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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.
Episodes

Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Special Episode: #GlobalGrads The Inaugural Episode
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Being an international grad student is an incredibly rewarding adventure but one consisting of a unique set of challenges. In a brand-new series debuting on GradCast during UWO International Week, hosts Liam Clifford, Nikol Posnov, and Rhys Paterson speak with Brazilian Political Science MA Ricardo Moll about the international student experience and what we can all learn from it. As the subsequent conversation highlights the obstacles surrounding travel in a global pandemic, the sights and sound of Canada, and subpar Tim Hortons coffee, Ricardo provides insightful context on how international students provide Western's community and the country with greater vibrancy.
If you would like to get in contact with Ricardo and learn more about his experience at Western and in Canada you can find him on FaceBook and Instagram.
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded on Nov 12th, 2020
Produced by Gavin Tolometti
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Sunday Nov 15, 2020
300 | Health Information Exchange among Caregivers
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Kendra Cotton (MSc. Nursing) joins hosts Yousuf Hasan and Elizabeth Mohler to chat about her research on technology and information flow among health care professions. Kendra tells us why health information exchange among professionals is important for effective patient care. She also chats about how social media is a great tool for caregivers to facilitate communication especially amid the pandemic..To learn more about Kendra and her clinical work as a registered nurse, visit here.

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

Monday Nov 09, 2020
299 | Best Friend Elements
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Do you want to know what it takes to work in the field of gold exploration in the Canadian Yukon Territory? An Arts degree, a failed calculus course, four exploration field seasons and a Masters in Geology. JUST KIDDING! It takes believing in yourself and a properly guided passion. Tune in to this week's GradCast episode with James Alexander to learn more about "best-friend" elements and minerals, instrumentation used to define gold mineralization, and if that's not for you, skip to the second half of the episode for reasons to visit the Yukon and some cheesy inspirational advice. The episode is hosted by Nikol Posnov and Viki Tellios.
If you would like to learn more about James's work, you can follow him on Instagram @jamesalexander95
To learn more about gold exploration up in the Yukon, you can visit the White Gold Corp website.
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded on 3rd Nov, 2020
Produced by Ariel Frame. Edited by Gavin Tolometti
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
298 | Talking the Talk about Walking the Walk
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
As humans, we often underestimate how important bipedal movement is to our lives. And according to recent Pedorthics program graduate and Kinesiology alumnus Ashley Njeru, there is much we can do to prioritize its wellbeing. And as hosts Liam Clifford and Viki Tellios learn more about lower limb health, orthotics, and orthopaedics, it becomes clear that this is something we should be taking more seriously. The conversation that follows is one that emphasizes the challenges of treating patients in a pandemic, how a graduate degree prepares one for the workforce, and why it is important to move forward figuratively and literally.
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Special Episode: How COVID-19 Has Impacted Western Research Part 3
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Hanna Grover and Amara Miles are both MA candidates in Occupational Therapy. They chat with hosts Yousuf Hasan, Elizabeth Mohler, and Gavin Tolometti about how COVID-19 has impacted their fieldwork over the summer. They also share with us how they have coped with these unprecedented times and found new ways to connect with people using online platforms. We talk about friendships, family, research, health activities, and much more.
If you would like to learn more about Hanna and Amara's research and the Occupational Therapy program at Western, follow @western_ot and @grassro_ots on Instagram.
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded on Oct 30th, 2020
Produced by Gavin Tolometti
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Special Episode: How COVID-19 Has Impacted Western Research Part 2
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Anna Sui (PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) chats with us about a research project that has led to the increase of smartphone use during the pandemic. She joined hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Gavin Tolometti to discuss smartphone addiction and nomophobia (fear of not having your smartphone or not being able to use it). Yoah Sui (PhD graduate in Kinesiology, soon to be a post-doctorate fellow in Behavioural Medicine Lab at the University of Victoria) also joins the hosts to talk about his post-grad journey after the pandemic. He chats about how COVID-19 impacted his post-doc scholarship and how he had to find roommates amid the pandemic. He also shares with us some positives including new research involving digital health.
If you would like to learn more about Anna and Yoah's research, you can email them at arudkovs@uwo.ca and yoahsui@gmail.com
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded on Oct 30, 2020
Produced by Gavin Tolometti
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Special Episode: How COVID-19 Has Impacted Western Research Part 1
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
In this episode of GradCast, hosts Gavin Tolometti and Francesco Colosimo chat with Kristin Prentice (a PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences researching leisure activity in older adults) and Adam Debosscher (a PhD Candidate in English Literature studying popular fantasy literature), about the various struggles they have faced as students in the COVID-19 era. Together, they enlighten us about how the pandemic has affected their research, measures they undertaken to keep their projects moving forward and personal strategies they have to stay productive.
If you want to learn more about Kristin Prentice's work you can email her at kprenti4@uwo.ca
If you want to learn more about Adam Debosscher's work you can read his article #ForTheThrone in the journal This Years Work on Medievalism
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded on Oct 29, 2020
Produced by Gavin Tolometti
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
297 | How to Teach a Digital Brain to Pay Attention
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
When we listen to the world around us, we can tune the brain to focus on sounds or voices. Do you remember when you were last on the train or bus and there was a certain sound that stood out to you? You could figure out what that sound was right? That is you perceiving the surrounding environment. For the human brain, this is a complex yet routine ability and is something we do not think about on how it works. Now try teaching a machine the same ability. Sounds hard right? Well, in this episode, hosts Liam Clifford and Gavin Tolometti talk with M.Sc student Haider Al-Tahan from the Department of Computer Science about his research using machine learning to train algorithms to distinguish audio from human speech.
To check out more from Haider go to his website haideraltahan.com
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded Oct 22, 2020
Produced by Ariel Frame
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
296 | Untying the Myths Surrounding Tubal Ligation
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
In this episode of GradCast, hosts (Elizabeth Mohler and Nikol Posnov) talk with Anna Sui (PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) about her research which looks at how women story their experiences of requesting and receiving tubal ligation (getting their tubes tied). Specifically, her research explores how various intersecting social identities (race, disability, gender, etc.) shape these experiences. We learn from Anna that this process is more difficult and complicated by myriad barriers than one might believe, especially in how medical professionals regard female patients.
To learn more about Anna's research: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Sui
Recorded on October 13, 2020
Full video available on YouTube
Produced by Yousuf Hasan
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
295 | A Philosopher Walks into a Science Lab
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Erlantz Etxeberria (PhD Candidate in Philosophy) chats about his research on scientific method and explanations in science with hosts (Yousuf Hasan and Liam Clifford). What is the scientific method? Should we trust science? Can philosophy inform science? Is there a clash between scientific evidence and politics? We talk about these issues with Erlantz. He also shares with us what he thinks about Richard Feynman’s quote on philosophy of science: “[it is] as useful to scientists as ornithology [the study of birds] is to birds.”
To learn more about Erlantz' research, visit his Rotman profile at Western.
Full video available on YouTube
Recorded on October 09, 2020.
Produced by Yousuf Hasan
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot