Facetime with Scientists

In this FaceTime With Scientists podcast episode, I interview Seraya Jones, a PhD student in a structural biology lab, about her research and daily lab work!Seraya is a structural biologist. She's interested in the structure of proteins. Why does protein shape matter? Because structure dictates function! Seraya is working to understand how a particular protein involved in endocytosis works. Endocytosis is the process by which a living cell takes in nutrients, signaling molecules, and other substances. It's critical to cellular health, but scientists still aren't entirely sure how a particular protein involved works because its structure is still mysterious... but not for long, if Seraya has anything to do with it!Seraya describes expressing her protein of interest in E. coli through genetic engineering, using a plasmid and IPTG induction. After obtaining enough of the protein, she purifies it and gets it ready for structural analysis with cryo (very cold) electron microscopy. One protein she is interested in is dynamin, a GTPase involved in endocytosis and membrane fission; by studying its structure and the structure of related proteins, she hopes to understand dynamin-assisted endocytosis. Her work has implications for understanding disease-linked dysfunctions and future therapeutics. As we chat, Seraya works at the bench to purify her protein for analysis. She explains cryo-EM grid preparation, electron microscopy data collection and processing (including CryoSPARC and machine learning particle picking). We also discuss how she uses tools like AlphaFold/ESMFold as complementary predictive tools for determining protein structure -- but ultimately, a cryo-EM structure has to be the final "truth" on the structure in real life!Finally, Seraya shares her research path, the challenge of resolving tiny chemical structures, her excitement about advances in laser phase plates for cryo-EM, mentorship, and balancing science with hiking, camping, travel, and skiing!00:00 Podcast Intro00:21 Meet Seraya01:49 Protein Purification Workflow03:04 Dynamin Endocytosis Focus04:13 Engineering Proteins in E coli05:52 Why So Much Protein?06:46 Seraya's Path Into Structural Biology10:34 Why Protein Structure Matters11:57 Membrane Fission Explained13:39 Day in the Lab Tour15:11 Cryo-EM Grid Preparation18:56 Processing Cryo-EM Data20:26 SDS PAGE Gel Checks22:39 Early Research Journey24:03 Raising the Research Bar24:34 Boiling Samples for Gels25:46 Tech Years to PhD28:57 The Missing Cryo-EM Structure30:56 How Cryo-EM Processing Works33:24 AlphaFold Protein Structure Prediction and Why Validation Matters36:00 New Tools for Structural Biology38:04 What Makes a Great Scientist40:08 Life Outside the Lab42:26 Why Protein Structures Matter43:28 Wrap-Up and Thanks

Art and engineering are more similar than you'd think. Exploring one improves your skills and accelerates innovations in the other!

On this episode of the FaceTime With Scientists podcast, I interview Mandy (Amanda), a medical device engineer in orthodontics by day and an artist who draws on anatomy and engineering tools to make her art. Mandy describes learning 3D modeling and printing (Rhino, Blender, Fusion 360, SolidWorks), first to create art and then to do science! Her artworks draw on her time in anatomy labs and the medical device industry.

While we chat, Mandy shares interdisciplinary projects including a glow-in-the-dark microvasculature painting with a 3D-printed blood vessel based on tissue engineering work she did in the lab, and “Playing with the Heartstrings,” a 3D-scanned and 3D-printed heart with nerve-like wires connected to a Makey Makey touch circuit that plays musical notes. She also shows a tetraflexagon flipbook illustrating six steps of mRNA vaccine action, her 3D-printed dessert-themed Etsy shop MilleFill Designs, and “Occluded Soul,” an Arduino-controlled mechanical iris artwork referencing the central retinal vein and pupil response to light.

Mandy also discusses her ADHD, the challenges of iterative prototyping, her appreciation for the human body and biomimicry, and her goal of pursuing a career in both engineering and art. You can explore more of her work on her website and Instagram @mandy.draws!

