GradCast

This week, hosts Meghan Voll and Carly Charron interview Master’s student Karmen Mohindru about her research examining harm and maltreatment in Canadian Para Sport. Karmen talks about potential harms these athletes face, and a concerning lack of policies and education about these in Canada to adequately protect them. To find out more about Karmen and her work, email her at kmohindr@uwo.ca or visit...

This week your hosts Ariel Frame and Scott Walters speak with master's student Julia Hammer about how climate change may impact basic life function of trees. Julia discusses her research on how rising temperature and carbon dioxide levels affect boreal trees' capacity to photosynthesize and what this might mean for these species with projected climate trends. We learn about rooftop greenhouses, fo...

Hosts Carly and Laura talk with master's student Erin Brintnell about her research on SARS-CoV2. Erin explains how bioinformaticians use biological data to create models that predict the number of infected individuals in a population, and use those numbers to inform public health responses.  If your want to learn more about Erin and her journey between computers and viruses, find her on instagram...

Anusha Ravikumar speaks with Ariel Frame and Laura Muñoz Baena about her research on stars she is doing as part of her PhD in physics and astronomy. Anusha answers multiple questions about how we currently think stars are born and explains how her work will shed light on the development of star disks.    To find out more from Anusha, follow her on Twitter  @hustling_stars Recorded on November 22,...

This week, hosts Carly Charon and Meghan Voll interview PhD student Hossein Asgari about his research using 3-D marker-less tracking to investigate locomotion on black widow spiders. Hossein talks about the effect particular vibrations have on spider’s behaviour and ability to detect prey, and whether they actually use differing postures to better make sense of these vibrations.  To find out more...

This week, hosts Carly Charron and Laura Muñoz Baena interview Facundo Lodol, one of the newest members of the Editorial Board, about his MSc research in the Neuroscience department. Facundo talks about his project on misophonia, a disorder characterized by heightened sensitivity to trigger sounds such as chewing. He is interested in the relationship between misophonia and the brain’s ability to f...

This week, hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Brittany Melton sit down with PhD candidate Audra Quinn. Audra is studying entrepreneurship at Ivey Business School. We talk about one branch of her work: the interactions between co-founders. So, before you choose your business parter, give this episode a listen! To find out more about Audra and her work, go check out her Twitter ( @AudraQuinn ) and website...

This week, our newest member of the Editorial Board, Scott Walters, joins host Ana Moyer and Charan Mandur to talk about his PhD research in the biology department. Scott talks about his work looking at how nutrition on mudflats and rivers affects the water-associated birds living there and their migrations. We learn about mist nets, biofilm, and more.  To get into contact with Scott for more ques...

Today, host and past editor, Ariel Frame (PhD candidate in Neuroscience) joins hosts Laura and Brittany to discuss the final stages of his PhD research. Join us to learn more about lactate metabolism in the brains of mice and flies! For more of Ariel, check out  Episode 267, The Super Secret Sex Life of Fruit Flies . To keep up with Ariel, check out his Twitter  @ArielFrame  and on  Google Scholar...

This week, hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Ariel Frame speak with FIMS PhD candidate Meghan Voll about her research on the economics of dating apps. Meghan is interested in how these companies use value conflation to influence their business platforms and is aiming to map out the data flows of how these companies use, exchange, and monetize user data.  To find out more about Meghan's research, go chec...

This week, hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Charan Mandur interview our very own SOGS VP Academic, Kevin Moore. In addition to his role on the Society of Graduate Students advocating for and making grad student's voices heard, Kevin is a PhD Candidate in the department of Medical Biophysics where he studies blood flow. We chat about what his lab days look like, learn a bit more about how blood flows th...

Charan Mandur and Ariel Frame speak with Zsofia Agoston about her ongoing institutional ethnography research with Ontario teachers. Zsofia explains how she plans to use an anthropological lens to investigate the methods being used to teach difficult knowledge at the K-8 level. To find out more from Zsofia check out her Twitter @zsofimedovarski Recorded on September 28, 2022. Produced by Laura Muño...

In today’s episode, Benjamin Souriol speaks with Laura Muñoz and Claire Bottini about his Master studies on nitrogen cycling and soil ecology. Benjamin explains how nitrogen molecules go in and out of the environment and how nitrogen spreads in a system according to different treatments. He aims to better understand how agricultural intensification and global warming can affect this molecule in ou...

