Earth News Interviews

By Earth News Interviews

What's Earth News Interviews about?

We’re back for an all-new season with a new team! Our hosts sit down with an earth scientist and discuss the most recent developments in their field and how these discoveries impact all of us. This podcast is supported by the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto.

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Earth News Interviews episodes:

04.11.2022
The Subduction Pulley with Erkan Gun and Russ Pysklywec
In this episode of Earth News Interviews, we speak with grad student Erkan Gun and professor Russ Pysklywec about the mechanisms that drive continental movements! Note: This interview was recorded back June 2021. Primary source discussed: Pre-collisional extension of microcontinental terranes by a...
03.08.2022
DEI in the Earth Sciences
Happy International Women's Day! In this special episode of ENI, we have a roundtable style discussion on the topic of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Earth Sciences. Joining Kathryn in this episode, we have Assistant Professor Tasca Santimano and...
03.01.2022
Geophysical Techniques and Mineral Exploration with Andrei Swidinsky
In this episode of ENI, we talk to the University of Toronto's new assistant professor, Andrei Swidinski about how mineral exploration is done using geophysics - magnetotellurics and passive seismic! Primary readings discussed: Application of deep-penetrating geophysical methods to mineral exploration: Examples...
02.07.2022
New Years Episode 2022
Welcome back to a new year of Earth News Interviews! In this episode, Dean, Winnie, Kathryn, and Tina each discuss their favorite earth sciences paper from 2021. Primary reading discussed: - Using phylogenies to detect a major extinction event in the Oligocene of...
09.28.2021
Protoplanetary Disks and Backward Spinning Stars with J. J. Zanazzi
We typically expect physical phenomena to follow certain rules: an apple falls from a tree under the influence of gravity, a skater will eventually slow down from the friction between their skates and the ice, a star spins in a...
08.29.2021
Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Plan with Andrew Parmenter
In this episode, we interview Andrew Parmenter, a geologist working for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term storage of Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a manner that protects people and the environment...
04.04.2021
Protoplanetary Disks and Backward Spinning Stars with J. J. Zanazzi
We typically expect physical phenomena to follow certain rules: an apple falls from a tree under the influence of gravity, a skater will eventually slow down from the friction between their skates and the ice, a star spins in a...
03.14.2021
The History of Earth Sciences Education with Erik Klemetti
Many Earth Sciences Departments have been recording low enrollment numbers for the last decade. This field has been known to ride the industry wave; high enrollment when the oil, petroleum, and mineral resource industry is booming, low when it's not....
02.28.2021
Compositions of Exoplanets and their Stars with Diana Valencia
The first exoplanet was discovered in 1992 by Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. Less than 30 years after this initial discovery that won the Nobel Prize in Physics, more than 4000 exoplanets have been confirmed (NASA). These planets, while unique,...
02.14.2021
Flood Risks and Hazards with Joseph Desloges
With natural disasters become more frequent and damaging, how can we accurately access who's at risk without updated information and predictions? The answer is we can't. That's why accurate risk and hazard mapping is essential for both private homeowners and...
01.31.2021
The Life and Legend of the Ediacaran Biota with Marc Laflamme
Imagine if you lived in a world where some humans evolved the ability to fly, use one hundred percent of their brainpower, or the ability to reproduce at twice the normal rate. These evolved humans would certainly have an evolutionary...
01.03.2021
Special New Years Episode
For this special New Year's episode, Dean and Sofia trade news stories about new discoveries in the Earth Sciences. The discoveries include the finding of the world's oldest crater, a prehistoric tsunami, and the best way to regrow forests. We...
12.20.2020
Continental Drip with Oguz Gogus
Compared to other foundational scientific breakthroughs like Mendeleev's periodic table, Einstein's relativity, and Watson Crick and Franklin's double helix DNA model, the discovery of plate tectonics is the youngest and one of the most influential in the Earth Sciences. Since...
12.06.2020
The Plastic Problem with Miriam Diamond
What happens when the Canadian government tries to simultaneously decrease fossil fuel demand at the same time as giving subsidies to big oil producers? In this episode, we talk to Professor Miriam Diamond, a contaminant scientist and prolific advocate for...
11.16.2020
Ultrafast Metamorphic Reactions with Xu Chu
We're used to thinking of geologic phenomena as events that take millions of years. Think mountain building, subduction, or even the rock and carbon cycles. In this episode, we talk with Assistant Professor Xu Chu about a new discovery in...
10.25.2020
Geoscience Education: Field Course Roundtable
In this special episode of Earth News Interviews, we host six guests in a round table discussion about field courses and their place in geoscience programs. Should they be required for a degree? What are some new methods in teaching...
10.14.2020
Microfibre Pollution with Samantha Athey
In this episode, we discuss original University of Toronto research on Earth's microfibre pollution problem. What are microfibres? Where do they come from? What can we do to help turn the tide? All of this and more with U of...
09.27.2020
Fracking Induced Seismicity with Dr. Semechah Lui
It's often inconceivable that we can have such a big impact on the environment around us, but nonetheless, humanity has molded the planet to meet its needs. This molding came with its own unintended consequences: Fracking induced seismicity is the...
09.07.2020
The Ocean and Carbon Sequestration with Elizabeth Phillips
Removing excess carbon in the atmosphere generated from human industrial activity is one of the most relevant geoengineering feats of this century. But what if we told you the oceans and coastal areas have been doing this naturally for billions...
08.23.2020
Monitoring Volcanic Eruptions with Paul Ashwell
Volcanoes have captured the imagination and intrigue of the human civilization because of their unpredictable and destructive nature. Today, hundreds of volcanoes are being monitored for potential warning signs that precede an eruption including gas emissions, seismic tremors and ground...
08.16.2020
The Nuclear Waste Storage Problem with Don Davis
In this episode, we discuss both the engineering and socio-political problem that nuclear waste storage has posed since the 1940's. Dealing with tonnes of radioactive waste that needs to be safely stored for hundreds of thousands of years is no...
08.02.2020
The Great Oxidation Events with Uli Wortmann
In this episode of Earth News Interviews, we discuss the events which added oxygen to our oceans and atmosphere. We get into the importance of oxygen for life, the stability of Earth's systems, and even the search for other planetary...
07.19.2020
Science Journals with Grant Henderson
In this episode of Earth News Interviews, we discuss scientific journals. What kinds of scientific papers get produced and what kinds of journals accept them? How might review journals be of use to aspiring undergrad and grad students? What is...
07.12.2020
The Role of Earth Scientists in Pandemics with Sarah Finkelstein
In the episode of Earth News Interviews, we discuss the current COVID-19 pandemic and the surprising links between pathogens and the earth sciences. How can earth scientists contribute to the study of new outbreaks? Is there a link to climate...
07.05.2020
Finding Gold in Fool's Gold with Dan Gregory
In this episode of Earth News Interviews, we learn about some of the ways gold can get collected in nature via chloride or bi-sulfide complexes. We also talk about the challenges of understanding these processes through modelling, and the extraction...
06.28.2020
Gold Mining Contaminants with Bridget Berquist
In this episode of Earth News Interviews, we discuss the surprising range of health and environmental consequences of small-scale mining operations in Peru. How does mercury affect human health? How does it get from a small mining operation to the...
06.21.2020
The Future of Economic Geology with Melissa Anderson
In this episode we discuss the field of Economic Geology with Dr. Melissa Anderson. We touch on many timely questions concerning the role of this field in the next century: What have we learned from its history? What are the...
06.14.2020
A Bad Day for the Dinosaurs with Charly Bank
In our inaugural episode of Earth News Interviews, we get into a discussion about the K-Pg extinction event with geophysicist and extinction aficionado, Dr. Charly Bank. We learn about the discovery of a flood layer in North Dakota which may...

