Brandon begins to see his friends in a new light after communicating with them through a screen.

C. Brandon Ogbunu is a computational biologist at Yale University who studies epidemics and genetics. He is also a contributing writer at WIRED magazine, where he writes at the intersection of science, data, and society.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 11, 2020 in an episode titled “Stories of COVID-19: Connections, Part 1”. Find the transcript and other information: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/12/9/stories-of-covid-19-connections-part-1

Brandon Ogbunu: A Flatter World

Shreya struggles to connect with her patients in the same way when she's treating them over web video.

Shreya Varma is a clinical psychologist practicing in New Delhi, India. She has an extensive experience in the healthcare industry and primarily works with adults in her private practice.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 14, 2020 in an episode titled “Stories of COVID-19: Connection, Part 2”. Find the transcript and other information:https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/12/9/stories-of-covid-19-connections-part-2

Shreya Varma: Tricky Connections

When Ivy's father enters hospice during the pandemic, her family must find a new way to come together to say goodbye.

Ivy Eisenberg is an award-winning humor writer, storyteller and comedian who has performed comedy, solo shows and stories throughout the Greater NYC area and in Washington, DC.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 14, 2020 in an episode titled “Stories of COVID-19: Connection, Part 2”. Find the transcript and other information: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/12/9/stories-of-covid-19-connections-part-2

Ivy Eisenberg: Coming Together

Mary Sue’s grandmother's experience of the 1918 pandemic inspires and informs her career in public health.

Mary Sue Kitchen was director of the Fairfax County Health Department Laboratory in Virginia for seventeen years from 1995-2012.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 18, 2020 in an episode titled “Stories of COVID-19: Generations, Part 1”. Find the transcript and other information: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/12/17/stories-of-covid-19-generations-part-1

Mary Sue Kitchen: Lessons From the Past

In this episode, we share two more stories about the impact of COVID-19 across generations. 

Our first story is from two storytellers — science communicator Ian Haydon and his mother, retired writer and editor Judy Stokes. Their story begins when Ian calls his mother in March and reveals that he will be participating in a Phase 1  COVID-19 vaccine trial.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 21, 2020 in an episode titled “Stories of COVID-19: Generations, Part 2”. Find the transcript and other information:https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/12/17/stories-of-covid-19-generations-part-2

Judy Stokes: Generational Inspiration

Krishna receives a fateful phone call — from his family back home in India, telling him that his father has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Krishna Pakala is the Faculty in Residence for the Engineering and Innovation Living Learning Community and the Director for the Industrial Assessment Center at Boise State. He is the recipient of David S. Taylor Service to Students Award and Golden Apple Award from Boise State University.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 21, 2020 in an episode titled “Stories of COVID-19: Generations, Part 2”. Find the transcript and other information: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/12/17/stories-of-covid-19-generations-part-2

Krishna Pakala: A Call From Home

Brion Randolph's journey to becoming a doctor begins with a box full of kittens.

Dr. Brion Randolph is currently the Chief of Medical Oncology at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Newnan, Georgia. He joined CTCA as a medical oncologist and hematologist when the hospital opened in August 2012 and is now Chief of Medical Oncology.  He also serves as Medical Director of Hematologic Oncology at the Newnan hospital.

Dr. Randolph earned his medical degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, and he is board certified in medical oncology, hematology and internal medicine. Dr. Randolph also earned a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he also completed his fellowship training in hematology and oncology. 

While Dr. Randolph started his education in nuclear engineering, he switched to medicine when introduced to the field of hematology/oncology as a graduate student studying the physics of medical imaging and radiation therapy.

Dr. Randolph lives in Newnan with his wife and two children. He has a passion for music and the performing arts, and as a drum major he had the opportunity to lead the UT Band in the 1993 inaugural parade for President Bill Clinton. His hobbies also include tennis and running.

Brion Randolph: Curiosity Saves The Cats

This week, we present two stories of learning experiences connected to early childhood, from an expert in maternal and infant health discovering the reality behind her research to a first-grader striving to be one of the "smart kids."

Part 1: Psychologist Amy Brown researches maternal and infant health, but when she has a child of her own, she’s confronted with the reality behind the research.