This episode welcomes Javier Alvarez, a PhD student in anthropology, studying Mapudungun — the language of the Mapuches. Mapuches are an indigenous community that inhabited South America way before colonization, and is currently established in central Chile and southwest Argentina. Javier shares with hosts Charan and Laura his intentions to cooperate with the Mapuches in order to develop and promo...

Peter Baker speaks with Ariel Frame and Charan Mandur about his ongoing Biology MSc research on lake trout from Lake Ontario. Peter explains how he studies lake trout to determine how a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, caused by the consumption of invasive prey fishes, impacts fish health and behavior. Moreover, Peter discusses aspects of fishing which influence ecosystem conservation. Recorded o...

In today’s episode, hosts Claire Bottini and Carly Charron talk with Natalia Parra about her anthropological studies on Canadian refuges immigration process. Natalia particularly focuses on the experience of Columbian women refugees in Canada and the asylum adjudication system that determines who is “worthy” to be considered a refugee and who is not.   Recorded on September 6, 2022. Produced by Jo...

In this episode, Gradcast's new managing editor, Amalie Hutchinson, talks with hosts Laura and Brittany about her PhD studies in hummingbird physiology. Specifically, daily torpor and mitochondria. Tune in to learn about how birds cope with cold winter temperatures and get a glimpse of the day of a Biology grad student.    Recorded on August 30, 2022. Produced by Laura Muñoz Baena. Theme song prov...

On this episode of #GraduatedLife, hosts Charan Mandur and Amalie Hutchinson chat with Dr Christina Booker. Christina graduated with her PhD in Chemistry in 2012, and now works as a faculty member at Western, developing new teaching strategies. She shares with us ways to balance work and family life, advice for making career connections, and more. Recorded on August 22, 2022 Produced by Amalie Hut...

This week, hosts Ana Moyer and Amalie Hutchinson interview Reese Gartly. Reese is completing her M.Sc. in the biology department. We discuss her work making computer models for spider body-size, and learning more about how spiders perceive the world around them using eight of their body parts... not the eyes, the legs! Listen in for some cool facts about spiders, how your stiff knee probably won't...

On this episode of our #GraduatedLife series, hosts Jordan VanderBurgt and Carly Charron chat with Patrick Langille. Patrick finished his MSc in biology in 2016. After deciding that research wasn't for him, he took off to New Zealand, completed teacher's college, and became a science teacher. Patrick shares how his career took shape, gave advice for current grads who might not be loving what they'...

To continue our #GraduatedLife series, hosts Jordan VanderBurgt and Claire Bottini interview Tara Saab. Tara graduated with her MA in geography in 1999. We learn that even a grad degree in geography won't necessarily keep you on the map you started on! Tara now works as a project manager at a hospital in Ontario, and she shares how skills she learned at UWO helped her navigate a somewhat off-road...

This week, Claire Bottini and Ariel Frame discussed with Olivia Siemons, a Master student in Biology, her work on genes and behaviour in female fruit flies during reproduction. In this episode, Olivia describes how a specific gene influences female receptivity to males courting and how difference in species may affect this behaviour. We continue with discussing about species evolution and techniqu...

For the first episode of #GraduatedLife, Charan Mandur and Ariel Frame interview Dr. Geoffrey Hayes. Dr. Hayes completed his PhD in history at UWO in 1992. He shares with GradCast how he found his way to Western, what brought him to his current faculty position at the University of Waterloo, and life and grad school advice from someone who's been there.  Recorded on August 4, 2022 Produced by Amal...

This week, hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Carly Charron interview fellow Gradcast member Claire Bottini, who is a PhD candidate in Biology. In this episode, Claire shares some fun facts about birds, and discusses a recent project she completed assessing whether exposure to methylmercury, an environmental contaminant, impacts song sparrow reproduction.  Recorded on August 4, 2022. Produced by Amalie H...

Today gradcast is joined by Hugh Samson, a first year PhD study in Library and Information Science, who shares with hosts Laura Muñoz Baena and Brittany Melton his research on balance and mindfulness. Hugh not only defines each term but situates them in his work more broadly at the crossroads of information and contemplation. To contact Hugh and learn more about the importance of balance and conte...