As the spring semester comes to a close, I talk to two more MSU scientists working with the Bozeman community to help diagnose individual COVID-19 infections and understand the prevalence of infection in the community at large. 

Dr. Blake Wiedenheft is an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology who studies the immune systems of bacteria. He is working with the local wastewater treatment facility to monitor community prevalence of infection.

Dr. Michelle Flenniken is an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology who studies viral infections in honeybee populations. She is working with Bozeman Health to develop our diagnostic testing capacities. 

In this podcast extra, Julian Kaptanian, Rachel Schmidt, and Avital Pelakh share reflections from their college experience, future plans, and advice for younger students.

In this episode, we begin to look at the research being done at Montana State University in partnership with the greater Bozeman community and the state of Montana, to better understand the full impact of COVID-19.

My guest is Dr. Selena Ahmed, who is an associate professor in the department of health and human development, specializing in sustainable food systems. She is the co-leader of the Food and Health Lab and the Translational Biomarkers Core at Montana State University. She has been instrumental in organizing statewide antibody testing and is currently studying the impacts of the pandemic on food systems, both in China and here in Montana. 

In this podcast extra, we will be getting to know one of the two teams running for student body president and vice-president: Mike Vasquez and Tal Rogers.

ASMSU elections are being held next week and there has never been a more important time to make your voice heard on campus.

Voting couldn’t be easier. To cast your ballot all you have to do is go to montana.edu/vote sometime between 7am on Tuesday, April 14th and 7pm and Wednesday, April 15th.

In this podcast extra, we will be getting to know one of the two teams running for student body president and vice-president: Sheridan Johnson and Allison Reinhardt.

ASMSU elections are being held next week and there has never been a more important time to make your voice heard on campus.

Voting couldn’t be easier. To cast your ballot all you have to do is go to montana.edu/vote sometime between 7am on Tuesday, April 14th and 7pm and Wednesday, April 15th.

As social distancing measures extend toward the summer, it is clear that we will be dealing with the presence of COVID-19 for a long time. In this episode we explore the human response to stress: why it is useful, the implications of chronic and repeated stress for health and immune function, the importance of appraisal and perception, and how to cope when removal of the stressor is not an option.

Our guest is Dr. Neha-John Henderson from the Department of Psychology at MSU. Neha is the director of the Stress, Adversity, Resilience and Health lab, whose research is focused on understanding how psychosocial experiences across the life-span affect health and disease.

Contact us at [email protected]

In our first episode, we talk to psychologist Dr. Ben Oosterhoff about well-being and civic engagement in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ben teaches Science of Psychological Well-Being in the Psychology Department and is the director of the Montana Positive Youth Development Lab at MSU.