GradCast

Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Michelle Krasovitski as they sit down with Tedi Ramaj, PhD student in applied mathematics. How can math help with understanding invasive species proliferation, cancer cell growth, or COVID trajectories? Tedi shares with GradCast all that and more, introducing us to the power of simulations, some helpful advice for grad school and life, and his love of the simple be...

Amanda Suko, a PhD student in Anthropological archaeology, joins hosts Ariel Frame and Ana Moyer this week to discuss Indigenous Ontarian pottery and the people who made it. Working with a collection located near what is now known as Arkona, Ontario, Amanda investigates the production of pottery and how they reflect community and shared knowledge. To find out more about Amanda, check out her profi...

In this episode, Jessica Novial shares a fantastic medieval story with hosts Ariel Frame and Laura Munoz. As a PhD Candidate in French Studies, Jessica's work entails a critical analysis of the 13th-century French romance called "Le Roman de Silence" - (The Romance of Silence), written in old French. Listen in to hear Jessica explain the twists and turns of this novel tale and how it touches on ge...

Nyasha Nyereyemhuka is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education. In this episode, Nyasha tells Claire Bottini and Yousuf Hasan about her research on how Black females principals construct their professional identities and the difficulties they face in their work. Nyasha also talked about her path from business into education and her role as graduate student representative. To hear more about Ny...

Alex Prong, a media studies MA student, joins hosts Laura Muñoz-Baena and Brittany Melton this week to discuss queer literature in its many forms. Join us as we prod the Prong about their inspiration, book recommendations and how they go about researching indigiqueer literature to find alternative paths to chrono and homonormativity.  Recommended books: Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead and A Hi...

This week, we interview one of our own, Brittany Melton, PhD student in media studies! Brittany tells hosts Ana Moyer and Amalie Hutchinson about her research into some interesting communities on Reddit, and shares how dating and gender are represented, posted, and discussed online.  To hear more from Brittany, check her out on Twitter @realbritmelton or Instagram @britfitmeltfelt Recorded on Marc...

This week, Rosemary Giles and Laura Munoz-Baena buckle up in with Joel Welch, a first year PhD candidate in Law. Joel dives deeply into what is space law, serious gaps in the law, and how literature, namely science fiction, can bring insights to legal and policy decision makers through speculation, predictions, and imagination. And no, he personally does not want to go to Mars. He enjoys the Grad...

This week we are joined by our very own Michelle Krasovitski, an MA student in Education in the field of Applied Linguistics, who not only shares with us her research interests but also the story behind them. Michelle also shares with us her work outside of school, where she works as a freelance journalist covering culture and media. Tune in to hear her give us a crash course on linguistics, Wordl...

Maggie Prenger is a student in the MD-PhD program. In this episode Maggie tells Claire Bottini and Ariel Frame about her research plans studying humour processing in Parkinson’s disease patients. Listen in to find out what parts of the brain are involved in this disease, why patients watching Seinfeld in a scanner might teach us more about them, and all about humour generally. To hear more from Ma...

Do you believe electric guitar has no place in classical music? Think again! Hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Michelle Krasovitski are joined by PhD candidate Andrew Noseworthy, who introduces them to the field of music composition. Andrew challenges the notion that Mozart and Jimmy Page exist in two separate worlds, explaining how classical instruments find harmony with their electric counterparts.  T...

Patrick Huang delights Ariel Frame and Laura Muñoz with a tale about the history of music. As a Master in Ethnomusicology, Patrick is beginning his PhD in the music program and shares with us his insights on ancient western and non-western music theory that form the foundation for his ongoing studies.    To hear some of Patrick's music, check out his Soundcloud Recorded on February 2nd, 2022. Prod...

Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Elizabeth Mohler as they sit down with musicology PhD candidate Lydia Wilton. Sharpen your ears and get ready to hear about Lydia's research in record production. We learn how horror movies manage to make you feel so unsettled, and what really goes into making a record—from the technical to the poetic. So, listen up, it's time to press "play" on this fascinating ep...

This week, Rosemary Giles and Laura Munoz-Baena sit down with Hanna Barnett, a PhD candidate in Hispanic Studies. Hanna and our hosts discuss her current research on the Influenza of 1918, the way that media represented the 1918 Influenza in Canadian newspapers, and how the Canadian media perpetuated the “Spanish” association with the disease. They discuss what it’s like researching historic pande...