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:43 Mandy Engineering Roots

02:16 Artist Engineer Identity

03:58 3D Modeling Meets Anatomy

07:45 Glowing Fractal Vasculature

11:13 Art Science Mission

12:57 Heartstrings Instrument Build

17:50 ADHD Creativity Learning

21:14 mRNA Vaccine Flipbook

25:19 Math Folding Tetraflexagon

25:57 mRNA Vaccines Beyond COVID

27:32 Dessert Inspired 3D Prints

29:18 Croissant Lamp Scanning

30:59 Drawing Eyes During COVID

32:21 Occluded Soul Concept

34:26 Retinal Vein Metaphor

37:16 Mechanical Iris Build

39:35 Iterations and Troubleshooting

42:32 Why Body Inspires Art

47:18 Future Plans and Where to Find Art

49:44 Closing Thanks and Subscribe

For Min Khant Han, a PhD student at the University of Georgia studying symbiosis, none of us are individuals. We are all living amalgamations of various organisms working together. Take our essential gut microbes, for example! But Min is particularly interested in symbioses—close, long-term biological interactions between two different species—that enable life in the most extreme environments, including the deep sea. He’s currently studying examples of symbiosis between methane-oxidizing bacteria and eukaryotic organisms like mussels and nematodes that thrive near methane seeps in the deep ocean thanks to their bacterial friends!In this FaceTime with Scientists episode, I join Min aboard the RV Atlantis, where he was on a research cruise 70–100 miles off Virginia studying methane cold seeps. He explains how a multidisciplinary team of experts used radar and other measurements to locate bubble plumes so geologists and chemists can sample sediment and water around the seeps. For his part, Min helped process Alvin push-core sediments and used leftover material to extract nematodes from the top ~6 cm for DNA work in the hunt for potential symbiotic relationships with bacteria. Min’s project seeks evidence of a previously unrecorded symbiosis between marine nematodes and methane-using bacteria, analogous to known methane-oxidizing bacterial symbionts in seep mussels’ enlarged gills. Min describes time-sensitive night-ops processing, his first Alvin dive experiences (including seeing bioluminescent animals and deep-sea fauna!), and his early life and immigration from Burma. He talks about how he turned from pre-med to ecology and what his science communication goals look like today. He also shares how he manages his ADHD as a scientist and how creativity is his superpower!00:00 Podcast Intro00:20 Meet Min Onboard the RV Atlantis00:53 Methane Cold Seeps Explained03:05 Nematode Symbiosis Hunt07:36 Giant Deep-Sea Mussels Up Close10:25 Alvin Sediment Cores Workflow12:50 Microscope Worm Picking14:53 Min’s Origin Story and How He Got Into Research 18:44 Life On a Research Cruise20:46 Up Close - First Alvin Dive23:21 Deep-Sea Creatures25:09 From Burma To Science29:43 Science On Social Media32:20 ADHD And Research36:03 Outreach And Creativity40:04 Wrap Up And Next StepsCredits:Funding/program – NSF Chemical Oceanography ALVIN – #WHOI #NDSFChief Scientist – Samantha Joye. Alvin sub footage used with permission from Chief Scientist Dr. Samantha Joye.

Why is the night sky dark? How and where do stars form in galaxies? What other planets may hold life? These are some of the questions that keep an astrophysicist up at night.On this episode of FaceTime With Scientists, explore star birth, galaxy formation, and space telescope technology with Oxford astrophysics PhD student Andrea Henderson de la Fuente! In her own research, Andrea uses H-alpha light maps to locate star-forming clumps and study where and how new stars form within galaxies over time. But Andrea is a woman of many talents, also working on instrumentation for the William Herschel Telescope and analyzing data from other space telescopes. Watch or listen to learn about spectroscopy and the electromagnetic spectrum, why different wavelengths of light reveal different phenomena occurring in space, and how new tools on space telescopes, including the brand-new Nancy Roman Space Telescope, will power the search for new, potentially habitable exoplanets. Andrea also shares her path into astrophysics, her many “sidequest” hobbies (from dancing to chess to drawing), the value of hands-on experience, the value of an education in astrophysics, and more.00:00 Podcast intro00:21 Meet Andrea01:01 Andrea’s PhD focus and instrumentation02:29 Spectroscopy basics04:09 Mapping star formation06:11 Wavelengths of light and how they reveal different space phenomena07:31 Andrea’s origin story and inspiration08:52 Andrea’s Side quests and hobbies12:00 Roman Space Telescope launch excitement13:24 Roman Space Telescope explained16:27 Hubble, JWST, and Euclid18:33 Euclid involvement and data20:17 Exoplanets and star-forming clump research25:30 Cosmic Curiosity Drivers26:31 Olbers Paradox Explained29:09 What it’s like to be the first one to see this data29:48 Observing Time at Telescopes31:59 Astronomy in Movies33:40 Why Scientists Share Online35:09 Value of Collaboration and Open Data38:35 Survey Telescopes and Archives39:36 Astrophysics Career Paths44:31 COVID Era Remote Learning45:57 Instrumentation and Hands-On Work47:42 Building a Telescope Dream48:35 Closing Reflections and Thanks

