GradCast

This episode, hosts Ariel Frame and Connor Chato speak with Megha Verma, a Master's student in the Neuroscience program, about her work on determining standards for use of anesthetics when imaging non-human primates. Megha explains how standardizing this procedure will enable researchers to conduct neuroimaging better. To discover more about Megha, you can find her on Instagram  @MeghaVerma95 or c...

This episode, hosts Nikol Posnov and Gregory Robinson interview guests Matthew Svensson and Mohammed Chamma who are part of the High Altitude Balloon initiative from the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration at Western University. Matt and Mo and the rest of the team built an apparatus to collect and study microbe particles found in the stratosphere well above the tallest buildings but within...

On this episode, Gradcast hosts Connor Chato and Nikol Posnov interview Chimira Andres, an intrepid researcher of space ice! We learn what it's like to do field work in the Canadian Arctic, what ice on Earth can tell us about its equivalent on other planets and how it's important to stay creative as a researcher, because in the words of Albert Einstein: "Creativity is Intelligence Having Fun" If y...

On this episode, hosts Gregory Robinson and Ariel Frame interview neuroscience student, Kartik Pradeepan, about his research on Autism. Autism is a complex disease that is associated with mutations among gene clusters. Kartik's research uses stem cells differentiated into neurons to create neuronal networks in order to study the role of SHANK2, a gene associated with autism, by measuring electrica...

In this special episode, hosts Jenna Schlorff and Nikol Posnov chat with students about their practicum experiences during the Master of Public Health Practicum Showcase day. Harvir Sandhu talks about the three months she spent at Bruyère Research Institute. Rachelle Roussel shares about her time with the Canadian Red Cross Society. Nour Kachouh discusses her experiences with the Public Health Ass...

 In this episode, hosts Monica Molinaro and Gavin Tolometti are joined by PSAC President, Katelyn Mitri! PSAC, or the Public Service Alliance 610, is the Graduate TA and Postdoctoral Union at Western University. They discuss how PSAC works, what is done behind the scenes to advocate for graduate students, and how PSAC can help when having a difficult TA experience. If you’d like to learn more abou...

Alex Kozlov is a PhD Student in the developmental biology collaborative program. She tells hosts Greg Robinson and Ariel Frame about her work using metabolism to reprogram skin cells into stem cells. One day her work could allow for this process to become more efficient and useful for personalized medicine. To find out more about Alex's work check out her lab's website thecumminglab.com Produced b...

Have you ever wondered what undetected forces help influence whether you'll be hired or not? This week, hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Chantal Lemire interview Natasha Ouslis about her research on organizational psychology. This is the second of a two-part episode. In the first episode, we focused on the nature of teams. This time, Natasha discussed the secrets of the hiring process and what you c...

Hosts Gavin Tolometti and Monica Molinaro talk with PhD student Alex Mayhew in the Library Catalogue Science studies department in the Faculty for Information and Media Studies. Alex wants to design a new library catalogue system for the public that does not have a Platonic view of literature, media and information. He wants to be able to semantically link information and allow readers to understa...

CanMoon is a Canadian Lunar Analogue Mission funded by the Canadian Space Agency, run by the CPSX program at Western in collaboration with The University of Winnipeg. Hosts Nikol and Greg chat with Cassandra Marion, the mission's "MOM", about what's it's like to simulate controlling a rover on the Moon, and more interestingly, how do you even train graduate students to do this. Tune in and hear ab...

Biodiesel provides an alternative fuel option for gasoline combustion engines, reducing the output of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Usually the production of biodiesel requires the fermentation of bio-products such as soy or sugarcane, however the process is slow and cannot compete with fossil fuel production. Now with the help of bacteria, everything is about to change. In this weeks epis...

Canadian perception of immigrant minority groups is the topic of this week’s episode, as we welcome back to the show Ilinca Olariu, MA student in the History department. This time, Ilinca discusses what it meant to be a Romanian immigrant in Canada during WWI, and why a proportion of Romanian citizens were considered “enemy aliens”. Hosted by Yimin Chen and Viki Tellios. Produced by Roger Hudson.

