BlueSci Podcast

We're back and we have some exciting news - join us in welcoming Laura Chilver to our podcasting team! Laura is studying Natural Sciences and has a keen passion for science communication. 

This week we spoke to Dr Livia Tomova, a postdoctoral researcher who studies the impact of stress, social isolation and loneliness on the mind, particularly in adolescence. Livia explains how she uses brain imaging to understand how loneliness can affect the brain, and how some people maybe be more vulnerable to loneliness that others. Finally, we also discuss the impact of social media on the mind, and how it can both alleviate and worsen loneliness depending on how it is used. 

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine. This episode was hosted by Ruby Coates, Simone Eizagirre and Laura Chilver and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

Our guest this week is Thomas Parton, a PhD student in the Vignolini Lab in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. His research studies how colour emerges from the micro-structure of different materials that are found in nature. In this episode, we discuss his recent work studying structural colour in bio-films of rod-shaped bacteria, as well as discussing the importance of interdisciplinarity in science, and the value of taking inspiration from nature.

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

This week we spoke to Dr Paul Bays, the group leader of the Computational Cognition Group in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on visual working memory, which is our ability to recall details of what we have just seen. Paul explains how visual working memory is different to other forms of memory, and how his group uses a combination of computational modelling and volunteer trial data to form an understanding about how visual working memory works. We also discuss eidetic or "photographic" memory, and how neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease can impact visual working memory. 

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

This week we spoke to Amelia Drew a junior research fellow at Homerton College, who has just completed her PhD in Cosmology in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. We discuss how the discovery of gravitational waves could allow the detection of phenomena from the early universe such as cosmic strings, which formed the basis of Amelia's PhD research.  Amelia also tells us what it's like to work in the world of theoretical cosmology, the implications of cosmological research and what cosmologists hope to understand about the universe in the future. 

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

This week we spoke to Dr. Adam Pellegrini, a Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. His research specialises in disturbance ecology and ecosystem function, where he studies how changes to fire regimes can impact an ecosystem. We learn about the types of data that can be collected from both controlled and spontaneous fires in the wilderness, and how it can be used to model the impact on the ecosystem. We also discuss how the rates of savannah and forest fires are changing in relation to climate change, and what the future holds for this area of research. 

You can check out more from the Pellegrini lab here: https://pellegriniecologylab.com/ 

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

Constanza Toro-Valdivieso is a PhD student in the Department of Vetenary Medicine at the University of Cambridge. She studies Juan Fernández fur seals in Chile, focusing on how their gut microbiome can be used as an indicator for wildlife health, and provide a non-invasive way to monitor changes in habitat, food networks,  and genetic diversity.

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

In this episode we speak to Kobi Felton, a PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. As part of the Sustainable Reaction Engineering group, Kobi's research focuses on the design and optimisation of chemical reactions using software development and machine-based learning approaches. We chat about how applying data science techniques to chemistry problems is useful for industry, sustainability, and the development of new materials and technologies. He also tells us what it's like to be working on bringing together concepts from such different fields, and how open-access mentality is changing collaborations between researchers and industry.

You can find out more about Kobi's research at kobifelton.com, GitHub and Twitter.

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review or rating! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

This week we talk to Cynthia Okoye and Sandile Mtetwa, PhD students at the University of Cambridge. Sandile and Cynthia are two of the founders of Africans in STEM, a student-run initiative that provides a platform and a community for Africans across STEM disciplines to network, collaborate and share ideas - both locally and globally. Recently, to mark Black History Month, the initiative has held an exhibition online and in departments at the University of Cambridge showcasing Black scientists from around the world, as well as a panel discussion spotlighting Black female scientist in Cambridge. In this episode, we learn about Sandile and Cynthia's research, how Africans in STEM was founded, the impact that their activism has had so far, and their hopes and goals for the future.

You can learn more about Africans in STEM here: https://www.africansinstem.co.uk/

You can also view the Africans in STEM exhibition here: https://www.africansinstem.co.uk/bhm-exhibition.html

You can find Africans in STEM on Twitter at @africansinstem

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One and Nature Careers. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

This week we speak to Dr Giorgio Divitini, the Advanced TEM Officer in the High Resolution Electron Microscopy Group in the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. Giorgio tells us about the background, history and science of electron microscopy, as well as the incredible architectural processes that must take place before setting up an electron microscope facility. We also learn about the vast applications of electron microscopy, all the way from biology to engineering, and find out how this often overlooked technology is likely to evolve in the future. 

The image used for the promotional art was taken by Giorgio, and you can find more amazing electron micrographs on his Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/giorgiodivitini/albums/72157633723329562.

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.

This week we speak to Dr Elizabeth Tennyson, postdoctoral researcher and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory. Earlier this year, she was named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering by the Women's Engineering Society for her work on sustainability. She works on a new class of materials called perovskites, which in the last decade or so have become incredibly exciting for applications in solar cells. She tell us about her research using optical microscopy techniques to understand these materials, how she ended up working in renewable energy, and what it’s like working in such a fast-paced and hyped-up field. She also shares her experiences translating research from the lab to real-world applications, specifically from her role in the Affordable Perovskite Solar Irrigations Systems project for small-holder farmers in Ethiopia. You can find Beth at @beth_tennyson on Twitter.

The BlueSci Podcast is run by the Cambridge University Science Magazine, currently hosted by Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre and sponsored by Greiner Bio-One. Visit www.bluesci.co.uk to access our free magazine, and find out how to get involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! We welcome your feedback and suggestions via email: podcast(at)bluesci.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter on @bluescipod.