Part 2: As a first-grader, Cassie Soliday finds her coveted spot in the gifted class is at risk.

Dr. Amy Brown is an Associate Professor in Child Public Health at Swansea University where she researches experiences of becoming a mother, particularly around how babies are fed. She has published widely in how social, cultural and psychological barriers can damage breastfeeding and subsequently maternal wellbeing. Amy is fascinated by how culture defines motherhood, through pressurising mothers to have it all and enjoy ‘every precious moment’, whilst simultaneously devaluing their role. She also has three children of her own and switches between hearing women’s tales about becoming a mother and experiencing it first hand herself. Sometimes life feels like one long never ending ethnographic research project but offers her insight into these complex issues.

Cassie Soliday is The Story Collider's LA-based producer. In addition to being a producer, she is a writer, comic artist, and the love child of a poet and a parrot head.  She's an advocate for women in the arts and produces two podcasts, 'Ink and Paint Girls' and 'Jammiest Bits of Jam'. Afflicted with wanderlust and the desire to run away with the cat circus, she has three great and terrible ideas that could get her fired so she could do so.  She lives and works in California making cartoons. She is @cassiesoli and cassie@storycollider.org.

Early Childhood Development: Stories about growth

Military surgeon Rob Lim must perform surgery in the middle of a sandstorm in Iraq.

Robert B. Lim, MD is a General Surgeon on active duty in the United States Army. He specializes in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery, which includes robotics, single-incision laparoscopic, and bariatric surgery. He did his fellowship training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. His academic career focuses on obesity care, surgical education, surgical simulation, and patient safety. He is on the Board of Governors at the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgery and holds the rank of Associate Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Dr. Lim founded the Society of Military Surgeons and produced the first ever tri-service military surgical symposium in 2014. He has been deployed to the combat zone 5 times including the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. He has served on Forward Surgical Teams, in the Combat Hospitals, and on the GHOST-T surgical team (Golden Hour Offset of Surgical Trauma-Team) with the Special Forces. He helped revitalize the Excelsior Surgical Society, which is a tri-service military society that originated during World War II under the guidance of Winston Churchill.

story was produced as part of a partnership with Springer Storytellers. Find out more at www.beforetheabstract.com/

This story originally aired in a Feb. 17 episode titled "Fear response": https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2017/2/17/fear-response-mark-pagan-rob-lim

Rob Lim: Surgery in a Sandstorm

After being discouraged from pursuing science, Katy Rodriguez Wimberly searches for her place in the military and as an actor.

M. Katy Rodriguez Wimberly is a first year graduate student at University of California, Irvine (UCI) in their Physics Department. She is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and the first Junior Board Fellow of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science degree, with a math minor, from California State University, Long Beach in May 2015. At UCI she is working with Dr. Michael Cooper on galaxy evolution research, which studies the coming together of satellite galaxies onto massive clusters of galaxies by comparing large cosmological simulations to observational data. Katy’s research interests lie in galaxy evolution and observational cosmology. Additionally, she loves and conducts astronomy outreach with underrepresented minorities, focusing primarily on K-12 Special Needs students (including children on the Autism Spectrum and those with Down’s Syndrome).

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on May 5, 2017, in an episode titled "Hard Science." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2017/5/5/hard-science-sarah-demers-katy-rodriguez-wimberley

Katy Rodriguez Wimberly: Changing My Life for Science

Ecologist Marcelo Ardón Sayao turns to both science and religion when his wife is diagnosed with cancer.

Marcelo Ardón Sayao is really into swamps. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at NCSU. He obtained his BA in Biology and Environmental Science from Gettysburg College, his PhD from the University of Georgia, and did a postdoc at Duke University. His research focuses on how wetlands and streams transport and transform water and nutrients. He spends most of his time outside work with his wife and two kids. They enjoy dancing, building sandcastles, and spending time outside, though he hasn’t fully convinced his kids of the beauty of swamps.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on August 18, 2017, in an episode titled "Boiling Point." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2017/8/17/boiling-point-stories-about-reaching-points-of-crisis

Marcelo Ardón Sayao: Hope When Hope Was Hard to Find

OB-GYN Veronica Ades tries to save a pregnant woman’s life in South Sudan, while struggling with her own feelings about motherhood.

