People Behind the Science Podcast Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Dr. Michael Cole is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Afterward he completed postdoctoral research at Washington University In St. Louis before joining the faculty at Rutgers. Michael is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Sharon Swartz is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the School of Engineering at Brown University. She received her Masters and PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago. Afterward, she served as a faculty member at Northwestern University for a few years before joining the faculty at Brown University. Sharon has received many awards and honors during her career, including the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the University of Chicago, the Karen T. Romer Prize for Excellence in Advising, the Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award from Brown Medical School, the American Medical Women's Association Gender Equity Award, and the Mary Putnam-Jacobi Award for the Outstanding Woman Medical Faculty Member from Brown University Women in Medicine. Sharon is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Charles Nelson is the Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research and Director of Research of the Developmental Medicine Center at the Boston Children's Hospital. He is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Education at Harvard University. Charles received Masters Degrees in Psychology and Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin and his PhD in Child and Developmental Psychology from the University of Kansas. Afterward, he completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Univeristy of Minnesota. Charles served on the faculty at Purdue University and the University of Minnesota before moving up to Boston where he remains today. Charles has received a number of awards and honors during his career, including an honorary doctoral degree from Bucharest University, an honorary masters degree from Harvard University, and he is an Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Charles is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Sara Soderstrom is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Studies and Program in the Environment at the University of Michigan. She received her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Afterward, Sara worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company before entering graduate school, receiving her PhD from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Erb Institute at the University of Michigan before joining the faculty there. Sara is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Irene Newton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Indiana University in Bloomington. She received her Masters and PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University where she was a Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellow. Afterward, she completed an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship at Tufts University and served briefly on the faculty at Wellesley College before joining the faculty at Indiana University. Irene has received many awards and honors, including a Woodrow Wilson Foundation National Fellowship awarded this past year. Irene is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Chris Rowan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology at Kent State University. He received his Masters Degree in Earth Science from the University of Cambridge and his PhD in Geology from the National Oceanography Centre of the University of Southampton. Afterward, Chris worked as a Research Technician at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. He then served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Johannesburg, a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago before joining the faculty at Kent State. Chris is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Joan Strassmann is the Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. She received her PhD from The University of Texas at Austin. Joan was a member of the faculty of Rice University for over 30 years before joining the Biology Department at Washington University where she remains today. Joan has a long-standing interest in science education and Joan has received many awards and honors during her career. She is also a former President of the Animal Behavior Society and former President of the North American Section of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects. In addition, She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial fellowship. Joan is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Christelle Wauthier is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at The Pennsylvania State University. She received a Masters Degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Liege in Belgium as well as a Masters Degree in Volcanology from the University of Blaise-Pascal in France. Christelle completed her PhD in Engineering Sciences at the University of Liege and recently finished her work as a Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow in Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Christelle is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Masters and PhD in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley. Afterward, he completed a Hubble Postoctoral Fellowship at the University of Arizona andCaltech. He then joined the faculty at Caltech. Mike has received many awards and honors during his career, including the Urey Prize for best young planetary scientist from the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences, a Presidential Early Career Award, a Sloan Fellowship, the 2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics, and election to the National Academy of Sciences. Mike and his research have been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Discover, and numerous other media outlets. He has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and one of Los Angeles magazine's Most Powerful Angelinos. You may know Mike for his discovery of a dwarf planet called Eris that lead to the reclassification of Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. Mike is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Kate Clancy is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Anthropology and Animal Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She received her PhD from Yale University and worked as a Preceptor Faculty for the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois. Kate is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.