That's What I Call Science!

PhD candidates produce research outputs for universities, and are a valuable part of the academic workforce. Yet, they remain to be seen only as ‘students’ and therefore do not qualify for an income, only a stipend. Did you know that the Australian federal government has the baseline for PhD stipends at 6% below the poverty line? Sadly, many universities don’t see reason to pay above this legal mi...

At the beginning of her PhD, Megan Grant joined us at That’s What I Call Science to talk about her seabird research. Now nearing the end, Megan has been awarded as one of the two University of Tasmania’s College of Sciences and Engineering Current HDR Candidate awards.  Tune in this week to hear Megan tell Olly all about the adventures she’s had during her PhD on Lord Howe Island and the emotions...

Inspired by her own experiences breaking into the field of coding and front-end development, Kah Men co-founded The Coding Sisterhood, a safe and inclusive group that encourages women to try coding. Starting with three female coders, the group has grown to over 300 members.    Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Olly Dove (@littledove440) Co-Host: Anna Abela (@annaoabela) Production: Ryan Smith ...

In this episode we talk to Eve Poland about her research in chemistry, her advocation for zero waste in Tasmania, and her impressive music career. Interestingly, she describes her goal to combine her chemistry skills and passion for waste reduction to help large scale carbon repurposing. Tune in to learn about organic chemistry, some simple steps to reduce your waste, and how music can enrich your...

Tasmania has some of the worst results in maths testing across Australia with drastic drops in results year after year. We speak with Priya Kitchener, a passionate maths educator, about the testing results, maths anxiety and the processes that need to be put in place to improve maths education. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Olly Dove (@littledove440) Co-Host: Anna Abela (@annaoabela) Produ...

Dr Niamh Chapman got into the nitty gritty of healthcare delivery and measures of success with Dr Alistair Fyfe. Dr Fyfe is from Tasmania and completed his medical training here but has spent most of his time practising in America. Niamh and Alistair talk about pursuing a career to improve health for individuals and societies as a whole - just how much can you really change a system to improve hea...

A science journey that started with pens, how & why trees twist and bend, how bugs unite us all + how one bug is killing entire forests. Join Dr Kate Johnson for chats with researchers in the Forest. We meet Sophie Everbach,a  PhD student at Harvard who tells us about how trees bend and Lorelei Wolf, an undergraduate student at Harvard College, who tells us about her research on eastern hemloc...

Dr Julia Drouhin is an Artist and curator with the incredible ability to manipulate and reinvent sound. From radiophonics, to edible objects, transformed technology from past generations and an exhibiton based on “my husband is a dead icecream”, we get a peek into Julia’s artistic process, her abstract inspirations and how her art is connected with science.      Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Hos...

Have you ever heard the wind howling, and imagined the howl being converted to be played on piano? Or watched a tree flutter in the wind, and pictured the branch holding a pencil and trying to draw as it flutters? On this week’s episode, Olly hears from Professor Donald Fortescue from the California College of the Arts about how his work transforms nature and science into art to help engage us in...

The Australian Antarctic Festival was here in Hobart last week, including an exhibition at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. As part of the festivities, Olly led up a panel with four expert guests that come from different corners of the Antarctic workforce: Katie Marx, Dr Nicole Hill, Megan Woods, and Dr Sophie Bestley. When we think of Antarctic research, we often think of penguins...

Join Sarah and Niamh in this episode as they talk with Phil Durbin from Finite Elements.  Phil shares his experiences in mechanical engineering including using tools like finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics within exciting projects like the DeepSea Challenger.   Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod   Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Sarah Lyden Production: Sarah Lyden Me...

From earth’s natural solar cells to freezing frogs, join Dr Kate Johnson for the second edition of chats with Yale researchers. Aleca Borsuk studies leaves revealing new information about their incredible internal structure, while Yara Alshwairikh focusses on wood frogs and their amazing ability to tolerate freezing. You’ll also hear Kate, Aleca and Yara chat paths to science and Australian/ US re...