Note: You can read more details about Veronica's experience on her blog here.

Veronica Ades, MD, MPH is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist. She attended medical school at the State University of New York at Downstate in Brooklyn, NY, and obtained residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. After residency, she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Quantitative Methods at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Ades then completed a three-year fellowship in Reproductive Infectious Disease at the University of California, San Francisco, in which she lived and worked in rural Uganda, and  conducted research on placental malaria in HIV-infected and –uninfected women. Dr. Ades also completed a Certificate in Comparative Effectiveness at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Ades has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders on assignments in Aweil, South Sudan in 2012 and 2016 and in Irbid, Jordan in 2013. Dr. Ades is currently an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of Global Women’s Health at the New York University School of Medicine (NYUMC). Her clinical work is at the New York Harbor VA and at Gouverneur Health. At NYUMC, Dr. Ades has created an educational and research partnership with Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. She is also the Director of the EMPOWER Clinic for Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Violence at Gouverneur Health on the Lower East Side. Dr. Ades’ main research focus is on post-sexual trauma gynecologic care. She runs the Empower Lab at the College of Global Public Health at NYU, where she has active research projects on sexual and gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, military sexual trauma, and global women’s health.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on Sept. 15, 2017, in an episode titled "Identification." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2017/9/14/identification-stories-about-who-we-are

Veronica Ades: Motherhood

For Cat Bohannon's psychologist father, science found an extension even into the games they played.

Cat Bohannon: Dungeons and Dragons and Psychologists

A neuroscientist tests the limits of wonder when his own father suffers a stroke.

David Carmel: The coolest thing in the world

Darlene Cavalier, a former professional cheerleader, had always felt like science wasn't for people like her. But then a chance conversation leads her to learn more about science, and even more about cheerleaders, than she ever imagined.

Darlene Cavalier: Why not put a cheerleader in the room?

When Evelyn Valdez-Ward discovers that she's undocumented, she fears her dreams of becoming a scientist are over. 

Evelyn Valdez-Ward is an undocumented, Latina, scientist and PhD student at the University of California, Irvine. For her thesis, she studies the impact of California's drought on the ways that plants and their soil microbes (fungi and bacteria in the soil) communicate and interact with one another. In addition to doing research, she's extremely passionate about advocating for undocumented students in STEM. She recently published her story "I'm an undocumented scientist fighting for my Dream" in Science, and was invited to speak at the March for Science rally in DC to advocate for Dreamers in STEM. She has been awarded a UCI's Dynamic Womxn's Award for Outstanding Social Justice Activist, and the Svetlana Bersahdsky Graduate Student Award for her lobbying and advocacy efforts. She plans to continue lobbying and fighting for her undocumented community after graduating, and work in science policy, where she can continue to advocate for both science and minorities in STEM.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on Aug. 31, 2018, in an episode titled "Trials by Fire." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/8/27/trials-by-fire-stories-about-difficult-path-to-science

Evelyn Valdez-Ward: An Undocumented Scientist

An expert in oxytocin, the hormone released during birth,  Bianca Jones Marlin is determined to have a natural birth — even as the hours of labor add up…

Bianca Jones Marlin is a neuroscientist and postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University. She holds a PhD in neuroscience from New York University, and dual bachelor degrees from St. John’s University, in biology and adolescent education. As a graduate student, with Dr. Robert Froemke, Dr. Marlin examined how the brain adapts to care for a newborn and how a baby’s cry can control adult behavior. Her research focused on the vital bond between parent and child, and studied the use of neurochemicals, such as the “love drug” oxytocin, as a treatment to strengthen fragile and broken parent-child relationships. Dr. Marlin is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Richard Axel, where she investigates transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, or how traumatic experiences in parents affect the brain structure of their offspring. Her research has been featured in Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Scientific America and Discover Magazine’s “100 Top Stories of 2015.” She is the recipient of the 2016 Society for Neuroscience Donald B. Lindsley Award, which recognizes the most outstanding PhD thesis in the general area of behavioral neuroscience and was named a STAT Wunderkind in 2017. She is currently a Junior Fellow in the prestigious Simons Society of Fellows. A native New Yorker, Dr. Marlin lives in Manhattan with her scientist husband, Joseph, their daughter, Sage, and their cat Santiago Ramon y Cajal, who is named after the famed neuroanatomist. Her website is www.biancajonesmarlin.com

