The year 2019 was hailed the International Year of the Periodic Table. Western Washington University professors staged a reenactment at the Spark Museum featuring the scientists credited with the creation of the Table of Elements in 1869. 

Spark Science was lucky enough to get a few of them into the studio late 2019 to talk about why we are celebrating this scientific tool 150 years later.

Thank you to our guests Dr. Serge Smirnov a biochemist, Dr. Tim Kowalczyk a physical chemist, and Dr. Dietmar Schwarz a biologist.

What are clam gardens? Join us on Spark Science’s first research field trip up the coast of Vancouver Island, BC. Dr. Marco Hatch answers this question by showing us a day in the life of a marine ecologist. We learn about clam habitat and how people have been managing these beaches for thousands of years.

Photo of clam garden rock wall located in Fulfod Harbor B.C. courtesy of Dr. Marco Hatch. For more information on his research, go to his website https://wp.wwu.edu/hatchlab/

For our 100th episode, our first and most frequent guest is back, Dr. Melissa Rice. Days before quarantine, we entertained a live audience at WWU with stories of missions past and details about the future Mars Rover launching this July.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Rice’s work you can visit https://wp.wwu.edu/mars/

You can follow her on instagram @westernmartians  & Twitter @martian_mel

Who shapes the lives of science students? Here at WWU, two students edited and produced podcasts for their final project in a spring science communication course. They decided to feature the people they admire.

This episode features physics major Chase Boggio interviewing WWU physics professor Dr. Takele Seda about his education in Ethiopia. The second segment features engineering student Maria Watters speaking with her mother, a doctoral candidate in Public Health Sciences, about when she ran a free clinic in Nepal.

When you think of winter in the Pacific Northwest, what comes to mind? Snow, rain, darkness? Many people think of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is why we held and recorded a LIVE show at the start of 2020 to share tips on how to deal with SAD, depression, grief and anxiety. Our guest was the energetic and media-savvy WWU Executive Director for Counseling, Health and Wellness, Dr. Sislena Ledbetter. 

For more information about Dr. Ledbetter, you can visit drsis.com

We return to GeekGirlCon, an annual fall convention in Seattle that celebrates the various identities of geekdom, to showcase how curiosity combines with costuming, chemistry, ceramics, and computer-generated reality.

This is our second episode covering 2019 GeekGirlCon.

What do all of these things have in common? GeekGirlCon. This annual fall convention in Seattle celebrates the various identities of geekdom and in this episode, we showcase how bugs can help kids through adolescents, how easy it is for children to connect science to the everyday world and the fun world of forensics.

This is our first episode covering 2019 GeekGirlCon.

To find out more about The Bug Chicks, Mmmmonsters and/or Geek Girl Con follow them on twitter.

@TheBugChicks, @mmm_monsters, @GeekGirlCon

During this global pandemic, do you want to hear directly from a medical doctor who specializes in infectious diseases? We did.

While stuck at home inundated with COVID-19 news, we thought it would be nice to learn from and get to know one of the people on the front lines. 

Join us for an interview with Dr. Vijai Bhola where we talk about the history of vaccines, the current response to this outbreak and some positive words to help our anxious minds.

Image credit: CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM

What do the Atomic Bomb and one of the first hands-on science museums have in common? The answer and a whole lot of geeky fun can be found in our interview with Dr. Whitmore. We discuss the language of science, the movie Real Genius, and our favorite Star Trek episode.

To find out more about the Exploratorium check out https://www.exploratorium.edu/  & follow Dr. Whitmore on twitter @DarthScience

How different are people's paths into science and what are students going through right now?

Each spring Spark Science host, Dr. Barber DeGraaff, teaches a science communication course where students can create podcasts for a final project. This episode features WWU student Khleo Isaguirre interviewing Biology professor, Dr. Adrienne Wang. This episode also shares WWU student Kassidy Haluska speaking to other College of Science and Engineering majors about their choices.