Driven to Discover

Stephanie Poindexter, a biological anthropologist in UB's College of Arts and Sciences, specializes in how primates utilize and navigate their habitats. For the past 10 years, she has focused her research on the slow loris, an adorable yet venomous primate that inhabits Southeast Asia and surrounding areas. In this episode, Poindexter tells host Vicky Santos how she first became interested in primates (it helps to grow up near a zoo), how to track down a slow loris in a Thai forest in the middle of the night, and why we need to understand this little-known creature better if we wish to fully understand ourselves. 

Credits: 
Host: Vicky Santos
Guest: Stephanie Poindexter
Writer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group 

Coming Dec. 8: The world is full of dull, dirty and dangerous work. Karthik Dantu is developing robots that can lend a hand, making difficult tasks easier and dangerous ones safer. But first, they must learn to navigate the messiness and unpredictability of the real world. In this episode, Dantu explores how smarter robots could transform farming, revolutionize recycling, explore distant planets and more. 

John Crassidis, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Moog Professor of Innovation at UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, works with NASA, the U.S. Air Force and other agencies to monitor space debris, also known as space junk.  In this episode, Cory Nealon talks to Crassidis about his journey from aspiring astronaut to academia, why space junk poses a threat to the future of satellites and space missions, and how he’s applying a $5 million grant from the Air Force—with the help of institutional partners and his students at UB—to help solve the problem. 

Credits: 
Host: Cory Nealon
Guest: John Crassidis
Writer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group

Coming Dec. 8: The world is full of dull, dirty and dangerous work. Karthik Dantu is developing robots that can lend a hand, making difficult tasks easier and dangerous ones safer. But first, they must learn to navigate the messiness and unpredictability of the real world. In this episode, Dantu explores how smarter robots could transform farming, revolutionize recycling, explore distant planets and more.