What Do Scientists Do?

Mental health is one part of our health as a whole, but can be much trickier to look after. You might be able to put a band-aid on a scraped knee, but what can you do when you feel anxious or overwhelmed? 😰 How can we recharge our mental batteries to look after ourselves? 🪫 And why is it important to have conversations like this? 🗣️ On this episode of What Do Scientists Do? , we’re joined by Cla...

Welcome to our special World Oceans Day episode! In this episode, we dive into marine ecology with Amy Irvine (she/her) and learn about how we can use computer models and predictions to figure out where ocean animals live, and how climate change is going to impact different ocean creatures! 🌊 🧑‍💻 Want to keep learning or bring this episode into your classroom? Our World Oceans Day activity will...

Behavioural ecologist Dr. Chris Course (he/him) joins us on the podcast this month to talk about using technology to track animals, how climate change impacts chickadee's memories, and how life together is better! 🐦 🌨️ 🧑‍💻 Want to keep learning or bring this episode into your classroom? Our food web activity will be available Friday, March 14th, on our website. 🧑‍🏫 This podcast is available t...

Welcome back to season four of What Do Scientists Do? 🔬 Shark scientist Baylie Fadool (she/her) chats with us about swimming with hammerheads, sun tanning sharks, and if megalodon is still out there swimming in the ocean. 🦈 Want to keep learning or bring this episode into your classroom? Our shark coding extension activity will be available Friday, January 31st, on our website . Learners can app...

Tune in to the latest episode of "What Do Scientists Do?" for a conversation about conservation. In this episode, join Mab as they interview Lindsee Clark, an ocean conservationist! We chat about ocean conservation, measuring marine populations, and using DNA to track invasive species. Grab your snorkel mask, and dive in to this month's episode! This podcast is available to listen to with captions...

🐜 Tune in to the latest episode of "What Do Scientists Do?" for a conversation abuzz with everyone's favourite creepy crawlies: ants! 🐜 In this hilarious and (compound) eye-opening episode, we're joined by the wicked smart myrmecologist Dr. Aaron Fairweather (they/them) as we dig deep into the world of bugs, insects, and the intricate lives of ants. Listen in as we chat about ant daycares, how b...

Join us as we dive into the world of ocean sounds with Emmanuelle Cook (she/her), a PhD student as Dalhousie's Department of Oceanography! In this episode, we make a splash exploring what the waters in the Arctic sound like! 🌊 🎵 Emmanuelle shares her work on Arctic ocean acoustics (or figuring out what the water sounds like in the Arctic). By listening in to the sounds of ice, snowmobiles, and s...

In this episode of "What Do Scientists Do?," Jess hangs out with Dr. Craig McCormick (he/him), a virologist and professor at Dalhousie University's Department of Microbiology & Immunology . We dive into the wild world of viruses--we're talking virus conferences, the tricky side of virus research, and why these tiny things are such a big deal! Dr. McCormick (petri) dishes on virology: unlocking...

🎙️ Tune in to our latest minisode about the world of Biostatistics! 🌿📊 Mira and Mab break down the science behind the world of biostatistics and how we use this mashup of biology and math to make cereal, help plants grow, and figure out how viruses like COVID spread. These data detectives use math to learn about health, create predictive text, and inform artificial intelligence! 🧠 This episode...

Biostatistician is a long job title, what do they even do? 🧑‍⚕️ How can we use statistics in healthcare? 📊 Can math be creative? How can Chat GPT and AI help? 💻 And how much computer programming does a biostatistician have to do? Biostatistician Colin Vibert (he/him) answers these questions and more as we learn about how math and biology blend together to make biostatistics! This podcast is ava...

What do you mean the ocean is getting more acidic?!? 🤯 In this minisode, Mira and Mab explain the process of ocean acidification in under 10 minutes, explaining what acids are 🧪, how the pH scale works ⚖️, and the complicated chemistry behind ocean acidification ⚗️ To learn more about ocean acidification and how scientists are trying to make it better, check out our full length episode with Mike...

🌊 What is ocean acidification? ☁️ How does carbon dioxide get into ocean water? 🎨How can we be creative in STEM? 🌸 And why was the Halifax Harbour dyed pink? Today we learn all about the process of ocean acidification, and what a group of scientists are doing to help the ocean absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere! 🧑‍🔬 Mike Kelland (he/him), CEO of Planetary Tech, tells us all about...

