Dr Ashleigh Hood’s career in geology started as a child.
“When I was just a kid, my grandpa used to take me on walks. I’d find rocks and put them in people’s letterboxes, so that was the start of my love affair with geology,” says Dr Hood.
She now searches the globe for ancient reefs, looking for ancient life forms and information about animal evolution. No longer in the oceans, these 500 million-year-old reefs are preserved high in mountains across Canada, Namibia and Australia.
“Earth’s history spans back about 4.5 billion years, so these tiny little slivers of rock record one snapshot of time, Dr Hood says. “Our work addresses one of the most fundamental questions in science and that’s how did we get here? This is, of course, a very big question.”
“For example, these reefs formed during a time called Snowball Earth, which is when the Earth froze over almost completely, twice. This is our most severe climate change in Earth’s history and so right in the middle of this big ice age we see these huge tropical reefs grow,” Dr Hood says.
“We know, for example, that animals potentially survived this climate change and so can use examples like this to better understand how we’re going to go with climate change in the future.”
Episode recorded: December 4, 2019.
Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath.
Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis.
Co-production: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath.
Banner image: Getty Images.

On the hunt for ancient reefs

Overhear researchers talk about what they do and why they do it. Hear them obsess, confess and profess - changing the world one experiment, one paper and one interview at a time. Listen in as seasoned eavesdropper Chris Hatzis follows reporters Dr Andi Horvath and Steve Grimwade on their meetings with magnificent minds. Made possible by the University of Melbourne.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused uncertainty and stress for so many university students. 
So how can universities support and reach out to students? And how do students build up their resilience? 
Professor Sarah Wilson is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Life at the University of Melbourne and an internationally recognised expert in cognitive neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology. 
She says a sense of belonging and connection is crucial for mental health and wellbeing. 
“We know that social friendships, even just a brief hello with the local barista while we are ordering a coffee, social contacts, connections are in fact the things that alter our mood and protect our mental health because they are associated with increases in our sense of wellbeing.” 
And while COVID-19 has made that challenging, people should take the opportunity to reconnect as restrictions ease. 
“Our sense of belonging and connection and your sense of mental health and wellbeing depends on you stepping out of that door and not stepping back in, but hopping on the tram, or on your bike, or in your car... and being part of the community.” 
Professor Wilson also says it’s important to get used to the “idea of change” as we move through lockdown and pandemic restrictions. 
“Having in our toolkit, methods for starting to learn to live with this virus and accepting that this fluctuating pattern might be part of life for the foreseeable future and learning to adapt to that.” 
Episode recorded: June 21, 2021. 
Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. 
Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. 
Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. 
Part exhibition, part experiment, MENTAL is a welcoming place to confront societal bias and stereotypes about mental health. It features 21 works from local and international artists and research collaborators that explore different ways of being, surviving and connecting to each other. Opening in July 2021, book your free tickets now. 
Banner: SELFCARE4EVA_2001 by Mary Angley and Caithlin O’Loghlen: Installation view, MENTAL: Head Inside, Science Gallery Melbourne. Picture: Alan Weedon.

Getting involved

As consumers and citizens we have very little say about how AI technologies are used, what control we have over their use and what is said about us, says Jeannie Paterson, Professor of Law and Co-director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics at the Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne.
“Technology has a lot of potential for improving people’s lives, in terms of including marginalised people or providing access and equity to people who are otherwise disadvantaged. In fact, I’m a technology optimist,” says Professor Paterson.
She points out that most people would be aware that their social media activity generates information and data about them that is being collected and used to target advertising at them.
“The issue is that our interactions with the world are being mediated through these digital profiles that are created about us, so we cease to be ourselves – full, rich, interesting humans.
For example, “there are all sorts of stories about the way now that insurance pricing is determined by your credit score or the friends you associate with.”
Professor Paterson explains that when algorithms are used to make important decisions, we also need to have oversight by people who understand the context of the information being used. For example, there may be valid social reasons or other political or policy reasons why we shouldn’t really be relying merely on past performance or past behaviour to make important decisions about the future.
“When the ads that are being shot back to you are news reports, conspiracy theories or political views based on something you looked at in the past, that’s the challenge to democracy and to ourselves,” she says.
“And the promise of AI in medicine, for example, isn’t that it will replace doctors, but that it will help doctors do the job that they want to do better. The best relationship with AI is one of collaboration rather than domination or control.”
Episode recorded: June 16, 2021.
Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath.
Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis.
Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath.
Banner: Getty images.