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on Nov. 9, 2018, in an episode titled "Pregnancy." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/9/3/pregnancy-stories-about-having-a-baby

Bianca Jones Marlin: This Is Not the Way Beyoncé Made It Look

Geneticist Sebastian Alvarado reconnects with his love of comic books by attempting to shrink ants.

Sebastian Gaston Alvarado went into science so he could make the X-men. During his Ph.D., he studied the molecular switches that regulate gene function. As a result, his work has shed light on chronic pain, size variation in ants, and metabolism in hibernating squirrels. He is also co-founder of Thwacke, a science consulting firm for the entertainment sector. As a consultant, he has rationalized the science behind Captain America's Super Soldier Serum and the reversible nature of the Incredible Hulk's transformations . Sebastian is currently an A.P. Giannini Fellow at Stanford University where he studies how social environment can shape the way genes change behavior in a fish.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on April 14, 2017, in an episode titled "Transformation: Stories about changing states" Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2017/4/14/transformation-sebastian-alvarado-danny-artese

Story Collider

Sebastian Alvarado: Shrinking Ants

Saad Sarwana tries to juggle careers in physics and comedy. 

Saad Sarwana is a Pakistani-American Physicist and Geek.  His research is in superconducting electronics. He has over 40 peer reviewed publications and two US patents. Saad is also an amateur comedian for 20+ years, and is on a personal quest to perform in every state in the US, he is about halfway there.  Saad has combined his love of Geekdom and his south asian heritage to create the “Science Fiction and Fantasy Spelling Bee”, a show he hosts at various local cons. On most days you can find him in the lab or home playing with his kids (he doesn’t get out much!). He lives in Westchester County, NY (home of the X-men!).

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on February 23, 2018, in an episode titled "Double Lives: Stories about loving both science and art." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/2/2/double-lives-stories-of-loving-both-science-and-art

Saad Sarwana: My Dream Found Me

Mathematician Piper Harron deals with harassment after standing up for diversity in math.

Piper Harron received her PhD in mathematics from Princeton University in January 2016. More interestingly, she started in 2003, left in 2009, lectured at Northeastern for three semesters, then stopped working and had two children born in 2011 and 2014. Her PhD thesis received recognition for its humorous style and blunt social commentary (Spoiler: math culture is oppressive), and she has traveled to many institutions around the country and in Canada to talk about her experiences trying to survive other people's good intentions. She is currently a postdoc in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on March 9, 2018, in an episode titled "In Honor of Pi Day: Stories about math." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/3/5/in-honor-of-pi-day-stories-about-math

Piper Harron: The Liberated Mathematician

Alison Williams' blossoming passion for chemistry is sidetracked by a professor's thoughtless comment.

Alison Williams is the Associate Provost for Diversity and Intercultural Education at Denison University. She received her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of Rochester where she was a NSF graduate fellow and winner of the graduate student teaching award.  Prior to becoming an administrator first at Oberlin and now at Denison, she was a chemistry faculty member for 25 years, teaching at Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Princeton and Barnard College of Columbia University.  Her research focused using spectroscopy to determine the role of ions in shaping the physical properties of nucleic acids. Dr. Williams has been active nationally to increase access, inclusion and equity, especially in the sciences. She has received numerous recognitions for her teaching, outreach and mentoring activities.  She is a mother of two and a semi-professional oboist.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on March 23, 2018, in an episode titled "Women in Science: Stories about defying expectations." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/3/15/women-in-science-stories-defying-expectations

Alison Williams: Never Assume

Neurobiologist Lyl Tomlinson is startled when he's accused of stealing cocaine from his former lab.