What's Earth News Interviews about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Earth News Interviews episodes:

The Subduction Pulley with Erkan Gun and Russ Pysklywec

DEI in the Earth Sciences

Geophysical Techniques and Mineral Exploration with Andrei Swidinsky

New Years Episode 2022

Protoplanetary Disks and Backward Spinning Stars with J. J. Zanazzi

Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Plan with Andrew Parmenter

Protoplanetary Disks and Backward Spinning Stars with J. J. Zanazzi

The History of Earth Sciences Education with Erik Klemetti

Compositions of Exoplanets and their Stars with Diana Valencia

Flood Risks and Hazards with Joseph Desloges

The Life and Legend of the Ediacaran Biota with Marc Laflamme

Special New Years Episode

Continental Drip with Oguz Gogus

The Plastic Problem with Miriam Diamond

Ultrafast Metamorphic Reactions with Xu Chu

Geoscience Education: Field Course Roundtable

Microfibre Pollution with Samantha Athey

Fracking Induced Seismicity with Dr. Semechah Lui

The Ocean and Carbon Sequestration with Elizabeth Phillips

Monitoring Volcanic Eruptions with Paul Ashwell

The Nuclear Waste Storage Problem with Don Davis

The Great Oxidation Events with Uli Wortmann

Science Journals with Grant Henderson

The Role of Earth Scientists in Pandemics with Sarah Finkelstein

Finding Gold in Fool's Gold with Dan Gregory

Gold Mining Contaminants with Bridget Berquist

The Future of Economic Geology with Melissa Anderson

A Bad Day for the Dinosaurs with Charly Bank