What even is climate change? 🤔 In this minisode, Mira and Mab explain climate change in under 10 minutes, explaining how climate change happens, why it happens, and what we can do about it! 🌎 To learn more about climate change, check out our full length episode with Alex Cadel. ✨ Questions? Looking for more science fun? Check out @SuperNOVAatDal on Instagram or X (previously Twitter ). If you h...

Welcome back to season three of What Do Scientists Do? A podcast for children and youth where we talk to wicked smart guests and learn about what kind of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math they do! 💫 In our season premier we learn all about how we can adapt to climate change and how the future is ours to shape, especially around Nova Scotia! 🌎 How can we plan communities that are climate...

It's our second-last episode of the season! 🧠 How does our body movement change based on what we perceive, without us even noticing? How do our brains create our thoughts, our feelings, our consciousness? And how do we study things like learning, memory, and attention? On today's episode we learn from Kevin Leblanc (he/him), a Cognitive Neuroscientist at Dalhousie University, who uses his brain t...

What are virtual machines, and why are they useful? How do we build telescopes that can see stars when they twinkle? Today we learn from software engineer Bas de Bruijne (he/him), who tells us all about what it’s like to design & improve software! If you’d like to try out coding for yourself and don’t know where to start, visit https://scratch.mit.edu/ To learn more about STEM programs for you...

Today we learn from Arushi (she/her, Grade 8) & Artash (he/him, Grade 11), two siblings making waves in the science world! How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect noise levels in the ocean? How can we detect unknown asteroids so that they don’t hit the Earth? And how can kids become scientists making real-word impacts? Keep up with Arushi & Artash at https://hotpoprobot.com/ or by following @...

How can understanding the human mind help us protect sea turtles? How can everyday people help scientists with their research? María Dabrowski (she/her/ella) tells us all about her work in sea turtle conservation! Follow María on Instagram @gogreenfortheocean for updates, turtle/bird facts, and more! You can also visit https://rare.org/ to learn about their fantastic work at the intersection of pe...

How can you make an escape room using a Raspberry Pi? What are computer programming languages, and which one was used to build Minecraft? Today we learn from Mira Macneill (she/her), SuperNOVA Program Coordinator and the queen of coding fun! To learn more about SuperNOVA's new Girls Entrepreneurship program, visit supernova.dal.ca/girlsentrepreneurship . Registration closes Jan 31st, 2023. You can...

How do scientists research the deepest parts of the ocean? What is it like to live on a ship? Today we learn from Sofya Pesternikova (she/they), a multimedia technician on board the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (Too)! Check out @schmidtocean on social media for videos of weird and wonderful deep-sea creatures, ship updates, and more. To learn more about Ship-to-Shore and other educational...

What can bird poop tell us about the environment? Are arctic birds ingesting plastics? And what is it like to study birds in remote places? Today we learn from arctic bird expert Julia Baak (she/her), who's working to understand how our changing environment is impacting seabirds! Follow Julia on Twitter @juliaellenbaak for baby bird pics, research updates, and more. Visit https://www.birdscanada.o...

What is it like to spend a winter at the South Pole? What are neutrinos, and why is the South Pole a good place to look for them? On this episode, Josh Veitch-Michaelis (he/him) tells us about his time as a winterover at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica! Want to learn more about daily life at the South Pole? Check out the IceCube Life @ Pole Blog at icecube.wisc.edu/pole/daily-life !...

What is it like to work as an engineer at the Canadian Space Agency? What kinds of things do each of Canada’s satellites do? On this episode, we learn from spacecraft engineer Bill Parsons (he/him), who teaches us about what it’s like to build and improve Canada’s satellites! Questions? Looking for more science fun? Check out @scientistsdopod on Twitter or Instagram. Do you have a question you’d l...

How can we use engineering to help diagnose alzheimer’s disease? How can we get better pictures of someone’s spine? And what is it like to enter a robot competition? On this episode, we learn from biomedical engineer Sierra Sparks (she/her), who teaches us all about the different ways engineering can be used to improve medicine! To learn more about what Sierra’s up to, follow her on Twitter @Sierr...

How do we decide where to dig mines? What on Earth is serpentine? And what is Basel's favourite rock? On this rockin' episode, Basel Al-Sukhon (he/him) teaches us all about geology! Looking for more science fun? Follow us @scientistsdopod on Twitter or Instagram. If you have a question you'd like answered by an expert, you can also send us an email or a voice recording at whatdoscientistsdo@supers...