scientificanada

Welcome back to the show, I’m your host Adam, and this week I am going to be talking to ZiYan Chen about communicating science as a researcher and grad student. But before we get to the interview, I’m excited to announce that as well as being a guest on this episode, ZiYan is one of our very first guest authors on our website, scientificanada.ca . This is a big deal for us! One of my first goals I had with this project was to get to a position where I could start sourcing articles from contributing writers. But I wanted to make sure I did it ethically.   

In a lot of cases, young scientists and science communicators aren’t paid for their work. In a lot of cases, communicating research to the public, writing articles that don’t end up in an academic journal, or doing outreach activities are seen as secondary to “real” research. A lot of aspects of academia seem to operate under the expectation that experts will volunteer their time and expertise. As much as I wanted to get scientificanada to a place where we could start taking articles from contributors, I didn’t want to do it unless these writers could be compensated in something concrete. Like money. And that’s where our Patrons have come in.   

At this point, we are still operating at a loss, considering website hosting, purchasing domains, not to mention the time I spend recording and editing episodes and our site. But over the last year I’ve been putting away contributions from our few but consistent Patrons, and because of them, I’ve been able to start commissioning articles for the website. 

So first, thank you to everyone who has subscribed to our Patreon, I couldn’t do all of this without your support. 

Second, please check out ZiYan Chen’s article, up on scientificanada.ca/articles . She’s written a great piece about attending ComSciCon-GTA, or, the Greater Toronto Area’s first Science Communications conference, including a whole load of take-aways that are super useful for anyone just starting out in “sci-comm”. 

And thirdly, all of this will always be free - the podcasts, the articles, everything - but there is so much more I want to do with this platform. There are so many scientists and researchers with fantastic stories and opinions, and so many different voices that need to be shared, and I want to help get these stories heard. If you want to help us keep doing what we’re doing, and then some, please consider joining our Patreon. As little as 1-dollar per month helps, and with that you will get early access to all of our content, as well as some bonuses every so often.   

Anyway, thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoy my interview with Zi Yan Chen, about attending the GTA’s first ComSciCon.   Oh, and check out Tareq on Instagram at @RCIscience and www.theatlantic.com/projects/planet  ps our website is www.scientificanada.ca . jus' sayin'

We are back! And with two great guests, Canada's DRAKE and KYLE from the Brain Buzz Podcast!

(I wanted to make a click-bait Drake-based title but deemed that too "unprofessional")

Kyle and Drake a psychology grad students at the University of British Columbia. When they aren't working towards graduating, they produce a fantastic podcast where they interview other psychology researchers. Last week I talk to them about their research. This week we are talking about their show.

But that is not all! You can hear the mirror image of this interview on their show, which will be up at BrainBuzzPodcast.com

We are back! And with two great guests, Canada's DRAKE and KYLE from the Brain Buzz Podcast!

(I wanted to make a click-bait Drake-based title but deemed that too "unprofessional")

Kyle and Drake a psychology grad students at the University of British Columbia. When they aren't working towards graduating, they produce a fantastic podcast where they interview other psychology researchers. This week I talk to them about their research, and next week we are talking about their show.

But that is not all! You can hear the mirror image of this interview on their show, which will be up at BrainBuzzPodcast.com

Kathryn is back to talk ComSciConCAN2020! We talk about our take-aways from the 2020 edition of ComSciConCAN, a grad-student focused conference on science communication!  

Remember, we have a big write-up about the conference available for free at https://www.patreon.com/scican  

Kathryn Vaillancourt is a PhD candidate at McGill University studying how addiction can change the way traits are passed down, without having to alter the person's genetic code. It's a fascinating (and relatively new) area of research called "epigenetics".

Roshan is back to talk ComSciConCAN2020! We talk about our take-aways from the 2020 edition of ComSciConCAN, a grad-student focused conference on science communication!

Remember, we have a big write-up about the conference available for free at https://www.patreon.com/posts/scienti...

Dr. Roshan Achal (from University of Alberta) is a physicist who organizes, corrals, and places individual atoms for nano-devices. 

Sarah is back to talk ComSciConCAN2020! We talk about the panels, policy, and new initiatives!  Remember, we have a big write-up about the conference available for free at https://www.patreon.com/posts/scientificanada-40932072  

Sarah Turner studies Community Health Science at the University of Manitoba, focusing on breast milk, epidemiology, and health promotion.  Her work in science communication stems from interest in science policy and advocacy.

