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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
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
208 | Who Eats Healthy in High School?
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
Hosts Roger Hudson and Gregory Robinson talk to Drew Bowman, masters student in Health Geography, about what high school students eat and how the advertisements that surround them can influence their decision making when it comes to food. A researcher in the Human Environment Analysis Laboratory at Western University, Drew discusses some of the unique insights she gains from conducting her research with teens rather than on teens, and shares about her lab's innovative SmartAppetite project that helps teens make informed and healthy food choices.
Hosts: Roger Hudson & Gregory Robinson
Produced by Chantal Lemire
Tuesday Mar 26, 2019
207 | Chillin' with Arachnids
Tuesday Mar 26, 2019
Tuesday Mar 26, 2019
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
206 | To Bee or Not to Bee
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
This week, GradCast continues its interview with students studying eusocial insects, this time exploring the incredible social structures of honeybees. Hosts Roger Hudson and Nick Handfield-Jones interview Anthony Gallo, from the Department of Biology, about his research into honeybee genetics. Specifically, he wonders how genes make certain types of bees have ovaries, and some not. Don't miss this episode: you won't Bee-lieve what you hear!
To know more about Anthony's research, you can follow him on Instagram @anthonygallo1424 or email him at agallo9@uwo.ca
Hosts: Nick Handfield-Jones & Roger Hudson
Produced by Gavin Tolometti
Wednesday Mar 13, 2019
205 | The Eusocialist Revolution
Wednesday Mar 13, 2019
Wednesday Mar 13, 2019
Eusociality is the highest level of social organization found in nature and is one of the reasons behind the evolutionary success of insects like bees and ants, but also termites. This week, biology master's student Anna Chernyshova takes us through the intricacies of termite society and the novel evolutionary adaptations that have allowed these normally-tropical critters to successful invade Canadian cities like Toronto. Join hosts Yimin and Ariel as we wonder: can eusociality work for us too?
Shoutout from Anna: "Much of my knowledge and fascination with eusociality stems from many insightful discussions with my labmates and supervisor Dr. Graham Thompson, who is an expert in the field of sociobiology with global reputation. I am grateful for his mentorship and emphasis on the big ideas with outside-the-box thinking."
You can dig into more research by Anna at.....
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Chernyshova3
https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=c_UBRYgAAAAJ
Hosts: Yimin Chen & Ariel Frame
Produced by Connor Chato
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
204 | Modeling Eusocial Genes Mathematically
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
Consider ants. Only the queen ant reproduces and passes on her genetic sequences. The worker ants do not. This creates a great paradox of evolution: if the worker ants don't pass on their genes, then how do they keep popping up? This week, hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Connor Chato interview Vonica Flear, from the Department of Biology, who is working on a mathematical model to solve this puzzling problem. She tells us about why she's interested in eusocial animals like ants and wasps and how she uses math to model them. Plus, hear about some of the pioneers in this field and how they advanced our understanding of evolution. To find out more from Vonica you can email her at vflear@uwo.ca
Hosts: Connor Chato & Nick Handfield-Jones
Produced by Ariel Frame
Wednesday Feb 27, 2019
203 | The Ethics of Pragmatic Clinical Trials
Wednesday Feb 27, 2019
Wednesday Feb 27, 2019
In this episode Cory Goldstein, PhD student at Rotman Institute of Philosophy, discusses how clinical trials of different styles need or need not obtain informed consent. Cory tells Ariel Frame and Gavin Tolometti about his work with an interdisciplinary group of professionals and patients. To contact Cory for more information you can find him on Twitter @coryegoldstein or read his most recent work:
Produced by Chantal Lemire
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
202 | The Rock Superstar
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
Hosts Gregory Robinson and Gavin Tolometti talk with PhD candidate in the Department of Geography, Rebecca Doyle about lake sediments and how their isotopic chemistry provides us a glance on how the lake climate has changed for the last 1000 years. For more info, check out Rebecca's blog https://lakenerd.com/ or twitter account @lake_nerd.
Hosts: Gregory Robinson & Gavin Tolometti
Produced by Nick Handfield-Jones
Tuesday Feb 12, 2019
201 | Why is Jason in the Hospital?
Tuesday Feb 12, 2019
Tuesday Feb 12, 2019
Lily Yosieph is passionate about mental health issues. As an MSc student in Health Promotion, her research seeks to understand the unique challenges that African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) youth face and how service providers, educators, and families can work to dismantle systemic barriers affecting marginalized communities. Join Yimin and Connor as we learn about the ways in which social and economic issues can impact the health of individuals.
Hosts: Connor Chato & Yimin Chen
Produced by Gregory Robinson
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
200 | The Catcher in the Mind
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Hosts Gavin Tolometti and Chantal Lemire dive into the world of post-1945 American literature with english literature PhD candidate Jeremy Johnston. In this episode we look at how adolescent mental health is portrayed in American literature and how it has changed to the modern day.
Hosts: Chantal Lemire & Gavin Tolometti
Produced by Gregory Robinson
Tuesday Jan 29, 2019
199 | The Land Before the Land Before Time
Tuesday Jan 29, 2019
Tuesday Jan 29, 2019
What did the landscape of Ontario look like over two billion years ago? The answer is hidden in the rocks. On this episode, geologist Carolyn Hill (PhD Candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences) tells hosts Yimin and Greg why the Pre-Cambrian may not be the nicest place for time travellers to visit. Plus, we learn about how oxygen once almost killed off life on Earth!
Hosts: Yimin Chen & Gregory Robinson
Produced by Chantal Lemire