That's What I Call Science!

“Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day.” But what if it doesn’t? From flood prevention to water supply in drought conditions, hydrology and hydraulics protect and help us every day, yet most of the engineering work behind them remains under-appreciated or unnoticed. Join Niamh and Olly as they learn from professional engineer Alice Hines about the ways that water management affects our every...

Citizen Science is the new hotness that explores how ‘non-experts’ can research alongside scientists. ‘Big data’ means there is now more data than can humanly (and computationally) be processed by experts alone.  This week, Niamh and Meredith speak to Criminology lecturer Dr Vicky Nagy about her use of Citizen Science to help process the massive amount of historical crime data, simultaneously incr...

A future of faster, safer, and smarter medical imaging is being paved by … physicists?? This week, Sophie talks biomedical imaging, ACROBEAT, and pig spines for safer surgery, with physicist Dr Tess Reynolds. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Sophie Calabretto (@sophluidynamics) Production: Meredith Castles (@meredithcastles) Media & Promotion: Kate Johnson (@KatePlantPhys), Mibu Fischer (...

We all know that physical activity is important for a healthy life right? This week, Niamh interviews Associate Professor Verity Cleland about how we can be more physically active and what role our communities play in supporting us to do this.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Production: Olly Dove (@littledove440) Media & Promotion: Kate Johnson (@KatePlantPh...

In this episode we interview Dr Andrew Ottaway, the founder of Health Volunteers International. Andrew’s charity aims to improve medical education and capacity building to improve quality of health care in African countries. With particular focus on improving maternal health and access to safe deliveries. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Production: Sarah Lyden Me...

In this episode, we chat about ageism with sociologist Dr Peta Cook. Ageism is a type of discrimination based solely on age and has a significant impact on our society. We speak about ageist stereotypes and the consequence this has on physical and mental health. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Production: Olly Dove (@littledove440) Media & Promotion: Sophie C...

The number of people studying higher level maths in Australia is in decline. Why? This week, Sophie talks to maths teaching specialist Dr Hayden Tronnolone about maths phobia and maths education in Australia. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Sophie Calabretto (@sophluidynamics) Production: Meredith Castles (@meredithcastles) Media & Promotion: Sophie Calabretto (@sophluidynamics), Kate Jo...

Kate chats to Dr Penny Jones about her research monitoring air quality, communicating and understanding the intersection of humans and our environment, making decisions about living with fire, and her experience working in STEMM. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Kate Johnson (@KatePlantPhys) Production: Meredith Castles (@MeredithCastles) Media & Promotion: Kate Johnson (@KatePlantPhys),...

This week Niamh and Hannah interview quantitative marine ecologist Dr Nicole Hill. Together they take a deep dive into Nicole’s research, including her career highlights such as diving into Antarctic waters and encountering diverse wildlife. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Hannah McCleary (@mcleary_hannah) Production: Sarah Lyden Media & Promotion: K...

This week, Niamh and Hannah are joined by Associate Professor Kara Barry from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture at the University of Tasmania, to explore her work around plants and their relationships (good and bad) with fungi and pathogens.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Hannah McCleary (@mccleary_hannah) Production: Meredith Castles (@meredithca...

Join Sarah and Niamh in this episode as they talk to Assoc. Prof. Damien Holloway from the School of Engineering at UTAS about architectural acoustics.  Damien’s diverse engineering career has spanned from ship hydrodynamics to structural health monitoring to architectural acoustics.  In this episode we focus on research work into the acoustics of concert halls and the experience of musicians in t...

Tune in to hear science and poetry combined and meet the authors behind the poems! This is the second of two episodes where Kate talks to Tasmanian-based poets reading the poems that they entered in ‘The Poetry of Science’: a science-themed poetry competition for National Science Week 2021.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Kate Johnson (@KatePlantPhys) Production: Olly Dove (@littledove440)...

Tune in to hear science and poetry combined and meet the authors behind the poems! This is the first of two episodes where Kate talks to Tasmanian-based poets reading the poems that they entered in ‘The Poetry of Science’: a science-themed poetry competition for National Science Week 2021.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Kate Johnson (@KatePlantPhys) Production: Olly Dove (@littledove440) M...

