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

Dr. Ingrid Parker is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Jean H. Langenheim Endowed Chair in Plant Ecology and Evolution at the University of California Santa Cruz. She is also a Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. After working as an environmental educator, Ingrid completed her PhD in Botany from the University of Washington. She served as a Miller postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley before joining the faculty at UC Santa Cruz. She has received many awards and honors during her career, including being named a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. Ingrid is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Jennifer White is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky. She received her PhD in Ecology evolution and behavior from the University of Minnesota. Afterwards, Jen completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona. Jen is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Jacob Israelachvili is a Professor in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his PhD in Experimental Physics from the University of Cambridge. Afterwards he completed postdoctoral training and conducted research at Cambridge, the University of Stockholm, and Australian National University. After spending over a decade in Australia, Jacob joined the faculty at UCSB where he remains today. In addition to his academic appointments, Jacob has served as a consultant for chemical and pharmaceutical companies and is President of a company called SurForce LLC that manufactures and sells the Surface Force Apparatus that he pioneered in his graduate days. Jacob has received a number of honors during his career, including election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Engineering, a member of the US National Academy of Science, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has also received many awards, including Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research, the Adhesion Society Award for Excellence in Adhesion Science, the Materials Research Society Medal (in the area of adhesion and friction), the ACS National Award in Colloid and Surface Chemistry, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Walker Award (for Excellence in Chemical Engineering Literature), and the Tribology Gold Medal. In 2008 he was named by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as one of the “One Hundred Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era”. Jacob is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Donna Nelson is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma. She received her PhD from the University of Texas, Austin and completed her postdoctoral training at Purdue University before joining the faculty at the University of Oklahoma. Donna has received many awards and accolades during her career, including the Oklahoma Chemist Award, the American Chemical Society Stan Israel Award for Diversifying the Chemical Sciences, the American Chemical Society Ann Nalley Volunteerism Award, the NSF ADVANCE Leadership Award, the National Organization of Women Woman of Courage Award, and she was inducted to the Minority Health Professions Foundation Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Higher Education hall of Fame. She was also been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship as well as the Ford Fellowship, and has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Donna also served as the science advisor for the recent TV Show Breaking Bad. Donna is with us today to tell us about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Kurt Thoroughman is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Biomedical Engineering as well as Director of Undergraduate Studies of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the creator of an innovative online learning environment called Engineering Virtual Studio. Kurt received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Brandeis University before joining the faculty at Washington University. Kurt is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Cary Savage is the Director of the Center for Health Behavior Neuroscience as well as the John H. Wineinger Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University. He completed an internship in clinical psychology and postdoctoral fellowships in neuropsychology and functional neuroimaging at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/Harvard Medical School. He remained on the faculty of MGH and served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and as the Director of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry at MGH. Dr. Savage moved to Kansas City in 2003 to serve as Director of Functional MRI in the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center and as a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at KUMC. He was recently named Director of the Center for Health Behavior Neuroscience at KUMC and the John H. Wineinger Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Cary is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Denise Montell is the Duggan Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University, and afterwards completed an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship at the Carnegie Institute of Science. She served as a faculty member at the Carnegie Institute and Johns Hopkins University before joining the faculty at UC Santa Barbara. Denise is with us today to tell us about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Yu-Shang Lee is an Assistant Staff Scientist in the Department of Neurosciences at the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic. He received his PhD from UC Irvine and did a postdoc at UC Irvine before accepting a position at the Cleveland Clinic. Yu-Shang is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Allison Miller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Saint Louis University as well as a Research Associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden. She received her Masters Degree in Botany from Colorado State University and her PhD in Evolution, Ecology, and Population Biology from Washington University in St. Louis. She then accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Colorado Museum. Allison is with us today to tell us about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Philip Motta is a Professor of Biology at the University of South Florida. He received his PhD from the University of Hawaii in Zoology. He served as an instructor at the University British Columbia and faculty of the University of Montana and the University of the Virgin Islands before coming to USF. Professor Motta's research has been featured in National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and The Daily Planet in Canada. Professor Motta is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.