People Behind the Science Podcast

Dr. Randy Blakely is a Professor of Biomedical Science at Florida Atlantic University and Executive Director of the Florida Atlantic University Brain Institute. Randy received his B.A. in Philosophy from Emory University and his Ph. D. in Neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He next conducted postdoctoral research at the Yale/Howard Hughes Medical Institute […] The post 84...

Dr. Nirosha J. Murugan is a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Tissue Biophysics as well as Distinguished Research Chair and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Wilfrid Laurier University. She was awarded her B.S. in behavioral neuroscience, her M.S. in biophysics, and her PhD in biomolecular sciences from Laurentian University. Afterwards, […] The post 845: Dr. Nirosha...

Dr. Sonia Contera is an Associate Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Oxford Physics Department, and a Research Fellow of Green Templeton College. She is also the author of the recently released book Nano comes to Life. Sonia received her bachelor’s degree in physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. She attended graduate […] The post 844: Dr. Sonia Contera: Applying...

Dr. Donovan German is Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Donovan received his B.A. in Marine Science from the University of San Diego, his M.S. In Biology from California State University in Fullerton, and his Ph. D. in Zoology from the University of […] The post 843: Dr. Donovan German: Brea...

Dr. Trudy G. Oliver is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology as well as a Duke Science and Technology Scholar at Duke University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Oklahoma Baptist University, and her PhD in cancer biology from Duke University. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral research at the University […] The post 842: Dr. Trudy Oliver:...

Dr. Ian Winship is an Associate Professor and a former Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Scholar in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta. He is also Director of the Neurochemical Research Unit there. Ian received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in Psychology from the University of Alberta. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University […] The post...

Dr. Chin-Cheng “Scotty” Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in entomology from National Taiwan University. Scotty served as a Visiting Scientist at the Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) within the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. He […] The post 8...

Dr. Jonathan Payne is a Professor and Chair of Geological Sciences at Stanford University. He also holds a courtesy appointment in Biology, is a Member of Stanford’s interdisciplinary biosciences institute Bio-X, and is an Affiliate of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Jonathan received his B.A. in Geosciences from Williams College. Afterwards, he worked as […] The post 838:...

Dr. Kathryn (Katie) Whitehead is an Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University where she also holds a courtesy appointment in Biomedical Engineering. Katie received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and her PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Afterwards, she conducted postdoctoral r...

Dr. Heather Lench is Professor in Psychological and Brain Sciences and Senior Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Texas A&M University. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Florida State University, her Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Fresno, and her PhD in Social Psychology from […] The...

Dr. Uri Tabori is a Staff Physician in the Division of Haematology/Oncology, Senior Scientist in the Genetics & Genome Biology program, and Principal Investigator of The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Uri is also a Professor in Paediatrics and Associate Professor in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toront...

Dr. Elaine Guevara is a Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University. She received her BA in biological anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her MA in biological anthropology from Hunter College. During her master’s program, Elaine also worked at the American Museum of Natural History as an Archives Assistant and subsequently […] The post 834: Dr. Elain...

Dr. Kristen Lynch is a Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. in biochemistry and her Ph. D. in biochemistry from Harvard University. Afterwards, Kristen pursued postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. She served on the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical […] The post 833: D...

Dr. Nick Haddad is a Professor in Integrative Biology at Michigan State University and a Senior Terrestrial Ecologist at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. In addition, Nick is the author of the recently released book The Last Butterflies: A Scientist’s Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature. Nick received his BS in Biology from Stanford […] The post 832: Dr. Nick Haddad: Recove...

Dr. Louis L. Jacobs is Emeritus Professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences and President of the ISEM at SMU. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and his M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution from the University […] The post 831: Dr. Louis Jacobs: Unearthing Anc...

Dr. Karen Daniels is a Professor in the Department of Physics at North Carolina State University. She received her BA in physics from Dartmouth College. Karen then worked for about three years as a science teacher at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn before enrolling in graduate school at Cornell University where she earned her PhD […] The post 830: Dr. Karen Daniels: Physicist Figuring Out How...

Dr. Leif Karlstrom is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon. He completed his undergraduate training at the University of Oregon, receiving a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics, as well as a B.M. in Violin Performance. He received his PhD in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of […] The post 829: Dr. Leif Karlstrom: Modeling the Mech...

Dr. Djuna Croon is Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology at Durham University. She received her bachelor’s degree in physics from Amsterdam University College and her master’s degree in physics from Kings College London. Next, Djuna was awarded her PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics from the University […] The post 828: Dr. Dju...

Dr. Chris Buddle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Associate Dean of Student Affairs at McGill University. He received his undergraduate training in Ecology at the University of Guelph and was awarded his PhD in Ecology and Environmental science from the University of Alberta. Afterwards, Chris conducted postdoctoral research at […] The post 827: Dr...

Dr. Beth Stroupe is a Professor in the Department of Biological Science and the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University (FSU). She is also Director of the Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program there. Beth completed her undergraduate training at Wake Forest University where she majored in chemistry and minored in music. She was awarded […] The post 826: Dr. Beth Stroupe:...

Dr. Zach Eilon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and he is also conducting research at Brown University. He hails from the United Kingdom where he completed his undergraduate and masters degrees in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Afterwards, […] The post 825: Dr. Zach Eilon: Sizi...

Dr. Tess Russo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at The Pennsylvania State University. She received her PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Her fantastic work is already getting a lot of attention. […] The post 824: Dr. Tess Russo: Look...

Dr. Ganesh Anand is an Associate Professor of Chemistry as well as Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The Pennsylvania State University (or Penn State University) at the University Park campus. He is also an elected Board Member of the International Society for Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry (HDX-MS). He received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and […] The post 823: Dr. G...

Dr. Jacquelyn Gill is an Assistant Professor of Paleoecology and Plant Ecology at the University of Maine. She received her Masters degree and PhD in Geography from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Afterward she served as a the Voss Postdoctoral Fellow at Brown University before joining the faculty at the University of Maine. She was […] The post 822: Dr. Jacquelyn Gill: Using Lake Sedi...

Dr. Chad Orzel is the R. Gordon Gould Associate Professor of Physics at Union College. He is also author of the popular science books How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog, Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist, and the soon-to-be-released book Breakfast with Einstein: The Exotic Physics of Everyday […] The post 821: Dr. Chad Orzel: Illuminating the Quantum...