What do you do when you know what the plethora of diversity problems facing Women in ICT are and how to fix them, but it seems like an insurmountable task? You bring together a team of stellar women tech entrepreneurs and diversity champions to get the job done!  This week, Niamh and Meredith speak to innovation champion and ICT workforce developer Dr Tristan Richards about the first cultural chan...

Join Sarah and Niamh while they talk to environmental engineer Robyn Bussey.  Robyn’s diverse experiences shows the range and scope of work in the environmental engineering, from runways and infrastructure projects to wastewater and wetlands. Discover what you can do to ensure environmental concerns are at the forefront of engineering projects.   Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman...

How can we use data to assess cardiovascular risk in Australia? This week, Niamh and Sophie talk to biostatistician and public health researcher Dr Karen Lamb about the design, analysis, and reporting of medical research in Australia. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Sophie Calabretto (@sophluidynamics) Production: Meredith Castles (@meredithcastles) Medi...

Convict ancestry, adoption and skeletons in the closet, find out about the tensions and joys of delving into your family’s past, along with the resources that State Libraries Tasmania have to offer, in preparation for family history month in August! Kate Johnson and Niamh Chapman interview Archivist, Dr Alicia Marchant and family history researcher Beverley Morritt from Libraries Tasmania about Ge...

By the by-catch, it’s more possible to reduce the harmful side effects of commercial fishing than you might have previously thought! This week, Dr Sheryl Hamilton talks to Niamh and Olly about her work researching mitigation techniques for reducing marine mammal bycatch in commercial fishing gear. She also regales us with tales of her vast experience in monitoring wild marine animal populations, i...

Do you understand how commercial fisheries are monitored? Mibu Fischer and Niamh Chapman chat with Dr Madi Green about her efforts in assisting the commercial fishing sector to monitor fisheries catch to better understand world fish stocks.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nchapmanTAS) Co-Host: Mibu Fischer (@miburose) Production: Meredith Castles (@meredithcastles) Media &am...

Native hens, turbo chooks, whatever you know them as they are a distinctive character in the Tasmanian landscape, but despite their abundance, their populations on Maria Island are shrinking.   Kate Johnson and Niamh Chapman interview PhD student Lucile Leveque from the University of Tasmania to learn about her research into the factors that are contributing to their decline. Host: Niamh Chapman a...

The importance of good bacteria in our gut may be more important than ever. Dr Niamh Chapman talks to Associate Professor Francine Marques from Monash University about how gut health impacts heart health and what we could do to harness the important role of the gut to prevent heart attack and stroke.  Host: Niamh Chapman Production: Meredith Castles Promotion: Kate Johnson, Mibu Fischer, Kelsey Pi...

One third of the world's food production relies on bee pollination. There is global concern that agricultural sprays may be negatively affecting bee health and foraging behavior.  Kelsey Picard and Niamh Chapman interview PhD student Meng Yong Lim from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, and learn about how the bees gut microbiome may be affecting their foraging behaviour and overall heal...

Ever wondered how fitness and exercise actually benefit health? This episode, Dr Niamh Chapman talks fitness, heart health and more with guests Dr Rachel Climie and Dr Martin Shultz, exercise physiologists and researchers. Listen to find out all about fitness, heart health, blood pressure and the benefits of becoming physically active today! Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Niamh Chapman (@nc...

When, where and what action should we take in order to maximise the impact of our biodiversity conservation efforts? This week, Niamh and Sophie speak to mathematician Dr Kate Helmstedt about using decision science for biodiversity conservation, and how mathematics is being used to understand ecosystems, how we interact with them, and how they should be managed. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Hos...

We’ve all seen headlines of athletes disgraced by a doping scandal, but what exactly is it the athletes are taking, and why?  This week, Kate McMaster from the University of Tasmania talks to Niamh and Olly about her work researching the effects of insulin on an athlete’s performance, and the not-so-dope world of doping in sport. Kate is also the President of the newly formed UTAS Women’s Society...