On this episode of FaceTime with Scientists, I go into the field with coastal ecogeomorphologist Kendall Valentine! (Yes, ecogeomorphologist is a mouthful! It’s someone who studies how living organisms and physical earth features shape and change each other over time)

Kendall has studied river deltas and coastal regions all over the country, starting in Louisiana. But right now she is examining the marshes of the Copper River Delta near Cordova, Alaska, which have a unique twist – these marshes are growing rapidly when most other marshes are shrinking. That’s partly due to a 1964 magnitude-9 earthquake in Alaska, which uplifted the existing mud flats by several meters. The land suddenly could catch more river sediment and grow vegetation!

Valentine explains that she and collaborators Erin Peck and Sophie Wensman are collecting marsh sediment cores to detect earthquake signatures, measure how quickly land is building in this area, and trace exactly where the sediment is coming from. One unexpected finding is marsh sand that seems to be coming from the Eyak River.

Valentine explains why existing marsh models based on ice-free, non-tectonic systems fail here and how collecting data in this region helps us better understand what happens when sea level changes drastically and quickly. She discusses how barrier islands and abundant river sediment promote marsh growth in this region, and the value of marshes as vital habitat despite common misconceptions.

00:00 Meet Kendall Valentine

01:02 Alaska Summer Light

01:44 Copper River Delta Tour

03:07 An Earthquake Triggered Marsh

05:25 Sediment Coring And Surveys

07:12 Field Insights And Sand on the Marsh

09:19 Models Meet Tectonics

11:19 Bugs And Bear Safety

15:52 Mapping A Growing Marsh

17:20 Why Marsh Grows Here in Copper River Delta

20:46 Marshes Matter More

22:07 Roots And Winter Plans

23:43 Wrap Up From The Field

This FaceTime With Scientists episode covers everything you might not know about how drug molecules are formulated into the final products you get from your local pharmacy. You'll learn why formulation is critical to how well a drug works.Dive into a fascinating discussion about how pharmaceutical drugs are formulated into dissolvable tablets, time-release pills, inhalers, and more, with research scientist Amanda Plunze. Amanda works for an organization (a CDMO) that partners with pharma companies to formulate and test drug molecules across stages from early discovery to commercial manufacturing to ensure these drugs are safe, stable, and work as intended.In this episode, watch Amanda perform stability testing and potency/impurity analysis of an intermediate powder drug formulation designed to help poorly water-soluble molecules (more like pepper than sugar) dissolve in the stomach. She uses high-performance liquid chromatography to measure how well drug molecules in powder formuations stay intact once exposed to different temperature and humidity conditions. Amanda explains key formulation priorities—manufacturability, performance in the body (and how she tests how well drugs dissolve in simulated gastric fluids), and shelf-life stability. She also covers what's new and exciting in drug formulation, including efforts to create dry-powder inhaled vaccines. We also talked about why you shouldn't be afraid to ask your doctor and pharmacist questions about your medications, and common misconceptions about what goes into making effective tablets, pills, and inhalers. Watch now to learn more!00:00 Meet Amanda Plunze00:21 What a CDMO Does01:10 The Pipeline of Drug Development02:16 Inside Today’s Lab Test - Testing Drug Stability02:37 Why Drug Water-Solubility Matters03:46 Stability Testing Basics08:58 HPLC Explained: How Amanda Tests Drugs for Degradation11:29 Drug Powder Handling Safety16:39 Traceable Weighing Labels18:10 Food vs Pharma Grade Drug Testing21:05 Sample Prep Bench Skills28:57 How Well Do Drugs Dissolve in the Stomach? In Vitro Dissolution Testing31:49 Designing Inhaled Medicines33:37 Inhaled Vaccine Breakthrough35:00 Why Drug Delivery Methods Matter35:45 Formulation Stability Basics36:57 The Jenga Game Model of How Drugs Dissolve39:08 Partnering With Pharma41:40 Testing Drugs From Lab To Market43:35 Lab Walkthrough44:30 Helping People Better Understand Their Medicines48:41 Why Drug Instructions Get Ignored - Storytelling Matters53:22 Food Effects on Drug Absorption56:46 Overcoming Pharma Mistrust01:02:24 Supplements Versus Medicines01:04:45 Regulation And Better Formulations01:06:22 Big Picture Wrap Up

