Inspiration Dissemination

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time. This is why you may have heard these substances called “forever chemicals.” However, the toxicity of these substances are not fully understood. Join us on this episode with E Hernandez to discuss these ubiquitous substances and his work to better be able to detect these harmful chemicals. Hosted by Hannah Stuwe and Jenna Fryer.

In the small town of Maxville in eastern Oregon there's a story that often goes overlooked. Like many Oregon towns, Maxville was a timber town, but unique to Maxville is the community of Black loggers that lived and worked there after the Great Migration of the 1920s. Lonni Ivey is a logger’s daughter. While in her MA program in History, she learned about the community of Black loggers in Maxville and immediately knew she had to learn more. Lonni devoted her research to discovering more about Maxville and giving this story the attention it deserves, leading to her capstone project “More Than a Footnote: Erasure, Exclusion, and the Remarkable Presence of the Black Logging Community of Maxville, Oregon, 1923-33.” Lonni was inspired by Gwendolyn Trice, the founder and executive director of the Maxville Heritage Ideology Center and herself the descendant of one of the Maxville Loggers.

This episode is an exit interview of sorts for Dr. Grace Deitzler, who you may know as one of our hosts the past few years. Grace recently graduate with a PhD in Microbiology and is moving on from ID and Oregon State. We chat about her dissertation research into the effects of probiotics on the honeybee microbiome, the "double hit hypothesis", and science communication. Congrats Grace! Hosted by Joseph Valencia and Hannah Stuwe.

Getting to the bottom of what top predators in an ecosystem are eating is critical to understand how they may be influencing dynamics in the entire system and food web. But how do you figure out what a predator is eating if it’s hard to catch and collar or watch continuously? Easy, you use their poop! Our guest this week, Ellen Dymit, does exactly this with wolves in Alaska and a whole host of carnivores in Central America. Hosted by Lisa Hildebrand and Matt Vaughan.

This week our guest is Alexander Butcher, a second year MS and soon-to-be PhD student in the Department of Crop and Soil Science. We speak with Alexander about protecting potato crops in Oregon and elsewhere from a hungry pest -- the Colorado potato beetle. Alexander works with a class of chemicals called elicitors which act to stimulate plants' natural defenses as an alternative to conventional pesticides. We trace his journey from the world of classical French cooking to grad school, his passion for insects and sustainable food, and more!

There’s a big difference between human time and Earth–or soil–time. It’s what makes climate impacts so difficult to imagine, and climate solutions so challenging to fully realize. Take it from someone who knows: our guest this week has spent the last decade studying the very idea of “permanence.” Join us this week as we delve a bit into the world beneath our feel and chat with recent graduate, and long-time Inspiration Dissemination host, Adrian Gallo! Hosted by: Jenna Fryer

We have a little bit of a different format this week. Joseph Valencia and Lisa Hildebrand host an informal discussion on a timely topic -- artificial intelligence! We cover our personal experiences using ChatGPT for research and for fun, how chatbots work, and the uncertainties surrounding future deployment of AI.

This week we have Andrea Domen, a MS student in Food Science and Technology co-advised by Dr. Joy Waite-Cusic and Dr. Jovana Kovacevic, joining us to discuss her research investigating some mischievous pathogenic microbes. Much like an unwelcome dinner guest, food-bourne pathogens can stick around for far longer than you think. Andrea seeks to uncover the mechanisms that allow for Listeria monocytogenes, a ubiquitous pathogen found in dirt that loves cheese (who doesn’t?), to persist in dairy processing facilities. Hosted by Jenna Fryer and Bryan Lynn

“Structure informs function” says Hannah Stuwe, a second year PhD student in Biochemistry and Biophysics (BB), summing up the big picture of her discipline. Hannah works in the lab of Prof. Elisar Barbar, using biophysical techniques to study essential proteins encoded by the SARS-Cov2 virus. Tune in to learn more about this fascinating, and very relevant work! Hosted by Joseph Valencia and Jenna Fryer

Scott Mitchell is a 4th year PhD student in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences advised by Dr. Sandy DeBano. His overarching research goal is to understand how different land management practices may impact beneficial invertebrate communities in a variety of managed landscapes. Yes, you read that right: beneficial invertebrates. Because while many invertebrates have a bad rep, they’re actually unsung heroes of the world. They pollinate plants, aerate soil, eat actual pest invertebrates and are prey for many other species. To learn more about native bees and other nonpollinating species, check out the episode! Hosted by Lisa Hildebrand and Grace Deitzler.