Lyl Tomlinson is a Brooklyn native and a post-doctoral researcher and program coordinator at Stony Brook University. He is also a science communication fanatic who often asks: “Would my grandma understand this?” Using this question as a guiding principle, he won the 2014 NASA FameLab science communication competition and became the International final runner-up. In addition to making complex information understandable, he has a growing interest in science policy. Lyl meets with government representatives to advocate for science related issues and regularly develops programs to tackle problems ranging from scientific workforce issues to the Opioid Epidemic. Outside of his work and career passions, he seems to harbor an odd obsession with sprinkles and is a (not so secret) comic book and anime nerd.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on April 13, 2018, in an episode titled "Fight or Flight: Stories about confronting threats." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/4/12/fight-or-flight-stories-about-confronting-threats

Lyl Tomlinson: Falsely Accused

Climate scientist Kim Cobb is exploring a cave in Borneo when rocks begin to fall.

Kim Cobb is a researcher who uses corals and cave stalagmites to probe the mechanisms of past, present, and future climate change. Kim has sailed on multiple oceanographic cruises to the deep tropics and led caving expeditions to the rainforests of Borneo in support of her research. Kim has received numerous awards for her research, most notably a NSF CAREER Award in 2007, and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2008. She is an Editor for Geophysical Research Letters, sits on the international CLIVAR Pacific Panel, and serves on the Advisory Council for the AAAS Leshner Institute for Public Engagement. As a mother to four, Kim is a strong advocate for women in science, and champions diversity and inclusion in all that she does. She is also devoted to the clear and frequent communication of climate change to the public through speaking engagements and social media.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on April 13, 2018, in an episode titled "Fight or Flight: Stories about confronting threats." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/4/12/fight-or-flight-stories-about-confronting-threats

Kim Cobb: The Gift of Mojo

In the midst of homelessness and abuse, Rose DF dreams of a life in science. 

Rose DF is a born explorer with a passion for accessible and inclusive science and education. A first generation scientist born and raised in the Dominican Republic, currently pursuing studies in Biophysics. After opening up about her life for a feature in "Stories in Science" Rose's social media presence has increased since, and she now uses it to raise awareness in the topics of inclusivity and diversity in STEM as she constantly challenges some of the stereotypes associated with being an "non-traditional" academic and a Latina in the US.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on September 21, 2018, in an episode titled "Science Saved My Life: Stories about life-saving passion." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/8/24/science-saved-my-life-stories-about-life-saving-passion

Rose DF: Dreaming of Science

Explorer George Kourounis finds himself growing increasingly anxious as he prepares to enter a fiery sinkhole known as the “Doorway to Hell.”

George Kourounis is a renowned global explorer and storm chaser who specializes in documenting extreme forces of nature including: tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, deserts, caves, avalanches and more. He is an Explorer In Residence for The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Chairman of the Explorers Club Canadian Chapter, and has received several awards and medals for his efforts. He frequently finds himself driving into the eye of fierce storms, or descending ropes into actively erupting volcanic craters, often while hosting television programs including “Angry Planet” and others.  He has given four TEDx talks, and has addressed the United Nations Environmental Emergencies Forum. George’s expeditions have taken him to 65 countries on all seven continents to such far-flung places as: Madagascar, Turkmenistan, Vanuatu, Greenland, North Korea, Myanmar, and Antarctica.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider's podcast on October 26, 2018, in an episode titled "Fear: Stories of daring adventures." Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/8/24/fear-stories-of-daring-adventures

George Kourounis: The Doorway to Hell

Looking to connect with new people, mathematician Seth Cottrell sets up an ‘Ask a Mathematician’ booth at Burning Man.

Seth Cottrell earned his PhD in mathematics from the Courant Institute at NYU.  His research is in quantum information and he teaches at New York City College of Technology.  For ten years, Seth has talked to complete strangers about math and physics and written about it at
askamathematician.com.  His new book is “Do Colors Exist?: And Other Profound Physics Questions.”

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 21, 2018, in an episode titled “New Friends: Stories about unexpected connections”. Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2018/12/18/new-friends-stories-about-unexpected-connections

Seth Cottrell: I Got a Lot of Questions

When conservation scientist Laura Kehoe writes about a surprising chimp behavior, the media takes it wildly out of context and the situation spirals out of control.

