Inspiration Dissemination

Charles Camacho, a sixth-year PhD student in the Department of Mathematics at Oregon State University, spends a lot of time thinking about shapes. He works in a branch of mathematics called topology and describes his research as such: ’I study the symmetries of abstract mathematical surfaces made from gluing triangles together.’ Hosted by Maggie Exton and Daniel Watkins Please find us on social me...

Jason Sarkozi-Forfinski, a PhD student in Anthropology, wants to gain insight into the linguistic landscape students at Oregon State University are exposed to and their actions and feelings about about it, especially for students from non-English speaking countries. Hosted by Kristen Finch and Marcus Weinman Please find us on social media! Twitter: twitter.com/kbvrID facebook: www.facebook.com/Ins...

In this special segment: Graduate student researchers Brian Erickson and Chelsea Behymer talk about their transition from natural sciences to social sciences and the process of finding their place within their disciplines. Hosted by Kristen Finch. Please find us on social media! Twitter: twitter.com/kbvrID facebook: www.facebook.com/InspirationDissemination/ Blog: blogs.oregonstate.edu/inspiration...

In this special segment, we interview third year PhD student, Pipiet Larasatie, and her undergraduate mentee, Taylor Barnett about how mentorship can foster gender diversity in the male-dominated forest sector. Listen while Pipiet and Taylor discuss their research findings alongside popular women’s empowerment anthems. Across respondants, Pipiet founds that to be successful in the male-dominated w...

GRADx 2019 is co-sponsored by the Graduate School at Oregon State University and the radio talk show Inspiration Dissemination. Planning for the event tonight began in October when speakers were selected. Over the last four months, our featured speakers met with co-hosts from Inspiration Dissemination building their stories, while behind the scenes a group of folks from the graduate school organiz...

When did humans first arrive in North America and by what route did they get here? Trying to help answer these questions is Samuel Burns, a first-year master’s student in the Department of Anthropology who is interested in some of the oldest North American tools found. Thanks to computational advances, Samuel is able to create 3D models of stone artifacts from photographs to answer questions about...

Ashlee Mikkelsen assesses the health of Northern Spotted Owls by measuring the relative abundance of a stress hormone, corticosterone, in their feathers. By measuring the concentration of corticosterone, it is possible to assess how stressed-out the owls are, and to begin to unravel what factors are involved in their decline. Ashlee describes the field work and data analysis that comprise her work...

Our guest this week, Dawn Barlow, a first-year PhD student in Fisheries and Wildlife, speaks with us about a newly discovered population of blue whales living off the coasts of New Zealand. Unfortunately, their year-round home is near a highly industrialized area where shipping and oil and gas drilling occurs. Can a management plan be drawn to balance industry with conservation? It depends on wher...

Tatiana Dolgushina is writing her history through poetry as a way to understand herself and the country she came from that no longer exists. Born in Soviet Russia, Tatiana and her family fled the country after it collapsed in 1991. Central to her work are ideas of identity formation and childhood displacement. Through writing, she is digging deeper into her experience as an immigrant growing up in...

Jeana Moody is a second year Masters student in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies working with Professor Bradley Boovy. Her thesis research focuses on the use and impact of gendered words and phrases in the English language, such as "throw like a girl", "man up", and "don’t be a bitch." What are the implications of saying "man up" to someone who presents as a woman? As a man? Does the gender of...

Gray whales migrate northward up the Oregon Coast every year, but some of them hang out there all summer to feed. Lisa Hildebrand, a first year masters student in Wildlife Science, discusses how she evaluates their diets, how plastic might travel up the food chain, and how kayaking with whales can help get high school kids interested in science. Hosted by Heather Forsythe and Scott Klasek. Please...

Doxorubicin is a common cancer therapy drug that destroys cancer cells, but in the process, creates a cardio-toxic byproduct, doxorubicinol. Dan Breysse is finishing up his master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biophyics, and during his time here has investigated the mechanism that results in this toxicity. Doxorubicinol is created with the help of an unknown enzyme or group of enzymes, and Dan has...