In this episode of Facetime with Scientists, I interview Dr. Alexandra Noel, an inhalation toxicologist at LSU’s vet school. Dr. Noel studies how inhaled pollutants—air pollution, wildfire smoke, cigarette smoke, vaping aerosols, workplace nanoparticles, and microplastics—affect lung health. 

Smoke, whether it is cigarette smoke or wildfire smoke, contains particulate matter as well as gases. Noel explains why particle size matters (PM10 vs PM2.5 vs ultrafine) and how smaller particles reach deeper regions of the lungs, worsening conditions like asthma. But she also points out that one of her recent studies found that the gas phase of wildfire smoke is toxic on its own, especially to the lungs, while particulate matter is toxic systemically across the body. 

Noel discusses research on vaping, cigarette smoke, microplastics, and occupational nanoparticles, and how findings can inform public health policy. She also outlines in utero mouse studies linking gestational e-cigarette exposure to worsened allergen-triggered asthma via epigenetic methylation changes (in the IL-10 cytokine pathway). She notes transgenerational asthma risk from a smoking grandparent, highlights potential paternal transmission, and shares how you can protect your own health and manage your asthma triggers even if you have an epigenetic predisposition to asthma. 

Finally, Noel discusses her career path and offers advice about perseverance in scientific research.

00:00 Asthma Across Generations

00:42 Meet Dr Alexandra Noel

01:54 Inside Inhalation Toxicology

05:37 Wildfire Smoke and PM Sizes

10:46 Teasing Apart Smoke Chemistry

15:19 Surprising Gas Phase Findings

17:17 From Research to Policy

19:53 Staying Hopeful and Finding Treatments

25:00 In Utero Exposure and Epigenetics

31:05 Second Hit Timing and Real Life Exposure

33:29 DOHAD and fetal windows

34:47 Nutrition and lifelong risk

35:55 Transgenerational asthma links

38:26 Wildfire exposure mitigation

40:08 Career path in toxicology

43:53 Microplastics inhalation sources

46:37 Personal exposure choices

50:45 Individual vs public health

52:49 Science setbacks and funding

56:47 Why academia is rewarding

59:13 Closing thanks and outreach

Haley Glasmann is an acoustician. If it sounds a bit like a superhero label, well, maybe it is. Haley is a PhD student studying the power of sound to "see" to the darkest depths of the ocean! She recently joined deep-sea biologists on an expedition to an area off the coast of the Grand Cayman Islands where hydrothermal vents on the seafloor are home to some very interesting shrimp. Researchers are interested in studying their eyesight - do they see visible light spectra? Black body radiation? What do they use their eyes for in the pitch black?

Learn more about acoustics, how sound can "see" creatures in the ocean, and what it's like to live on a research vessel for a month and watch the famous Alvin submarine explore the depths in this podcast episode with FIU PhD student Haley Glasmann!

*Video correction: Podcast intro type to name; last name is spelled "Glasmann"

Reres Fota is a theoretical physicist who also goes by another name: Professor Diva! The Diva was born when Reres started combining his two loves, in the classroom and on social media: physics and heels dancing! Reres is a PhD researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he also teaches a wildly popular class on quantum mechanics. His mission is to make physics accessible to anyone and everyone! In this podcast episode, we talk about his journey, his philosophy on teaching and science communication, the value of visuals, making of celebrity scientists, and more!

Taylor Hailstock recently defended her PhD at Emory. Her study organism? The fruit fly! Her study target? Microcephaly and brain development! You'd be amazed what we can learn about human diseases from studying the brains of flies. In fact, Taylor recently connected a gene called Orb2 for the first time to microcephaly. Learn more in this podcast episode with Dr. Hailstock!