Laura Kehoe is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia & University of Victoria, where she's busy developing a cost-effective conservation plan for the over 100 species of concern in the Fraser River estuary, Vancouver. Laura’s research has the overall goal of finding pathways to balance human resource use with the conservation of biodiversity. To do this, she develops & applies approaches grounded in spatial statistics, spatial ecology, & conservation decision science. Laura is the founder of a campaign to regenerate degraded farmland via planting trees. To date, her initiative has planted over 100,000 trees (visit 400trees.org to find out more). This story is about her first job in conservation with the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in Guinea.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on April 12, 2019, in an episode titled “Limelight: Stories about being the voice of science”. Find the transcript and other information here: 
https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2019/4/8/limelight-stories-about-being-the-voice-of-science

Laura Kehoe: My First Ever Conservation Job

At age nine, Anicca Harriot plans to study both the heart and space, but as she gets older, that plan becomes more challenging than she expected.

Anicca Harriot is currently working on her PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her research focuses on mechanotransduction – the science of how mechanical stresses and physical forces, like gravity, affect cell signaling and function. Anicca plans to use her degree to explore the effects of long duration space missions on the human body and hopes to someday venture out into the final frontier for herself. Anicca is also the Social Media Coordinator & LGBTQ+ Engagement Specialist for #VanguardSTEM: Conversations for Women of Color in STEM, a non-profit dedicated to lifting the voices of women and non-binary people of color in STEM. In her free time Anicca volunteers with #Popscope, “popping up” with a telescope around Baltimore to promote public astronomy and encourage curiosity. 

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on April 19, 2019, in an episode titled “Older and Wiser: Stories about growing up”. Find the transcript and other information here: 
https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2019/4/15/older-and-wiser-stories-about-growing-up

Anicca Harriot: The Heart in Space

When The Colbert Report calls about her research, marine biologist Skylar Bayer finds an unexpected collaborator and friend in the fisherman helping her get scallops.

Skylar Bayer is a marine biologist, a storyteller, and a science communicator. She completed her Ph.D. in the secret sex lives of scallops, a subject that landed her on The Colbert Report in 2013. Since then she has dabbled in a diversity of science communication activities, all of which you can read about on her website. She's an alum of the D.C.-based Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. Currently, she is a National Academy of Sciences NRC post-doctoral Research Associate at the NOAA Milford Laboratory and is the Secretary of the Ecological Society of America's Communication & Engagement Section. Her heart, husband, house, two dogs and a grumpy cat all reside in Maine. She also enjoys Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the gentle art. Follow her on Twitter @drsrbayer. 

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on April 12, 2019, in an episode titled “Limelight: Stories about being the voice of science”. Find the transcript and other information here: 
https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2019/4/8/limelight-stories-about-being-the-voice-of-science

Skylar Bayer: My Friend Andy

Mary Garcia-Cazarin discovers she's pregnant just as she is offered a prestigious science policy fellowship, and worries about she can't cope with both.

Mary Garcia-Cazarin, Ph.D., M.S. is a Scientific Advisor for the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program (TRSP) in the Office of Disease Prevention at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where she helps to stimulate and coordinate collaborative tobacco regulatory science research; and implementation of initiatives related to disease prevention, tobacco and public health. Previously, Dr. Garcia-Cazarin was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). She is an alumna of the Linton-Poodry SACNAS Leadership Institute (2011) and the Advanced Leadership Institute (2017). Dr. Garcia-Cazarin is a former SACNAS Board Member. She received her Bachelor of Science in pharmaceutical chemistry from Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico, her Master of Science in biology from James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and her Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She is a passionate about training and mentoring and an advocate of outreach programs to increase participation of underrepresented groups in science-related fields. 

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on May 10, 2019, in an episode titled “Moms of Science: Stories about being mothers and scientists”. Find the transcript and other information here: https://storycollider.org/stories/2019/5/6/moms-of-science-stories-about-being-mothers-and-scientists

Mary Garcia-Cazarin: A Woman Can Do Anything

Engineering PhD student Jeannie Purchase sets out to help a couple in rural South Carolina who have endured dirty tap water for a decade.