This week you’ll  hear what it’s like to do research at Yale, whether Australians call stuffed-animals ‘stuffies’ and more! Join host Dr Kate Johnson to hear about Joseph Zailaa’s and Dr Leila Fletcher’s research on plants and climate change and what led them to science. Listen as Kate, Joseph and Leila exchange questions about Australia and the USA.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Kate Joh...

Join us for the final part of our mini-series in celebration of the first images released from the James Webb Space Telescope!  Andrew discusses his draw to our quaint little island with a huge scientific platform. He also shares some stories of his key moments as an astronomer in Tasmania, including manning the only observatory in the world to witness a star death!  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeo...

Join us this week for part two of our mini-series in celebration of the James Webb Space Telescope! This time around, we meet with Georgia Stewart, a PhD student at UTAS, studying Active Galactic Nuclei. These objects are used by Georgia and her colleagues to age and classify stellar and star-forming regions, as well as the black holes, central to these galaxies. Listen in as Georgia discusses her...

In this week’s episode, we sit down with PhD candidate, Mars Buttfield-Addison, to discuss the interesting world of computer science and machine learning. Mars takes us on a journey into understanding how her work centres around the important role of tracking the ever-growing amount of satellites and debris orbiting the Earth. Most importantly though, she talks about how all of this can be done fr...

In our fourth episode of the RHHRF miniseries we talk with expert guest Associate Professor Jane Alty who is an RHHRF funded researcher in neurodegenerative diseases, a senior lecturer at Wicking Dementia Centre, and a neurology consultant at the Royal Hobart Hospital. In this episode we start at the very beginning by answering the question ‘what is neurology?’, and then explore ideas around diagn...

This week, as part of our RHHRF series, we interview Dr Andrew Black. He is a cardiologist at the RHH, as well as undergoing a PhD with UTAS. His ongoing work with the Tasmanian STEMI network is leading the way toward a better future for healthcare in remote areas of Tasmania.  In this episode, we discuss Andrew’s career, some of his previous research and his unique lens as a cardiologist who is a...

This week, as a part of our @RHHRF series, we interview a Tasmanian Medical Researcher, Jo Dickinson. Jo is a cancer genetics researcher whose study on ‘Precision Medicine for Men with Prostate Cancer’ received a ‘2022 New Projects Grant’ from the @Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation.  In this episode we discuss Jo’s career in Medical Research, the technology of genetics testing, the science...

This week we look at scientific research from a whole new perspective! CEO of the Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation, Heather Francis, explains how funding bodies like @rhhresearchfoundation allow local Tasmanian scientists to undertake important medical research. This episode discusses the entire spectrum of funding intricacies; including increased interest from large corporate bodies, to...

Join Sarah and Niamh in this episode as they talk with Dr Sabrina Sequeria from Lightning Protection International.  Sabrina was the recipient of the 2021 Exceptional Woman in Tasmanian Manufacturing Award, and shares her diverse journey through engineering in this episode.   Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod   Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Sarah Lyden Production: Sarah Lyden Media &am...

Technology and Creativity seem like an odd match, but we speak to Annie Gatenby, a Senior UX Designer, whose experiences as a creative in tech have spanned over 10 years, starting surprisingly from a Fine Arts degree. Joined by returning co-host Anna Abela who also followed the path from art to tech.   Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Anna Abela (www.link...

Join Niamh and Sarah in this episode as they talk to Dr Evgenii Semshikov about his PhD research into isolated power systems, and what lessons we might be able to learn from these systems to transition our urban grid infrastructure towards more renewable energy. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Sarah Lyden Production: Sarah Lyden Media & Promotion: Ol...

Join Niamh and Sarah in this episode as they talk to Assoc. Prof Evan Franklin about the challenges and barriers to electric vehicles.   Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod   Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Sarah Lyden Production: Sarah Lyden Media & Promotion: Olivia Holloway (@LivHolloway_), 

Kate chats to Dr Ben Halliwell, lizard-and-plant-man and postdoctoral researcher in the centre for Plant Success, based at UTAS. Hear about Ben’s research into understanding the evolutionary relationships between plants and animals and how he combines his passions for both science and family in the final of our four part series highlighting plant science research in Tasmania!   Show theme music: K...