Locally Sourced Science

We follow up with our four-legged fluffy friends in this week’s episode. To start the show Liz Mahood interviews Dr Rory Todhunter of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr Todhunter is a leading researcher of canine hip dysplasia and osteoarthritis. Liz interviewed him about how these diseases are inherited, how they can be mitigated, which breeds are most susceptible, and more.

Carrying on with canine genetics, Esther Racoosin speaks with Dr Adam Boyko about analysing the genetic data collected from thousands of dogs to better understand the role between genes and canine traits and diseases. Then, Candice Limper brings us the Science History of dog domestication, and how they have evolved from their ancient ancestors into the animals we know today.

To round things off Luisa Torres brings us the Science Calendar to bring you up to speed with the local goings-on with scientific events.

Contributors: Liz Mahood | Esther Racoosin | Candice Limper | Luisa Torres | Nova & Leo

Producers: Patricia Waldron | Cecil Barnett-Neefs

Music: Show Theme by Joe Lewis, Cêcê Giannotti. Music by Bluedot Sessions

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In the first part of series about our canine friends LSS explores dog diseases. Starting with an inteview of Dr. Scott Coonrod of the Baker Institute for Animal Health by Liz Mahood. Dr. Coonrod focuses his research attention on cancer in dogs, in particular, hemangiosarcoma, a common and often untreatable form of canine cancer.

Is the second part of the show Candice Limper talks to Robert Alexis Lopez-Astacio, a first generation graduate student from Puerto Rico studying parvovirus in Dr. Colin Parrish’s lab. Robert shares his story of getting into research, what drives him to do science and how he found his way to Ithaca.

Contributors: Luisa Torres  | Esther Racoosin | Liz Mahood | Candice Limper

Producer: Esther Racoosin

Music: Show Theme by Joe Lewis and Cêcê Giannotti.

The fungi edition features Luisa Torres interview with Dr. Teresa Iturriaga and Robert Dirig of Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium. They discussed the collection of preserved fungi samples, photos of mushrooms and lichens and pathologic specimen. This organization has been at Cornell University since the 1800s.

If anyone is interested in checking out the collection of specimen the herbarium is open by appointment only. Prior to your visit contact Teresa Iturriaga at [email protected].

In the short segment, we learn about how baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is able to survive under stress conditions and how these same survival mechanisms are being utilized in other microbes pathogens.

Vandana Raghavan: Ph.D. Candidate on the brink of defending her thesis

Eric Alani: Cornell University Professor

Contributors: Luisa Torres  | Esther Racoosin | Liz Mahood | Candice Limper | Cecil Barnett-Neefs

Producer: Cecil Barnett-Neefs

Music: Show Theme by Joe Lewis and Cece Giannotti. “Funky Energy Loop” Kevin MacLeod (freepd.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 1.0 License

The Earth Day edition features Candice Limper’s interview with Soil scientist Joseph Amsili.  They discuss the living things that benefit soil’s health and how paying greater attention to the quality of soils can benefit the planet. Amsili is an extension associate in the Soil and Crop sciences section at Cornell University.  Joe will be making a presentation at the upcoming workshop on Climate Wise Gardening.

Joseph Amsili holding an Alfalfa plant

In the second half of the show LSS’s Liz Mahood presents a short history of Climate science.  A list of references is below:

* The History of the Global Climate Change Regime (2001)* History of Climate Science* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_climate_change_science* Ecological responses to recent climate change (2002)* Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction (1985)* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_depletion* 9 recent scientific findings on climate change* 5 Major Takeaways from the IPCC Report on Global Climate Change* https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/ice-sheets/*

The last show of March brings in discussions about the numerous gender-based obstacles that impede research and career advancement for women in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) and how men can be better allies to women in the sciences; the most recent Nobel prize winner in physics; breast cancer screening overuse, and our science event calendar.

As always the science is local, fresh, and yours to enjoy.

The main interview takes us on location to D.C. for the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting held in February. The first segment is with Christine O’Connell, a Cornell alumna, who was the founding Associate Director at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University where she helped create and build the Center and its curriculum to international acclaim. O’Connell is currently an assistant professor of communicating science at Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism.

The second segment is with Bruce Lewenstein, professor and chair of science and technology studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell.In the short history piece we learn about Donna Strickland, whose doctoral studies at the University of Rochester were recognized with a Nobel Prize in 2018. The prize was awarded for the development of techniques to make ultra-short, ultra-intense laser pulses. This plays a role in anything that needs really high intensity light from eye surgery to laser-based acceleration of charged particles.

The final interview is with Dr. Sunita Sah, a former physician and now an assistant professor at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Dr. Sah studies institutional corruption and ethics in decision making. She is a co-author on a new study that finds that in the US we are inadvertently overusing breast cancer screening and other healthcare services.

Calendar links:

* Don’t get ticked!* Bethe lecture series

Contributors: Mark Sarvary | Patricia Waldron | Kitty Gifford | Esther Racoosin

This live episode features Patricia’s interview with Akiva Silver, owner of the Twisted Tree Farm, whose new book explores how farmers can use trees to improve their land, help climate and diversify their income.

Mark talks to Dr. Kaylyn Kirkpatrick of Cornell AgriTech. Kaylyn manages the Cornell Brewing Extension (CBE) program which provides analytical lab services, educational content, and brewing resources to the craft beer community in New York State.

Kitty Gifford interviews biologist Ann Bybee-Finley about why cover crops are so important to soil ecology.

Lastly, Esther Racoosin captures the essentials of computer bug discovery in a conversation with Paul Anderson – a specialist in code security.

Contributors: Patricia Waldron | Kitty Gifford | Liz Mahood | Mark Sarvary | Cil Barnett-Neef | Esther Racoosin

Hosts: Esther Racoosin | Daniel Kolbin | Luisa Torres | Nick Segerson | Cil Barnett-Neef

Susan Ashdown, emerita professor in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell does research at the intersection of apparel design and technology.

The garment industry has started using advanced body scanners that create a 3D representation of the body. This technology can help people finding clothes off the rack that will fit their body shape and can even be used to make custom clothing created for a person’s precise measurements.

Adapting the two-dimensional craft of sewing and clothing design to 3D technology is more complicated than your might expect, so right now bespoke clothing is too expensive for the average consumer. But in the future it may help us to maintain a better wardrobe while simultaneously reducing clothing waste.

In the second interview, we visit the art exhibit, “Past Time:  Geology in European and American Art“, on display until May 12, 2019 at the Johnson Museum of Art on the Cornell Campus.   We hear from Patricia Phagan, the Straus Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Loeb Art Center at Vassar College and the curator of the exhibit.   Also, we receive a tour of the exhibit with Nancy Green, the Drukier Curator of European and American Art at Cornell’s Johnson Museum.

Main interview guest: Susan Ashdown | Interviewer: Patricia Waldron Second interview by Esther Racoosin | News: Mark Sarvary | Calendar: Luisa Torres | Episode Producer: Liz Mahood

Candice Limper interviewed Allie Buck, a Medical Illustrator at Cornell University Esther Racoosin interviewed Cornell Professor William E. Bemis about coelacanths

Professor Margaret Bynoe spoke about her research with Toxoplasma gondii with Candice Limper. Oyebola Oyesola discussed her parasite research with Luisa Torres.

In this episode we explore how natural systems can coincide with people. Joining in the discussion is New York Sea Grant’s Coastal Resilience Specialist Helen Cheng, whose position is supported through a partnership with the…Continue ReadingLSS 51: Coastal Resilience Specialist Helen Cheng and Foldscopes