Lab Out Loud

The guest for the Lab Out Loud podcast this week is Dr. Rachel Hale. As a self-proclaimed invertebrate advocate, Rachel's personal interests in worms and other invertebrates have grown into a career as a marine biologist. Working for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, part of her work includes research voyages where Rachel is able to study the biodiversity of invertebrates living around the sediment at the seafloor. Dr. Hale joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about her research voyages and the challenges of conducting field research during the pandemic, describe some of her amazing invertebrate discoveries, and discuss the connection of her work to climate change research.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/12/episode-237-dr-rachel-hale/

To conclude their segment on video in science education, The Lab Out Loud podcast is joined this week by filmmakers Clayton Brown and Monica Long from 137 Films. This Chicago-based documentary production company promotes science through storytelling by exploring how its search for answers impacts our cultural, political, and personal lives. Directed by Clayton and Monica, We Believe in Dinosaurs follows the building of the Ark Encounter in Northern Kentucky to its opening day. By focusing on the human aspect of the story, the documentary allows the viewer to understand the challenge that mainstream scientists and teachers face as they try to educate America on the bedrock of the biological sciences: evolution. Clayton and Monica join co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about We Believe in Dinosaurs, what they learned about America's relationship with science while making it, and how the documentary can help science educators better understand the students coming into their classrooms.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/12/episode-236-we-believe-in-dinosaurs/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Jared Lipworth to the show. As Executive Producer and head of Outreach and Impact at HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Jared oversees the production of documentaries in addition to the outreach and impact campaigns built around them. Recent NSTA Conference attendees will recognize HHMI's "Night at the Movies" hosted at the annual Conference. Without a physical conference to attend, Lab Out Loud wanted to help share some of the media produced by the studio that harness the power of storytelling to inspire interest in science. Jared joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about the mission of Tangled Bank Studios, describes the kinds of stories they create and even shares a little advice to teachers and students making their own visual stories. Listen to the show to hear titles of shows that you can share with your students in the classroom or at home!

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/11/episode-235-hhmi-tangled-bank/

As the Lab Out Loud podcast continues to explore the use of video in science education, they turn their attention to the use and creation of short format films. To guide them through that discussion, they are joined by Douglas Dicconson from Theorem Studios and Kim Birbrower from Big Picture Educational Consulting. Theorem Studios and Big Picture Educational Consulting recently paired up to create content for Chemistry Shorts, a project sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation to communicate the breadth & depth of chemistry’s impact on humankind. Doug and Kim join co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss their work with Chemistry Shorts, the appropriate use of video in the science classroom, and the art and work of making compelling short format films.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/11/episode-234-chemistry-shorts/

Continuing their exploration into science documentaries, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes environmental photographer James Balog to the show. For almost four decades, Balog has been building a visual time capsule documenting the complicated and intimate relationship between humanity and nature. In The Human Element, Balog exposes this relationship with vivid and often uncomfortable imagery that illustrates unmistakable human impacts on the essential elements of water, air, fire and earth. Balog joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about making the documentary, shares how he delicately balances the portrayal of hope and despair in his visual stories, and discusses his upcoming book with the same name.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/10/episode-233-james-balog/

The guest for the Lab Out Loud podcast this week is director, writer and producer Scott Hamilton Kennedy. At the 2019 NSTA Conference in St. Louis, Kennedy hosted a screening of his recent documentary "Food Evolution" (2016). Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, "Food Evolution" investigates GMOs to showcase how misinformation and fear can drown out rational evidence and divide communities. Kennedy joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss the process of making science documentaries, how he works to understand and portray the science correctly, and describes an upcoming project on vaccines.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/10/episode-232-food-evolution/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast talks with Dave Bakker, co-founder and COO of PocketLab. In March, Dave and some of his colleagues were looking for a way to provide professional development to STEM teachers while #COVID-19 kept many of them at home. The result was a virtual conference called ScIC (Science is Cool) that has attracted tens of thousands of science teachers and education professionals from around the world. Dave joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss the origins of ScIC, celebrate the success of the first three conferences, and share some of their upcoming events.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2020/09/episode-231-scic-conference/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast features GIS Specialist and author Tyler Danielson. As part of his work with civil engineering firm Bolton & Menk, Tyler has recently written a book geared towards children to help them understand GIS in the world around them. In "Lindsey the GIS Specialist - A GIS Mapping Story," the title character Lindsey helps to explain what GIS is, describe what data she might collect, and how she could use that data to create digital maps. Listen to the show to hear more about the free eBook, how it might be used in STEAM learning, and how to access other free STEAM books in the series from Bolton & Menk.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/09/episode-230-gis-specialist/

As some schools are returning to in-person learning this fall, science teachers will need to address virus mitigation both in the traditional classroom and in lab environments. To discuss safety considerations while teaching science in the pandemic, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Dr. Ken Roy back to the show. With health and safety always as the priority, Ken joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss important safety aspects such as checking for clean water pipes and functioning gas lines, using and cleaning safety goggles, when to use classroom and lab ventilation, and addressing safety for at-home investigations.

Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/08/episode-229-pandemic-lab-safety/

To wrap up season 13, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Ainissa Ramirez back to the show. As science teachers are building their reading lists for the summer, they may want to check out Ainissa's new book - The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another. In this collection of stories about eight inventions (from clocks to silicon chips), Ramirez unearths vivid stories that showcase how humans have created inventions, and in turn, how those inventions have shaped us. Ainissa joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss her new book, share some insights into her research and writing style, and challenge all of us to question if new inventions are pointing us in the direction we want the world to be heading.

Show notes at:

https://laboutloud.com/2020/06/episode-228-ainissa-ramirez/