That's What I Call Science!

During her final week in the UK, Olly had the pleasure of visiting The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley. There, she chatted with four volunteers about what visitors can see at the museum, as well as their own experiences in computing and electrical engineering. The museum houses computer models from the very early days of computing, including those far larger than Olly herself! Show theme...

A long, long time ago in a university far away, TWICS host Olly studied Zoology alongside adventurer Kate Lacey. Kate’s career would take her across the world to places like the Amazon, South Africa, and beyond.  On her recent trip to the UK, Olly caught up with Kate to hear about her career in ecology, including Kate’s involvement with the recent reintroduction of pine martens to southwest Englan...

How much can a tree tell us about the climate? Quite a lot, it turns out. This week, we chat with Dr Kathryn Allen from the University of Tasmania, one of Australia’s few dendroclimatologists, about how she uses tree rings to reconstruct past climates and environmental change. Kathryn shares her unconventional pathway into science and how she built a career in climate research. Along the way, we e...

Copper is all around us, from the wires in our homes to the technologies powering the transition to renewable energy. But where does it actually come from, and how do we find it? In this episode, Dr Hannah Moore is joined by geologist Dr Yamila Cajal to explore the fascinating science behind copper. From her early career in mining and exploration in Chile to her current research at UTAS, Yamila sh...

What is a hydrogeologist, why is groundwater important, and how can mine sites both contribute to and impact our hidden water sources? In this episode, Dr Elise Tuuri is joined by the recently conferred Dr Birte Moser, a hydrogeologist at Flinders University's National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training and the One Basin Cooperative Research Centre. Birte takes us into the hidden wo...

Welcome back to another episode in sunny Oxford!  While Olly was in the UK, she visited St John’s College at the University of Oxford. There, she sat down with the College President, Professor Lady Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome, to hear about Sue’s career in forensic anthropology and what it is like working as a scientist when your data can be used in the courtroom.  Show theme music: Kevin...

This week, Dr Jane Younger returns to the TWICS mic to tell Olly about her recent adventures down south to Antarctica. Unfortunately, the trip involved seeing staggering rates of avian influenza, affecting multiple species of seabirds as well as seals. Jane talked Olly through her experiences, as well as the science conducted to help understand what’s happening. A bonus fact about the episode: des...

In this episode of That's What I Call Science, Dr. Elise Tuuri sits down with Dr. Andrew Turner, Medical Director of DonateLife Tasmania, to explore the life-saving world of organ and tissue donation. Tasmania is leading the nation in donation rates, with 25 donors saving the lives of 62 Australians in 2025 alone, and Dr. Turner unpacks what is driving that culture of generosity. From the sci...

With Pint of Science just around the corner, we’re joined by three of the presenters from Hobart’s 2026 event, “From Inner Workings to Icy Worlds” at Shambles Brewery. First, sea ice researcher Dr Johannes Lohse takes us to the Arctic and Antarctic to explore how scientists study sea ice and why it matters for our changing climate. Next, postdoctoral researcher Dr Vimarsha Kodithuwakku discusses h...

Henna Tyyskä is a PhD student in Catalonia, Spain studying how historical land-use affects fungi under the  forest floor. Inspired to be a scientist after reading Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey, Henna grew up in Finland, hanging out by lakes & collecting berries and mushrooms in the forest.  Before her current position Henna developed a taxonomic key to identify plants from a group that l...

From Catalonia, PhD student Marc Busuldu grew up fascinated by the stars. Internships across Spain led him to a position at CREAF and to his current PhD on how characterising the electrical signal of leaves can help us to better understand and detect drought in forests through satellite imaging. Marc’s project combines mathematics, electrics and biology reflecting his varied interests which span p...

From the posters at the 2026 AMOS conference, we bring you a podcast episode with the latest science on oceans, the climate and weather! We hear from a range of experts who tell us about  the science laid out on their data-filled posters, displayed in a crowded conference room of scientists.  We learn about all things climate and weather; from climate change communication in Australia to flood mod...

