GradCast

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...

In this episode, Francesco Colosimo and Rhys Paterson sit down with Alexis Pascual, PhD student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, as he updates us on his research with machine learning and AI in space applications. Alexis explains how he uses linear algebra and statistics on images to teach extraterrestrial vehicles to pick out interesting features on a martian surface. This e...

Ever see a link on your phone that you just HAVE to click? As it turns out, so do mice! Join hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Laura Muñoz Baena as they chat with aspiring neuroscientist Esmin Unaran and learn about how learning itself can change the structure of your brain. Esmin explains how she uses myelin concentration of mouse brains to study how much they learn using touch-screen operant chambers....

In this episode, hosts Laura Muñoz-Baena and Ana Moyer chat with Anahí González, a PhD student in Art and Visual Culture. As a Mexican photographer based in Canada, Anahí is interested in how migrant labour is portrayed in Canadian media and explores alternative visual narratives that might contribute to a different view of migration in North America.  To learn more about Anahí, visit her photogra...

In this episode, Katrina Zmavc (PhD Philosophy Student) discusses her research on depression and how it really is an umbrella term for many related disorders. She also chats with hosts (Yousuf Hasan and Ana Moyer) about her involvement with the Society of Graduate Students as a member of the Graduate Peer Support Committee. Her aim is to find strategies to de-stigmatize mental illness and spread a...

This episode contains discussions of mental health, grad school, the COVID-19 pandemic, and discusses suicide and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know needs help, there are resources available to help you. If you are a graduate student, SOGS.ca/support-resources provides a list of mental health services located on and off campus. Alternatively, the description box contains resources disc...

As fervent calls for racial equity have justifiably proliferated within the United States in recent years, it raises the issue of familiarizing oneself with the historical and systemic nature of American racism. One such way to do this is analyzing the literature of the era for greater context, which is the approach English PhD student David Mitterauer is taking. And as hosts Liam Clifford and Eli...

In the second episode of our newest series, There Is No Planet B - Rose Giles and Brendon Samuels talk with Courtney Neidig, a second year Masters student in Education and Curriculum studies. She tells us the story of starting out as an ECE in British Columbia, the dissatisfaction in teaching practices when it comes to the environment, and ultimately how she found herself at Western as the head of...

Dristy Zaman is a PhD student in Biology studying soybeans, a type of legume. In conversation with Yimin Chen and Ariel Frame, Dristy explains how she is investigating asparagine metabolism. Dristy is on the hunt to discover a particular enzyme in this pathway that is currently unknown. What is asparagine? How will she find this enzyme? What will she name it? Find out the answer to these questions...

How does a 1972 hockey tournament between the USSR and Canada lead to the conceptualization of masculinity and the expression of nationalism in Canada? In this episode, host Rose Giles interviews Kaitlyn Carter on her research about how the idealization of the perfect Canadian and the perfect man all ties into a game we all know and love - hockey.  Correction to claim at 4:59 that Canada won the s...

In the wake of the riots in the United States this past year, History MA Sara Duodu was inspired to dive deeper into historical race relations in the United States. In this episode Rosemary Giles and Liam Clifford talk with Sara about the Red Summer, interracial violence and the framing of race in American newspapers. To reach Sara, you can email her at sduodu@uwo.ca Recorded on August 3, 2021. Pr...