 2021.

Produced by Laura Munoz Baena.

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

328 | The Resilience of Life

So often in media and in real life, meteorites (asteroids that do not burn up in the atmosphere) striking the surface of Earth often result in catastrophic consequences for all living things. However, Geology and Planetary Sciences PhD student Lauren Stone opts to reveal the whole picture. In this episode, hosts Liam Clifford and Gavin Tolometti learn how this destructive process, known as impact cratering, can paradoxically foster a habitable environment for microscopic organisms. By discovering the secrets of these endoliths (life that survives in rocks), Lauren's research demonstrates the resiliency of life to prosper in the unlikeliest of places.

Full video available on YouTube

Recorded on May 25, 2021

Produced by Gavin Tolometti

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

327 | Pac-Man Brain Scan

In this episode Emily Davidson tells Ariel Frame and Rosemary Giles about her exciting new research project in the Neuroscience MSc program. In this project Emily will be conducting fMRI brains scans of people playing the video game Pac-Man, a more engaging task than is typically used. As a student co-supervised by philosophy professor Dr. Michael Anderson and psychology professor Jody Culham, Emily discusses her interest in the marriage of philosophy and neuroscience. 

To find out more from Emily or possibly sign up to participate in her study email her ejdavidson777@gmail.com

Full video available on YouTube

Recorded on May 18, 2021

Produced by Ariel Frame

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot