In this episode, Matthew Kasson, associate professor of forest pathology and mycology at West Virginia University, joins host Jim Bradeen for an engaging conversation wrapped around SciComm and a viral experiment involving injecting Peeps with certain types of fungi. The two also get personal, discussing mental health issues in academia; the responsibilities of organizations to speak out on social issues; and the importance of social media in advancing interests in plant pathology.

Show notes

The full transcript for this episode can be found here: https://bit.ly/3cpYoyt

Check out Fungal Peeps here: https://twitter.com/kasson_wvu/status/1112826811879182336

Find Matt Kasson on Twitter: @kasson_wvu

Klein, JoAnna. (March 29, 2019) Injecting Marshmallow Peeps With Fungi, for Science. New York Times https://nyti.ms/3zkItuk

Swift et al. (2020) From Hastag to High School: How Viral Tweets Are Inspiring Young Scientists to Embrace STEM. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education 21(3):1-5. https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/jmbe.v21i3.2133

Kasson, Matt. (December 14, 2021) Finding mental-health clarity under pandemic pressures. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03760-4

The Mystery of the Mummified Twinkie. Short Wave, National Public Radio. October 27, 2020 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/925437726

This episode is produced by Association Briefings.

Special Guest: Matt Kasson.