Beyond the test tube: a science podcast

For this episode, we spoke to Marty Martin from the Big Biology podcast - the best biology podcast around (excluding our own, of course)! Dr. Martin is a professor and biologist at the University of South Florida. Along with co-host Art Woods, he covers some of the biggest unanswered questions in biology. We ask about his research into sparrows as a real-world immunological model, and ask how podcasting complements his work as a professor and researcher. Check out big biology at https://www.bigbiology.org/, and please subscribe to the Big Biology podcast!

After several years of being taught online, returning to campus, or even coming to campus for the first time, created its own set of challenges (and joy!) for students. Yassine, N'Nabintou and Breana, 3 science students at the University of Ottawa who are at different stages of their degree and with very different backgrounds, share with us their experience of the "return to campus". We discuss the good and the bad of remote learning and in-person learning, the need for adjusting and finding the best compromise for both students and teaching staff to create the best learning experience and environment we possibly can.

We resume our conversation with Prof Eric Morand on lupus. In part 1, we talked about the progress in understanding disease mechanisms, and how this progress can now lead to the development of therapies. So we'll learn more about the clinical targets now being pursued and how for the first time lupus patients can imagine being treated with better drugs, for better disease outcome and management.

Lupus has been a mystery for too long, and the treatment for this autoimmune disease has not changed since the 40's. Patients are often left without much hope for their future, which is especially devastating when considering most lupus patients are diagnosed at a young age. Professor Eric Morand, an internationally recognized rheumatologist and researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, describes the amazing research that is shedding new insights into our understanding of this multifaceted disease mechanism and the clinical breakthroughs which may help to control disease progression. Listen to the passion, energy and hope Dr Morand shares with us for his Lupus patients.

"The innate immune system is pretty stupid [..] more like a drunk bloke at a bar, just reacts to anything and can't remember what happened in the next day". Eric Morand

"It's been a bleak desert of therapeutic breakthroughs". Eric Morand

In our second in a mini-series on science in museums, Elaine and Mike spoke to Dr. Danielle Fraser, paleobiologist and Research Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature (Ottawa, Canada). Dr. Fraser wears many other hats too, including Director of the Beaty Centre for Species Discovery, Adjunct Research Professor in Biology and Earth Sciences at Carleton University, and Associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Listen in for a glimpse into research life in museums, how it differs (or doesn't) from university research, and how she can track the diets of animals long after they're dead.

We spoke to Dr. Jeff Saarela, VP of Collections and Research at the Canadian Museum of Nature (Ottawa, Canada). With over a century as Canada's natural history museum, the Museum of Nature is famous for its beautiful exhibits inside a rustic castle in downtown Ottawa. But the museum is more than just exhibits: there is a separate set of buildings, away from downtown Ottawa, with enormous collections of species and specimens - the majority of which haven't even been classified. Jeff walks us through the archives, the research done at the museum, and how anyone can get into the collections buildings to see the museum's hidden treasures.

There's an open house Oct. 15, 2022! Reserve your spot at nature.ca.

Dr. Eric Chen (a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tokyo) joined to explain how bioinformatics can clarify enormous and noisy datasets in biology. He also explains his work - past and present - to make sense of genome duplication, where organisms gain an extra copy of everything in their genome, allowing for redundancy and gene evolution.

Ever wondered what our student-athletes experience going through university? How the 2 aspects of their lives impact each other? We had the privilege to talk to 3 extraordinary students who finished their degree in science at the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa: Niève Séguin, a volleyball player now in her 3rd year of medical school, Jackson Bennett, a CSL football player for the Redblacks and master's student, and Katherine Bearne, a soccer player, valedictorian 2019, who recently submitted her thesis in physics. This conversation is not only riveting, but also insightful and eye opening. A must for all students, sports fan and instructors!

Horrific guidance counselling inspired young Onita to take up science at university almost out of spite. Lucky for us, because she is a wonderful asset to teaching, mentoring and of course, research in water treatment and water management at home and abroad. Dr Onita Basu talks to us about her journey into science and engineering and her research on treating drinking water and abroad. Hugely interesting, we discuss Dr Basu's experience with the intricacies of working in communities distinct form ours, such as the Tanzania Water Hub project, an interesting experience that introduced consideration towards culture, politics, education and long-term commitment in what an engineer could originally consider a tech project.

When the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck, many were left with their head spinning in disbelief or not knowing where to start in order to tackle this enormous problem with the minimal knowledge we had about this virus. Not this guy. Like the fastest dodge ball player ever, Dr Marc-André Langlois caught the ball on the rebound and scored, and we all cheered (or should!). Listen to this amazing story of Canadian genius, dedication, and resourcefulness, where scientists are the heroes.