It's Christmas already! For this very special occasion, Ben and Jess debrief the Year That Never Was with iCRAG's research programme managers Aoife Blowick and Aoife Brady, while new recruit Niamh shoots rapid-fire questions and the most impossible Christmas trivia quiz.

Hosted by Ben Couvin, Jess Franklin and Niamh Faulkner

Produced and edited by Ben Couvin

For the season finale, we are joined by Jonathan McCrea, the host of Futureproof, popular science programme on Newstalk! We asked him how he came up with the idea of bringing science to national radio, chatted about how to become a better communicator and learned more about the FameLab competition.

Hosted by Ben Couvin and Jess Franklin

Edited and produced by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin.

Hilde, from Trinity College Dublin, is a PhD student who is working on dating volcanic ash layers related to Zn/Pb deposits in Ireland. She let me know how her project helps knowing better the timing of ore mineralisation and we chatted about what makes her science communication award-worthy. Ben also tries to speak German with the guest!

Hosted and produced by Ben Couvin.

Edited by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin.

Ben and Jess chat with Luke, a PhD student at University College Cork who is interested in the evolution of deep cold-water coral ecosystems in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, offshore Ireland. He also started during lockdown a series of weekly webinars about marine science.

Hosted by Ben Couvin and Jess Franklin.

Produced and edited by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin. 

Martin is a PhD student in NUI Galway and his research focuses on sediment provenance and palaeogeographical reconstruction. He tells us how County Clare used to be very different looking in the Carboniferous era, and he shares his experience with public outreach in the West of Ireland.

Presented by Jess Franklin and Ben Couvin

Produced and edited by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin. Recorded at the FlirtFM studios in galway on February 10th, 2020.

Maria McNamara is a researcher at University College Cork and she focuses on fossil tissue preservation and specifically the preservation and the evolution of colour. Together, we chatted about what makes her field of research so fascinating, her latest groundbreaking discoveries, and we also talked about the importance of public outreach.

Presented, produced and edited by Ben Couvin. 

Original music by Harry Couvin.

In this one-hour special, Ben is joined by Dr Alfredo Carpineti from the Astroholic Explains podcast to review the impacts and consequences of the COVID-19 global pandemic. We'll be joined by special guests Christopher Jackson from Imperial College London, who had to change his whole work routine, and Divya Persaud from University College London, who is running a digital conference.

Presented and produced by Ben Couvin and Alfredo Carpineti

Edited by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin

John Walsh, former head of iCRAG, chats with Ben about his career, about how his interest for structural geology developed with time and how iCRAG came to be! We also talked mining operations in Ireland and how we think the COVID-19 pandemic might impact the world of science in the near future.

Presented and produced by Ben Couvin

Original music by Harry Couvin

Megan, PhD student in Galway, tells us about her research project about the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and we learn how sensitive oceanic currents are to climate changes. We chat about her experience going offshore to collect samples and she also shares her love for lab work, team sports and animals.

Presented by Ben Couvin and Jess Franklin

Produced and edited by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin. Recorded at the FlirtFM studios in Galway.

Ben and Jess ask Dave about his experience running the iGEO 2020 Early Career Symposium and the skills that he acquired doing so. We also chat about his previous career as a geophysicist offshore and about his current PhD project dealing with soil mapping in Ireland using machine learning.

Hosted by Ben Couvin and Jess Franklin

Produced and edited by Ben Couvin; Original music by Harry Couvin. Recorded at the FlirtFM studios in Galway.