Jeannie M. Purchase is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. Jeannie received her bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in Biosystems Engineering and her master's from Virginia Tech in Construction Engineering and Management. Her research focuses on examining the efficacy of point-of-use and point-of-entry filters when exposed extreme corrosion conditions and investigating the barriers hindering the widespread adoption of these technologies in at-risk communities. Her interdisciplinary work is at the intersection of citizen science, water quality, remediation, and public health. Through her research, Jeannie collaborates with residents to pursue solutions community-based problems. Jeannie switched between engineering disciplines in pursuit of finding ways to better serve communities through effective communication and collaboration when designing solutions to relevant everyday problems. She believes that it is important for engineers to communicate and engage with the community to understand their needs. Jeannie loves to teach, mentor and inspire students, and work with communities like Denmark, SC.

Jeannie Purchase: A Hot Shower

Zoology student Devon Kodzis's strategy of attracting boys with fun animal facts proves difficult.

Devon Kodzis has a degree in biological sciences and professional experience in teaching, animal training, and education outreach, and science program design. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Biological Sciences. Her passions include reading about food, and shouting at the Antiques Roadshow with her cat.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on November 1, 2019, in an episode titled “Crushes: Stories about scientists in love”. Find the transcript and other information here:
https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2019/10/28/crushes-stories-about-scientists-in-love

Devon Kodzis: Freaky Little Frog Ears

Teaching sixth grade science becomes much more difficult when Xochitl Garcia's students start hypothesizing that fire is alive.

Xochitl Garcia is the K-12 education program manager at Science Friday, where she focuses on supporting the inspiring efforts of educators (of all types) to engage students in science, engineering, math, and the arts. She is a former NYC school teacher, who specializes in sifting through random piles of junk that she insists are "treasures," to figure out cool ways for learners to explore scientific phenomena. You can find her making a mess in the name of science education at the Science Friday office, her house, with other educators...you get the picture.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on January 10th, 2020 in an episode titled “Hypothesis: Stories about having a question that needs answering”. Find the transcript and other information here: 
https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/1/6/hypothesis-stories-about-having-a-question-that-needs-answering

Xochitl Garcia: Is Fire Alive?

Catherine Macdonald always wanted to study sharks, but her first time tagging them in the field doesn't go as planned.

Dr. Catherine Macdonald is co-founder and Director of Field School (www.getintothefield.com), a marine science training and education company dedicated to constantly improving field research practices while teaching students to perform hands-on research with sharks. She is also a part-time Lecturer in Marine Conservation Biology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
Company website: www.getintothefield.com
Personal website: www.drcatherinemacdonald.com

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on January 24th, 2020 in an episode titled “Code of Ethics: Stories about doing the right thing”. Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2020/1/21/code-of-ethics-stories-about-doing-the-right-thing

Catherine Macdonald: Dragging

Geneticist C. Brandon Ogbunu contemplates the role race has played in his academic career after he is confronted by the police.

C. Brandon Ogbunu is an Assistant Professor at Brown University. His research focuses on evolutionary genetics and the ecology of disease. A New York City native, Brandon enjoys film, hip-hop, jazz and science fiction. He's an ex-very mediocre light heavy weight boxer, and slightly less mediocre experimental virologist. He has higher hopes for humanity than he does the New York Knicks. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @big_data_kane.

This story originally aired on The Story Collider’s podcast on December 6th, 2019 in an episode titled “Justice: Stories about righteous determination”. Find the transcript and other information here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2019/12/3/justice-stories-about-righteous-determination

C. Brandon Ogbunu: The Liberation of RNA

Whether we wear a lab coat or haven't seen a test tube since grade school, science is shaping all of our lives. And that means we all have science stories to tell. Every year, we host dozens of live shows all over the country, featuring all kinds of storytellers - researchers, doctors, and engineers of course, but also patients, poets, comedians, cops, and more. Some of our stories are heartbreaking, others are hilarious, but they're all true and all very personal. Welcome to The Story Collider!

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