AI and humans: Collaboration rather than domination

The COVID era has reinforced the vital nature of friendship, community and connection - not just to other humans but also nature, algorithms, animals and art.
As you'll hear in this episode, friendship also influences our health and humanity.
Featuring:
Rosie Braidotti - contemporary philosopher and feminist theoretician at Utrecht University
Professor Nikos Papastergiadis - from the University of Melbourne Arts Faculty, author of ‘On Art and Friendship’
Dr Katie Greenaway - from University of Melbourne's Psychological Sciences, researcher on social connection
Our sound engineer is Arch Cuthbertson.
Your hosts and researchers are Dr Andi Horvath ad Dr Suzie Fraser.
Additional voices are Siri and Chris Hatzis.
The producer is Dr Andi Horvath.
Production assistant is Silvi Vann-Wall.
This podcast was recorded in December 2020 and January 2021.

Eavesdrop on Ideas: Finding friendship in art and algorithms

It’s estimated that there are 5.5 million insect species on Earth, says Phil Batterham, Professor Emeritus at the School of BioSciences and the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne. “Those that are pests may number in hundreds, so it’s a minority of insects that cause damage in agriculture. 
“In fact, many insects are beneficial and really vital to us and to ecosystems.” 
Professor Batterham’s research looks at the interaction of chemical insecticides with pest insects and beneficial ones, like bees. 
“If you spray a fly with insecticide it dies quite rapidly because it binds to a target protein in the brain. So, many insecticides aren’t really pest-specific at all because they also bind to proteins in the brains of non-pest insects.” 
Professor Batterham’s work aims to understand these insecticide interactions so as to underpin the development of more effective and sustainable control strategies that have a reduced environmental impact. 
“A former PhD student Felipe Martelli examined low-dose impacts of insecticides on a model insect organism called Drosophila (fruit fly). He worked on two classes of insecticides, one called imidacloprid, which has been banned in agricultural settings in Europe because of demonstrated impacts on the honeybee. The other was an organic insecticide called spinosad. 
“Felipe showed these insecticides were damaging mitochondria, which are the energy centres in cells. There was a precipitous drop in energy levels in short term exposures. In longer chronic exposures in adults, he saw neurodegeneration and blindness. 
“And although spinosad is labelled as organic, it creates more damage at much lower doses than imidacloprid does. 
“It’s really important for us to study other insecticides and verify that they are causing such damage or clear them of it. At the moment we need to use insecticides in agriculture and as a bare minimum, we need to be using the safest ones. 
“Insecticides are important for food production, but they may be having impacts on pollinators which are also essential for food production.” 
Episode recorded: June 15, 2021. 
Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. 
Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. 
Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. 
Banner: Getty Images.

How can we prevent Insect Armageddon?

The speed of climate decline is reaching an alarming tipping point. Now, we are calling on all social media influencers and creative artists: it's time to hold the big companies to account, and go viral... for Earth’s sake.
In this episode, we explore how the art of viral marketing can influence science for good.
This podcast was made possible by the University of Melbourne and the Centre of Visual Art.
Thanks to our guests: Margaret Wertheim, Brent Coker, and Will Steffen.
Your hosts were Dr Andi Horvath and Dr Suzie Frazer, audio engineering was by Arch Cuthbertson, with production assistance from Silvi Vann-Wall.
This episode was recorded on the 11th of August 2020.

On the hunt for ancient reefs

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