And we're back! Last you heard, we were going to ComSciConCAN-2020, and you met some attendees. Now that we're back, you'll hear about the conference from Adam and his previous guests. This week, we start with Tareq! You remember Tareq right?  :)

www.scientificanada.ca

patreon.com/scican

And we're back! Last you heard, we were going to ComSciConCAN-2020, and you met some attendees. Now that we're back, you'll hear about the conference from Adam and his previous guests. This week, we start with Tareq! You remember Tareq right?  :)

THIS WEEK: Kathryn Vaillancourt is a PhD candidate at McGill University studying how addiction can change the way traits are passed down, without having to alter the person's genetic code. It's a fascinating (and relatively new) area of research called "epigenetics", and I wish I had read the wikipedia article before the interview, because it says that, "Due to epigenetics being in the early stages of development as a science and the sensationalism surrounding it in the public media, David Gorski and geneticist Adam Rutherford advised caution against proliferation of false and pseudoscientific conclusions by new age authors who make unfounded suggestions that a person's genes and health can be manipulated by mind control." We also talk about Kathryn's path through academia, an awesome new arts+science podcast she's creating, The Brain Bank that she works at, zines, and a bunch of other fun stuff!   

CHECK OUT: Kathryn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoleculeMind (@MoleculeMind). Actually, instead of re-typing all of the really cool stuff Kathryn is up to, you should definitely go to her website: https://www.kathrynvaillancourt.com/science-communication . You'll find stuff like a Women in Science Tarot deck she helped create, 97 Neuro-based podcast episodes, a bunch of writing, and lots more!  Kathryn is also working to build a podcast for The Convergence Initiative, a group that's using art to help make neuroscience accessible to everyone. It is SO COOL. Go here: https://www.convergenceinitiative.org/about-us-int  

AMPLIFY: This week instead of amplifying specific voices, I want to shout out this really great movement seemingly started by the (great) blog Astrobites: #BlackInAstro (https://astrobites.org/2020/06/25/blackinastro-black-women-in-astronomy-and-physics/). What started as a week to celebrate black astronomers and astrophysicists has spilled over into other fields. And to my great satisfaction, we are JUST IN TIME to follow @BlackinNeuro (https://twitter.com/BlackInNeuro)! Starting July 27, they will be featuring daily stories of black neuroscientists. In fact, it looks to be spearheaded by one of our favorites, the @FutureDrDukes ! So hurry up and get in there: https://twitter.com/FutureDrDukes/status/1282568056170876928  Also, check out the Society for Black Brain and Behavioral Scientists. This is a group with the goal of supporting black brain and neuro - based scientists. I personally benefit from the privilege of being surrounded by scientists and researchers that look like me. It's hard for white people to really truly appreciate how important that actually is to ones development in a community since we've likely never not felt like we belong. One of SB^3S's big goals is to foster a community and carve space in yet another white-dominated field. Check them out here: https://www.sb3s.org/goals-and-trajectory/   Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our channel on YouTube , Anchor and our email list at www.scientificanada.ca .

THIS WEEK: Congrats to Dr. Roshan Achal (from University of Alberta), who had just convocated at the time of recording! In this episode, he tells us about the work he does, organizing, corralling, and placing individual atoms for nano-devices. We also talk about is 90-second video series on Twitter, and Science Communication at large.

CHECK OUT: Roshan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSmilentist (@TheSmilentist)where you can find his 90-second physics videos

AMPLIFY: A few links for you this week. Working on the nano-scale requires a strong understanding of quantum physics; check out Dr. Charles D Brown II, (@CDBrownII) who I had the pleasure of meeting last year. He is a brilliant quantum physicist from Yale, currently doing a post-doc at UC Berkley. Also, for more materials science, Dr. Lyndsey McMillon-Brown (@DrMcMillonBrown) is building solar-cells at Yale and just recently had a project accepted to be sent up to the International Space Station! Follow for that clean energy tech.  Lastly, my friend Karmela wrote about the virtual meeting held by the American Physical Society regarding racial inequity in physics and in our society. Spoiler: we aren't doing great.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our channel on YouTube , Anchor and our email list at www.scientificanada.ca .