This week, GradCast continues its interview with students studying eusocial insects, this time exploring the incredible social structures of honeybees. Hosts Roger Hudson and Nick Handfield-Jones interview Anthony Gallo, from the Department of Biology, about his research into honeybee genetics. Specifically, he wonders how genes make certain types of bees have ovaries, and some not. Don't miss this episode: you won't Bee-lieve what you hear!

To know more about Anthony's research, you can follow him on Instagram @anthonygallo1424 or email him at [email protected]

Hosts: Nick Handfield-Jones & Roger Hudson

Produced by Gavin Tolometti

Eusociality is the highest level of social organization found in nature and is one of the reasons behind the evolutionary success of insects like bees and ants, but also termites. This week, biology master's student Anna Chernyshova takes us through the intricacies of termite society and the novel evolutionary adaptations that have allowed these normally-tropical critters to successful invade Canadian cities like Toronto. Join hosts Yimin and Ariel as we wonder: can eusociality work for us too?

Shoutout from Anna: "Much of my knowledge and fascination with eusociality stems from many insightful discussions with my labmates and supervisor Dr. Graham Thompson, who is an expert in the field of sociobiology with global reputation. I am grateful for his mentorship and emphasis on the big ideas with outside-the-box thinking."

You can dig into more research by Anna at.....

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Chernyshova3

https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=c_UBRYgAAAAJ

Hosts: Yimin Chen & Ariel Frame

Produced by Connor Chato

Consider ants. Only the queen ant reproduces and passes on her genetic sequences. The worker ants do not. This creates a great paradox of evolution: if the worker ants don't pass on their genes, then how do they keep popping up? This week, hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Connor Chato interview Vonica Flear, from the Department of Biology, who is working on a mathematical model to solve this puzzling problem. She tells us about why she's interested in eusocial animals like ants and wasps and how she uses math to model them. Plus, hear about some of the pioneers in this field and how they advanced our understanding of evolution. To find out more from Vonica you can email her at [email protected]

Hosts: Connor Chato & Nick Handfield-Jones 

Produced by Ariel Frame

In this episode Cory Goldstein, PhD student at Rotman Institute of Philosophy, discusses how clinical trials of different styles need or need not obtain informed consent. Cory tells Ariel Frame and Gavin Tolometti about his work with an interdisciplinary group of professionals and patients. To contact Cory for more information you can find him on Twitter @coryegoldstein or read his most recent work:

Produced by Chantal Lemire