This week, hosts Roger Hudson and Nicholas Handfield Jones interview PhD Candidate Andrew Roebuck from the University of Saskatchewan via Skype for another #GradCastOnTour episode! Roger and Andrew recently attended the Gordon Research Conference in Spain for Cannabinoids in the Central Nervous System where they had a chance to discuss all things cannabis-related. Andrew is using cutting edge neur...

On this episode, hosts Gavin and Greg discuss game theory with a PhD Candidate in Economics, Adam Rooney. From childhood, Adam has been an avid poker fanatic often hosting poker tournaments with his friends. When he came to university, he started with $50 in his bank account, which he used as a buy in for online poker tournaments. After winning many tournaments, he cashed out with an undergraduate...

Second year biology master's student Rosie Savage is passionate about plankton! From the Pacific coast of Western Canada to the genetics lab at the University of Western Ontario, hosts Yimin Chen and Ariel Frame hear all about Rosie's adventures collecting, sequencing, and studying tiny marine zooplankton and their even tinier parasites. Produced by Gavin Tolometti

Hosts Ariel Frame and Roger Hudson welcome our first Visual Arts Department student to the show, Ellen Moffat. After 20 years of working as a professional artist, Ellen tells us how she is now doing both theoretical and practical work towards getting a PhD in Studio. In this episode, find out how Ellen makes art from her creative research on acoustic properties of various materials. To hear a samp...

We’re bringing you another #Gradlife episode with a special guest - Demetri Pananos! Demetri is co-host of the podcast Two Broke Grads and is currently completing his PhD here at Western in Biostatistics. In this episode, Monica, Demetri and Viki talk about finances - conferences, grocery shopping, and stresses related to money. They also share some of their tips for saving money! Like this episod...

In this episode, hosts Connor Chato and Monica Molinaro speak to Amy Lewis, a qualitative researcher completing her MScN! They discuss the development of competencies for health care providers to engage in teaching policy advocacy and engage in policy activities. The benefits of listening to stories and personal experience, as well as the importance of qualitative methods in health research are al...

The world is a crappy place. That is, according to Arthur Schopenhauer. On this week’s Gradcast, hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Connor Chato interview Ignacio Moya, who tells us about this famous German philosopher’s arguments for philosophical pessimism. We talk about why Schopenhauer thought the world is this way and what he proposed to do about that. Plus, we ask Ignacio what his own thoughts a...

On tour in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, GradCast hosts Roger Hudson and Ariel Frame attended Canada's largest neuroscience conference and had an insightful chat with Bryan Jenkins, a PhD candidate in the Neurobiology of Dual Disorders Lab at the Ontario Veterinary College and the University of Guelph in Canada. Bryan tells us about his work in Dr. Jibran Khokhar's lab on the effects of cannabis in an...

Take a trip to the Beaufort Sea in the Northwest Territories with Anthropology PhD student Rebecca Goodwin as she works to document and share the cultural history of Inuit peoples of the Western Canadian arctic. Join hosts Yimin Chen and Nikol Posnov as we hear some of the stories told by Inuvialuit elders and knowledge holders about current and past life in the far north. Plus, tips on how to eat...

Hosts Nikol Posnov and Ariel Frame speak with Will Yingling, an MSc student in geology and planetary science, about his work on impact melt pools on Mars. Using various sources of data from Mars orbiters, Will explains what he is learning about mapping the topography of Mars (the landscape) and how meteorite impacts have shaped its surface. To find out more about Will you can contact him on twitte...

Have you ever watched somebody look off in the distance at something behind you and then immediately turn to look at whatever it is their seeing? That exact response is what PhD Student Borna Mahmoudian studies. It's a fascinating little feature that helps gives social skills to us humans and some other animals (Including the Old-World Monkeys Borna Studies). Hosts Nikol Posnov and Connor Chato ch...

In this episode, neuroscience Ph. D. student and fellow GradCast colleague Roger Hudson joins hosts Gregory Robinson and Nikol Posnov to speak about his research on the interactions between THC and CBD in the brain within the context of recent events related to cannabis legalization in Canada. Roger shares with us the knowledge he has acquired over his years of conducting cannabis research. Topics...

In part 2 of GradCast's coverage of the 2019 Western Research forum, Yimin Chen brings you conversations with nursing PhD student Yasin Yasin, psychology PhD student Laura Johnson, and physical chemistry master's student Sarai Guerrero. Host: Yimin Chen Produced by Gregory Robinson