Over the course of the last six years, Holly Horan, a doctoral candidate in the Applied Anthropology program at Oregon State University, has developed and carried out a course of research culminating in the largest-ever study measuring perceived and biological maternal stress during and after pregnancy in Puerto Rico. By combining in-depth interviews with Puerto Rican mothers with quantitative ana...

Arctic sea ice is decreasing quickly as temperatures throughout the region continue to rise. Daniel Watkins, a PhD student in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, discusses how he analyzes climate model output and temperature and sea ice data from specific sites across the Arctic. This will allow him to assess how accurate Arctic climate models are at finer-scale resolutions, and...

Katarina studied plants and plant systematics at Oberlin College where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology and creative writing. With student loans to pay off and a desire to find a career that fit her unique abilities and interests, Katarina spent six years working in fine dining and exploring future career paths in Seattle, WA, volunteering with various non-profits. Through her restorati...

We are so pleased that Francisco Guerrero Bolano appeared on the show for a third time, this time to discuss his experience as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at CNN en Español during summer 2018. He also recently defended his PhD dissertation and spoke with us about the experience of finishing up his grad school journey. Please find us on social media! Twitter: twitter.com/kbvrID facebook: www.facebook....

The Greater Sage-Grouse is a near-threatened species that lives exclusively in Sagebrush habitats. Wyoming has designated large ’Core Areas’ for its protection, but populations are in declining in certain areas. Claire Revekant, a Master’s student in the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, suspects this could be related to human built structures within and outside of Core Areas that may a...

Wouldn’t it be nice if cancer could simply yell out to let us know where it is, and how much of it is there? Anna St. Lorenz, a 4th year PhD student in the College of Pharmacy, is working on just that. Based at Oregon Health Sciences & Sciences University, Anna develops nanoparticles to carry tumor-targetting agents. Shine a light on these agents, and the result? Sound. Anna talks about her jo...

How do we know what we know about the ocean? How do we assign value to the knowledge we are acquiring through science? How do we decide what scientific questions are valuable to prioritize and fund? As a Master’s candidate in the Environmental Arts and Humanities program, Samm Newton studies the relationship between advances in scientific technology and how we interact with and know our environmen...

Want to know how to get your research ’out there’? Chris Branam of Oregon State University’s Extension and Experiment Communications and Sean Nealon of OSU News & Research Communications stopped by the studio to chat about how OSU press offices work with researchers (including grad students and post-docs!) to their work. Have some cool research to share? Get in touch with Chris (chris.branam&a...

Currently the Purple Martin is listed in the state of Oregon as a 'Sensitive-Critical Species' and our guest Lorelle Sherman, a 2nd year Masters student in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, is going to help us understand how humans have possibly altered their natural tree-nesting behavior of the Purple Martin population. Please find us on social media! Twitter: twitter.com/kbvrID fa...

Yahya Mousavi is a fourth year PhD student in Dr. Kaichang Li’s labin the Department of Wood Science and Engineering in Oregon State University’s College of Forestry. Yahya uses polymer engineering to develop safer, more sustainable wood adhesives for composite wood products like plywood and particle board), namely ones that do not contain the toxic chemical formaldehyde. Through his research, Yah...

Yathartha Tuladhar, a PhD student studying Robotics in the College of Engineering, is focused on improving multi-robot coordination. He is investigating both how to effectively reward robots and how robot-to-robot communication can increase success. In this episode, we talk about machine learning and how multi-robot systems can be implemented in daily life for complicated tasks. Please find us on...

Yathartha Tuladhar, a PhD student studying Robotics in the College of Engineering, is focused on improving multi-robot coordination. He is investigating both how to effectively reward robots and how robot-to-robot communication can increase success. In this episode, we talk about machine learning and how multi-robot systems can be implemented in daily life for complicated tasks. Please find us on...

As a 2nd year PhD student in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at OSU, Lzz Johnk seeks to answer questions posed by Mad Studies scholars. Their work involves examining the lived experiences and culture surrounding individuals identifying as mentally ill, neurodiverse, mentally disabled, and/or Mad. Please find us on social media! Twitter: twitter.com/kbvrID facebook: www.facebook.co...