Have you ever wanted to know more about water? In this episode, Mary Hingst, hydrogeologist at Well Aware, a female founded nonprofit that's bringing clean sustainable water to communities in east Africa, and doctoral student at the University of Delaware, talks to us all about groundwater. She answers questions about how groundwater can be contaminated, and how Well Aware brings clean water to communities in Africa! August is Water Awareness month, so Mary talks to us all about water awareness and how to get involved! 

Well Aware https://wellawareworld.org/

International Water Institute https://iwinst.org/

Mary Hingst https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-hingst-79679411/

Have you ever wanted to know about what microscopic organisms live in the soil? This week on Ask a Scientist, Dr. Priyanka Kushwaha, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona talks to us all about soil microbiology (microbes that live in soils)!! She answers questions about what types of microbes live in soils, how she studies microbes, and why it is bad to eat dirt! 

Follow Dr. Kushwaha on Twitter https://twitter.com/pri_kush 

Have you ever wanted to know more about animals' brains? In this episode, Dr. Yan Wang, postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, talks to us about how she studies the brain structures of different animals like bees and octopuses! She answers listener questions about these animals and about animal behaviors. She also talks about teaching science and science communication! 

Follow Dr. Wang on Twitter https://twitter.com/ZYanWang

Have you ever wanted to know the best way to communicate your ideas? In this special episode actor, comedian, and science communicator Brian Palermo talks to us all about science communication and how improvisation techniques can help scientists communicate better! You might recognize Brian from movies like The Social Network and tv shows like Henry Danger and Friends! Brian answers all your questions about science communication and improv and he talks about his experiences teaching science communication improv classes to groups of scientists!  

Follow Brian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brianpalermo 

How does the Perseverance Mars Rover work? What was it like to work on? In this episode, Breanna Ivey, electrical engineering student at Georgia Tech and NASA intern, talks to us all about the Perseverance Mars Rover, working at NASA, electrical engineering, and much more! She answers questions from 4th graders about what kids can do to help the Mars Mission and gives advice for students who struggle with math! 

Breanna Ivey's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breanna-ivey-729508160/

What does a career in science look like? How do you get a career in science? How do you find satisfaction in a career? In this extra special episode of Ask a Scientist, Danielle De La Mare of the Self-Compassionate Professor, talks to us about science careers and how to have a meaningful career. In this episode, Danielle and I have a great conversation about how to have a career in science. 

What is biofacturing? How can products be made from microbes? In this episode, Dr. Zach Serber, co-founder and chief science officer of the biofacturing company, Zymergen, talks to us all about making products from microbes. He tells us all about the process of creating novel products from microbes and all of the amazing things that Zymergen does.

Check out Zymergen's website: https://www.zymergen.com/  

Follow Dr. Zach Serber on Twitter and LinkedIn: https://twitter.com/ZachSerber https://www.linkedin.com/in/serber/

Have you ever wondered how stars form? Or what a black hole is? In this episode, Dr. Cara Battersby, assistant professor of physics at the University of Connecticut, talks to us about stars, the universe, time travel, and much more!! So grab your telescope, turn your eyes to the sky, and get ready to think about everything beyond our atmosphere! 

Dr. Battersby's Twitter https://twitter.com/battersbot

What is a parasite? What do parasites do to you? In this episode Dr. Bill Sullivan, professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and author of "Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces That Make Us Who We Are," talks to us all about parasites, and answers questions about how you get parasites, how to prevent getting parasites, and how to treat parasites! He also talks about the parasite toxoplasma that has been associated with cats. Find out more about it in this episode!! 

Dr. Sullivan's website https://authorbillsullivan.com/ 

Dr. Sullivan's Twitter https://twitter.com/wjsullivan 

Have you ever wanted to know more about how animals form bonds? In this episode, Dr. Lisa Hiura, postdoc at the University of Colorado Boulder Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department, answers all of your questions about animal bonding! She looks at the brains of a special wild rodent that also forms strong bonds like humans do to try and figure out what makes them (and us!) want to have close relationships. So get ready to learn all about neurobiology (the biology of the brain) and how animals develop relationships! 

Follow Dr. Hiura on Twitter @l_hiura