This week, Amalie Hutchinson and Brittany Melton are joined by guest Soren Coulson, a PhD candidate in Biology. Together, they discuss Soren's research on the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) in migratory birds and its role in energy metabolism in muscle. Soren shares with the Gradcast a day in the lab and his best advice for those interested in a PhD in Biology. Recorded on December 14th...

This week Claire Bottini and Ariel Frame met with Shannon Compton, a PhD student in Neuroscience. Shannon studies how video games and violent games in particular can impact cognition and empathy in players. Shannon describes how her protocol mixes fMRI neuro-imaging technology and volunteer participants playing on Grand Theft Auto V. Shannon explains how her study found no impact of violent video...

Join hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Rhys Paterson as they talk to Frangel Lopez Cesena, a violinist who analyzes music from a hermeneutical perspective. What’s that you ask? Musical meaning. Listen in as Frangel, Elizabeth and Rhys talk about becoming a violinist, practicing, songs that make them feel good, and how we interpret and imagine music. Recorded on November 30, 2021. Produced by Rhys Paterso...

In this episode Zara Diab speaks with Ariel Frame and Claire Bottini about her ongoing PhD in English and Writing Studies. Zara describes how her research will be focusing on contributors to rape culture and the involuntary celibate (Incel) community. Listen in as Zara discusses examples of violent acts relating to these phenomena and how contemporary media reflects and perpetuates narratives that...

Having recently completed her MSc in Neuroscience at Western University, Kyla Lee has embarked on the next step in her career, a Medical Science PhD at University of Toronto. Kyla speaks with Ariel Frame and Yimin Chen about both her MSc research and her plans for PhD studies. Kyla explains how her MSc work modelling schizophrenia in rats aimed to elucidate how brain development contributes to the...

Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Laura Munoz-Baena as they sit down with recent PhD grad Gavin Tolometti to learn about how space rocks, rock! Gavin shares how he uses remote sensing techniques and field research here on Earth to figure out how impact craters and lava flows affected the landscape of the moon. In addition to rocks beyond our planet, our conversation flowed into some impactful advic...

Kate Onuska is a PhD student in the Department of Neuroscience. She is working on new ways to trace changes in the brain cholinergic system associated with age. She described the different brain imaging techniques before diving into her research on a new marker for cholinergic neurons called FEOBV in association with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Her work with mice increases our unde...

If you ever wonder about the survival of some organisms during the winter, you won't want to miss this episode, where hosts Amalie and Laura talk to PhD student Brynne Duffy about one of the most interesting survival strategies in mammals: hibernation. Particularly, the conversation centers around thirteen lined squirrels, obligated hibernators that almost shut down their entire body during severa...

Jeff Hutchinson is a PhD student in Physiology and Pharmacology studying the intervertebral disc and back pain. Jeff explains to Elizabeth Mohler and Ariel Frame how his research is conducted using a variety of models and involves understanding the effects of sex hormones.  To find out more about Jeff's work, check out  Dr. Cheryle Séguin's website . Recorded on Oct 19, 2021 Produced by Ariel Fram...

In this special episode in honour of Asexual Awareness Week, hosts Laura Muñoz-Baena and Ana Moyer chat with PhD Philosophy student Katrina Zmavc, in partnership with SOGS Graduate Peer Support (GPS). Join us in discussing the spectrum of possibilities surrounding asexuality, which is often categorized as a lack of sexual attraction.    If you would like to continue this discussion in a safe space...

Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Yimin Chen as they chat with PhD grad and MLIS candidate, Brooke Brassard. Our conversation follows Brooke's slightly unorthodox (pun intended) journey from a PhD in religious studies to life after graduation, to her return to grad school. She shares about her experience and life advice about doing field work, navigating the post-grad experience, and what life is l...

Ariel Frame and Elizabeth Mohler speak with Brendan Charles about his research on Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) investigating how these animals behave and how they can be used to study the biology of the brain. In particular, Brendan discusses work from his recently completed MSc and ongoing PhD work that touches on 9 neurons in the fly brain which govern female aggressive behaviour and ch...