Lab Talk with Laura

My guests today are Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette, Professor and Geoscience Dept. Head, and Adriane Lam, PhD student in the Geoscience Dept. at UMass Amherst. Julie discusses her field work in the Arctic, including drilling in Lake El'gygytgyn in northeast Siberia. She also discusses the need for public policy to address the growing impacts of climate change on society. Adriane discusses her research exploring the relationship between evolution observed in the fossil record and past ocean currents, including her experience working on an International Ocean Drilling Program research cruise in the Pacific. She also talks about her educational website Time Scavengers (www.timescavengers.blog). Comedian Jon Ross, who hosts a monthly comedy show at The Wheelhouse in Greenfield, MA, joins as co-host.

On this episode we chat with recent graduate Emily Agnello and Dr. Meg Stratton of the Stratton Lab in the Biochemistry Dept. at UMass. They study a protein in the brain, CaMKII, that is critical for memory. While scientists know that CaMKII affects memory, they don't yet know exactly how or why... and that's what the Stratton Lab wants to figure out. Comedian Laura Patrick, founding member of the improv troupe The Ha Ha's joins as co-host.

My guests today are Julie Davis, recent UMass graduate studying Plant, Soil, and Insect Science, and Joe Drake, PhD student in the Environmental Conservation Dept. Julie discusses her research exploring how soil fungus affects the flowers and nectar of tobacco plants, and the subsequent consequences for bees who feed on those flowers. Joe tells us all about the behaviors and habitat of the water vole that occupies the Scottish highlands, and how you can learn about an animal that is quick to hide from people.

This week I'm joined by Raquel Bryant and Adriane Lam of the UMass Geoscience Dept. to talk about science outreach. Adriane talks about her website Time Scavengers that provides resources for learning about Climate Change and Evolution (www.timescavengers.blog). We listen to a series of interviews I did at the UMass Public Outreach and Engagement Summit, where I spoke to Dr. Alexandra Jones, founder and Executive Director of the DC-based non-profit Archaeology in the Community(http://www.archaeologyincommunity.com/), Dr. Barbara Zurer Pearson, research associate in the Language Acquisition Research Center in the Dept. of Linguistics at UMass, recent Master's graduate Mercedes Harris from the Environmental Conservation Dept., and Rick Freedman, PhD student in the Information and Computer Science Dept. and one of the organizers of the Outreach Summit.

I'm joined by Dr. Elroy Aguiar and Dr. Scott Ducharme from the Physical Activity and Health Lab in the Dept. of Kinesiology as they discuss their lab work in the CADENCE study, exploring the relationship between health and walking pace. Listen in to find out the perfect song to set your walking pace. Hartford based comedian Rob Santos joins as co-host. If you'd like to participate in the ongoing CADENCE study which is now seeking people ages 60-85, you can call 413-545-1583 or email [email protected].

I'm joined by Dr Kristen DeAngelis of the Microbiology dept at UMass and Dr David Sela of the Food Science dept with comedian Nick Caron co-hosting. Kristen talks about her work studying how climate change affects soil bacteria communities and the breakdown of carbon in a long term study site at Harvard Forest. David discusses his work investigating bacteria in our digestive systems, especially how these bacteria interact with breast milk in infants. Yet again Gaia theory comes up and we take note of the similarities between bacteria communities in soil and in our bodies. I also learn about prions, plasmids, and lignans for the first time. Check it out!

On this episode we are joined by Raquel Bryant and Benjamin Keisling, PhD candidates in the Geoscience Dept. at UMass Amherst and co-founders of the BRIDGE program to bring early-career scientists to speak at UMass. Raquel explains what single-cell organisms called forams can tell us about the ocean that covered the western North America during the Cretaceous 90 million years ago. Benjamin discusses his coring expeditions to the Ross Sea and on the Greenland ice sheet and why he wouldn't have wanted to sail on the Beagle. Comedian and poet Tom McCauley joins as co-host.

How and why do single cell organisms move? What is happening in the brains of sea slugs? Answers to these and many more questions as we are joined by Dr. Paul Katz and Dr. Lillian Frtiz-Laylin of the Biology Dept. at UMass Amherst. Comedian Tricia D'Onofrio joins as co-host.

Underwear with EKG sensors, clothes that make energy from movement, floating offshore wind turbines: it sounds like the stuff of the future but this tech is actually in use today! We're joined by Dr. Trisha Andrew from the Chemistry Dept. who works on developing wearable technologies, and Dr. Spencer Hallowell of Civil Engineering who studies how offshore wind turbines could fail during extreme weather and how to prevent that failure. Comedian Kathy Lynch joins as co-host.

On this episode I'm joined by PhD student Marcus Cole and Dr. Todd Emrick from the Emrick Lab in the Polymer Science Dept. at UMass. We talk about many different uses for polymers-- improving solar energy technology, making better TVs, and improving methods of delivery cancer medications. What is the difference between silica, silicon, and silicone? And more fundamentally, what is a polymer? Comedian Giancarlo Biondino joins as cohost.