Nice to Know - Conversations with Everyday Scientists

Dr Idris Ajia is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton. He works on nanophotonics and metamaterials or, in my words, laser beams and new materials that can do cool things in response to the laser's light. Idris is also from Nigeria, and so is one of a regrettably small number of black scientists in academia. We talk about his experience as a minority and the issues of diversity and representation in academia.

For more information about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email me at [email protected]. New episodes will be released every second Tuesday!

For more information on Idris' research, check him out here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Idris_Ajia 

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

Dr Casey Zakroff (@CaseyZakroff) is a marine biologist with a love for cephalopods - otherwise known as squids and other weird and wonderful ocean-dwelling creatures. In this episode, we talk about his research on squids facing the challenges of climate change, and also the challenges of science communication. Check out video footage of the adorable squids he worked with here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCOY1qnkNLc

Casey did his PhD in the Mooney lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (https://www.whoi.edu/profile/amooney/) and is now in between jobs, but in the meantime is producing a great podcast where comedy improv meets science, called Thunk Tink (give it a listen here: https://curiopoda.com/), as well as working on a graphic novel.

For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]. 

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

Dr André Rendeiro (@afrendeiro) is a computational biologist - using the power of statistics to answer questions about the genetics of human disease, and how different people respond to disease treatments. As well as talking about his own research, we also talk about 23 and Me, and his take on analysing your own genetic information.

At the time of recording, André had just completed his PhD in the Bock lab at the Centre for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) in Vienna, Austria, and he is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Elemento lab (@ElementoLab) at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

Dr Julia Brunner (@jules_stef) is an immunologist and an expert in these special immune cells called macrophages, whose main job is to eat things (what a dream!). Osteoclasts are a special kind of macrophage that eat your bones (Whaaaat??!! Don't worry, it's totally fine). Julia tells us what she's discovered about these weird and wonderful cells. Also, we digress into a big chat about trying to stay happy as a scientist, despite the blues that come with trying to get your scientific work published. 

Julia is currently a member of the Schabbauer lab (@SchabbauerL), which is part of the Medical University of Vienna (@MedUni_Wien).

For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

Kate Bray (@kbkatebray) is a neuropsychologist in training and PhD student - but don't feel sorry for her because she studies empathy!! Specifically, she studies whether your ability to empathise as a child could influence your mental health as a teenager. Also, her lab is currently also running a study on families and children and how they are affected by the COVID-19 crisis - please participate if you can here: https://melbourneuni.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1KXvyPE0OT7WpCd

Kate is part of the Social Affective Neurodevelopment (SAND) research stream at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (part of the University of Melbourne).

For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

Giovanni Di Mauro (@Giovannidm91) is an organic chemist, but would you believe that he went from being an acrobatic bartender to now making molecules in the lab that could end up being new medicines!? In a nutshell, Giovanni is basically a wizard and I'm definitely booking in a happy hour with him soon.

Giovanni is currently doing his PhD in the Maulide Lab (@maulidelab), which is part of the Centre for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) in Vienna, Austria. 

For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

Dr Hatoon Baazim (@Hatoon_Bkeerah) tells us about her PhD research into viral infection (sorry, not COVID-19) and immunometabolism. Favourite thing that I got to know in this episode: fat is so much more than just cushioning. 

Hatoon recently completed her PhD in the lab of Andreas Bergthaler at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM), in Vienna, Austria. She's also a hella talented artist - follow her on Twitter @Hatoon_Bkeerah or on Instagram @Hatoon_art.photography to see more!

For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

So what is this podcast?? Nice to Know is the podcast where I interview everyday scientists and find out about what they're researching and what it's like to be a scientist. I'm a scientist myself, so in this episode you find out what I work on and why I find it interesting! It's a little taster for what's to come in this podcast.


For more info on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or email [email protected]

This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.