COVIDCalls

Today, we have the fifth of the ACADEMY of Natural Sciences +COVIDCalls discussions, and my guests are Julian Siggers president of the Penn Museum and Scott Cooper the ceo of the Academy of Natural Sciences. Scott Cooper, PhD, is the president and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences. An international museum professional and heritage preservation scholar, Cooper has spent more than two decades p...

Today, we have a discussion of COVID-19 and vaccines with Dr. Paul Offit. Paul Offit is a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. He is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine that has been credited with saving hundreds of lives every day. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman...

Today, we have a discussion of children in the COVID-19 pandemic with Alice Fothergill and Lori Peek. Alice Fothergill is Professor of Sociology at the University of Vermont. She studies disasters, children, inequality, and vulnerability. She and co-researcher, Professor Lori Peek, conducted a longitudinal study on the experiences of children and youth in Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in the 2...

Today, we have a discussion of BRAZIL WITH Rosanna Dent and Gilberto Hochman. Rosanna Dent is an assistant professor in the federated history department of New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers--Newark. She has published work on the history of epidemiological research in Indigenous communities, and the history of genetics and anthropology in Brazil. She is currently working on a manuscrip...

Today, we have a discussion and performance with Marco Lienhard, the director of East Winds, Inc. and the musical director and lead performer for Taikoza and East Winds Ensemble. Since 1981, Marco has toured and taught internationally. He has performed as a soloist with Taikoza and Ondekoza numerous times at Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Osaka Festival Hall, Madison Square Garden, Tchaikovsky Hall...

Today, we have a discussion about city planning & architecture for a pandemic with Roberto Moris. Roberto MORIS is an architect who graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, with a Master in City Design and Social Sciences, London School of Economics, and Ph. D. student in Civil Engineering, University of Granada. He is an expert on integrated planning, carrying capacity models,...

Today, we have a discussion of environmental justice as part of the ongoing COVIDCalls-Academy partnership. Mariangeles H. Arce (Ar-say) is the ichthyology collection manager in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and an adjunct professor in the Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science (BEES) Department where she teaches Global Warming, Biodiversity, and your Future. Dr. Arce...

Today, we have a special Juneteenth discussion of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 with Hannibal B. Johnson. Hannibal B. Johnson is an attorney, author, and independent consultant specializing in diversity & inclusion/cultural competence issues and nonprofit governance.  Johnson, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has served as an adjunct professor at The University of Tulsa College of Law, Oklahoma Stat...

Today, we have discussion of COVID-19, public health, and the George Floyd protests with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. Peter Chin-Hong is a medical educator who specializes in treating infectious diseases, particularly infections that develop in patients who have suppressed immune systems. He directs the immunocompromised host infectious diseases program at UCSF. His research focuses on donor derived infec...

Today, we have discussion of antiracism, emergency management, and disaster research with two amazing scholars: Felicia Henry and Monica Sanders. Felicia A. Henry is a Ph. D. Student in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. Her research interests include race, ethnicity, gender, criminal justice/mass incarceration, social vulnerability and resilience in di...

Today, we have a discussion of COVID-19, race, and emergency management with DeeDee Bennett and Njoki Mwarumba. DeeDee  Bennett is an Assistant Professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her research interests include emergency management, socially vulnerable populations during disasters, emerg...

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the 67th of the COVID calls. This is a daily discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic with a diverse collection of disaster experts. My name is Scott Gabriel Knowles. I'm a historian of disasters at Drexel University in Philadelphia. 

Today, we have a discussion of COVID-19, race, and the health care crisis with Nic Ramos and Dannie Ritchie. Nic John Ramos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Drexel University. He is currently working on his book manuscript, “Policing Health: Making Race, Sexuality, and Poverty Productive in Global Los Angeles, 1965-1986” which examines the interlocking relationships betwee...

Today, we have a discussion of COVID-19, prisons, and incarcerated people with  Alan Mills and Melanie Newport. Alan Mills is the Executive Director of Uptown People’s Law Center–a nonprofit community legal clinic located on the North Side of Chicago. UPLC is a legal organization that fights for justice for tenants, the disabled, and prisoners in Illinois. Alan has tried dozens of individual cases...

Today, we have a Researchers’ Roundtable with Jason Ludwig and Elena Sobrino. Jason Ludwig is a PhD student in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University. His research interests include race, disaster and the politics of life and health. Elena Sobrino is a PhD candidate in the History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) program at MIT. Her research e...

Today, we have the second of our Academy of Natural Sciences COVIDCalls—today we talk about the collections of this amazing institution and how they’ve fared in this extraordinary time of COVID-19. Mark Sabaj began studying fishes as an undergrad at the University of Richmond, Virginia. After completing his Masters degree there, he moved to the University of Illinois where he earned a Ph. D. He jo...

With globalization reaching higher levels than ever, more and more businesses and organizations are growing influence around the world, which is contributing to the Anthropocene narrative of the great impacts of human activity on the environment. Tune in to this conversation with Dipesh Chakrabarty, who is a Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History at the University of Chicag...

Social media and tech platforms are somehow even more relevant to the world than they were before the pandemic. Zoom is how businesses and students communicate; social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram are how information about COVID-19 and racial injustices are communicated. Join us in this conversation with Margaret O’Mara, a Howard and Frances Keller endowed professor of History at the...

With more people teleworking than ever, the decreased use of vehicular transportation has caused several observable changes regarding the environment. The skies look bluer, there are more ducks in the pond, there seems to be less air pollution. However, it is important to note that this temporary pause in the economy should not be confused with the structural changes needed to avoid the effects of...

There is a distinction between normal breathlessness and pathological breathlessness. What does it really mean to be out of breath? Let’s talk about the tobacco industry’s supposedly philanthropic response to COVID-19, ventilators and oxygen, lung-related diseases, and breathlessness with James Dodd, a Consultant Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Bristol, Havi Carel, the...

Civil disorder, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires – these are all concurrent crises occurring alongside the pandemic. How should governments and institutions lay out disaster and recovery planning? Tune in to this conversation with Dr. Stephen Flynn, the Founding Director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University, and Dr. Arnold Howitt, the Co-Director of the Program on Crisis...

Due to the pandemic’s social distancing guidelines and lack of resources to manage the influx of dead bodies, many funeral homes are having to turn away requests for funeral services. How will society adapt cultural rituals to maintain dignity for the dead whilst staying in compliance with social distancing guidelines? Join us in this conversation with Maggie Jones, a contributing writer at the Ne...

How has COVID-19 shaped wildfire preparedness and disaster recovery from previous wildfires? How will California deal with the pandemic and wildfire season? Let’s sit down with Max Moritz, a Wildfire Specialist and Director of the Moritz Lab at U.C. Santa Barbara to discuss the environmental lessons of the shelter-in-place, compound disturbances in ecology, long-term planning for the state, and mo...

With the abrupt stop to the world due to social distancing mandates, people have been experiencing biodiversity revelations. More and more people are reporting instances of fox sighting, urban birding, and more wildlife. Let’s talk biodiversity with the Academy of Natural Sciences’ Mariangeles Arce, Jason Weckstein, and Richard McCourt to learn about the biodiversity disasters being obscured by th...