In this episode, Olly and Georgia journey to the Tasmanian ‘Science in the Park’ event held in late 2025. Science in the Park is a hands-on event where science comes alive in all its forms! Despite a day of rain, wind, and sunshine, visitors of all ages explored everything from AI and robots to Tasmanian fish identification and live dissections, flying drones, and the fascinating world of brains a...

In this episode, we speak with Alyssa Seckinger-Crow, who is studying Marine and Antarctic Governance at the University of Tasmania. Alyssa is the founder of the Tassie Student Science Communicators Network and Young Ocean Innovators, and serves on the Antarctic Youth Coalition Research Team. Her research examines how we can build communities that help young people grow into confident science comm...

Raised on the coast of Maine, Dr Haley Viehman has been drawn to the ocean her whole life. Starting in civil and environmental engineering, she discovered her passion for marine science by studying how fish interact with tidal energy turbines in fast‑flowing waters. In this week’s episode, we hear how Haley uses hydroacoustics to uncover how fish move, behave, and adapt in extreme tidal environmen...

In this week’s episode, we chat with Ella Burgun, our Social Media Team Coordinator and local science communicator! We dive into Ella’s path into science communication and explore her recently completed Master’s thesis in forensic shark genetics. Ella’s research focused on using molecular techniques to identify which shark species end up in liver oil and fish oil products, a critical step for unde...

This week, Dr Simon Torok and Dr Cintya Dharmayanti from Scientell join Olly to talk about their experiences in scicomm, what Scientell is, and the evolving landscape of communicating STEMM.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@volcanohanna...

Growing up excited for every visit to her grandparents’ farm where she could sit amongst the trees eating tropical fruits, Dr. Lucette Adet has always been fascinated by plants. Currently undertaking research in the Congo Basin in Cameroon, Lucette aims to understand how different tree species respond to their environment, in the context of changes in climate and land-use. Join Dr Kate Johnson and...

Join Dr Kate Johnson and Laura Wynne Stewart to hear about the busy, beautiful forests that Laura is working to understand and advocate for. Growing up on islands, Laura’s curiosity and love for nature drove her to science and her current PhD position in forest ecology in Barcelona, Spain. Laura’s research focuses on understanding trees and forests using nifty tools such as satellites, lasers and...

Welcome to the last episode of 2025!  Earlier on in the year, we had a mini-series on literacy and numeracy. Today’s episode continues on from that theme as Olly is joined by Austin and Richard from the 2 To Ramble podcast. The three discuss the use of science in science fiction books and films, as well as the creator’s role of balancing being factual and imaginative. Show theme music: Kevin MacLe...

Join us to hear from the winners of our STEMM Solutions For Our Island Competition 2025! STEMM Solutions For Our Island was open to grade 10, 11 and 12 students in lutruwita/Tasmania who identify as female, femme or non-binary, funded by Inspiring Tasmania. Entrants identified an issue in their local community or wider lutruwita/Tasmania, and pitched a creative solution. Join Tegan Clark and Dr Ol...

Computer implants into human bodies powered by AI is no longer a dystopian, science fiction trope - it is real life. Whilst the fiction is gone, the dystopian still remains.  Associate Professor Frederic Gilbert answers our questions about the current state of human-computer interfaces, how our biological and neurological data is collected, and the ethics behind it all!  We explore how this techno...

“Engineers got us into this mess…it’s engineers who will get us out again.” This is a catchphrase of one of our guests today, Associate Professor Evan Franklin. Along with Professor Tim Finnigan, Evan joined Sarah and Olly to talk about all things climate engineering, and why it’s so important that more engineers get involved. This episode also marks a special occasion for us, as it’s Dr Sarah Lyd...

Welcome back to our third week of climate engineering! This week, we’re joined by Dr. Pooyan Alinaghi Hosseinabadi, a lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in electrical engineering.    Pooyan’s work has taken him across the world and his current research focuses on renewable energy. Tune in to find out how we can be reducing emissions and you might just start looking at the electronics in your hou...

Landslides can bring devastating consequences to the communities they affect. Dr Ashley Dyson, a geotechnical engineer, joins Sarah and Olly for part two of our climate engineering series to explain how we can go about mitigating the risks of landslides and why it’s so important to have as much data as we can on soils, rainfall, and slopes. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TW...