What is it like to study and handle the African giant pouched rat? How do these rodents interact with humans? Dr. Danielle Lee returns to Spark Science to answer these questions by sharing an experience that you won’t forget.

Dr. Lee was a keynote speaker at the National SACNAS Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii and you can find out more about Dr. Lee’s work by following her on twitter and instagram @DNLee5 and/or watch her TED talks on Finding Landmines Using Giant Pouched Rats & How Hip-Hop Helps us Understand Science.

Image Credit: Laura M. Boykin

What can we do to build confidence and community in Science and Math? What is the mathematical field, combinatorics? Dr. Pamela E. Harris, assistant professor of mathematics at Williams College, answers these questions in our season premiere of Season 6. 

Dr. Harris was a keynote speaker at the National SACNAS Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii and we discussed personal journeys and the joys of watching undergraduate students tackle complex problems without fear.

Robots on Mars! This isn’t science fiction or the future; this is now. We are lucky enough to have NASA scientist, Mars rover team member, and extremely talented science communicator Dr. Melissa Rice share her knowledge for our Season 5 finale. 

We talk about studying the scientists that operate the rover, the history of robots on Mars and the future of Mars exploration.

A special thanks to Dr. Melissa Rice (the Steve Martin of Spark Science), Janet Vertesi’s book “Seeing like a Rover” and the WWU DMC.

A video of this interview can be viewed at https://www.sparksciencenow.com/videos/

What does it mean to educate? This is the question Dr. Bryan Dewsbury asks everyday. Check out our conversation with this amazing Biologist, Science Communicator, and STEM education scholar as we discuss belonging, sharing science and TV.

To find out more about the film - “Can We Talk? Difficult Conversations with Underrepresented People of Color: Sense of Belonging and Obstacles to STEM Fields” go to https://www.kendallmooredocfilms.com/

Find out more about Dr. Dewsbury’s work at http://www.seasprogram.net/

What if diagrams in biology textbooks were animated and could be viewed from any angle?

Dr. Janet Iwasa, Molecular Animator, TED fellow and Assistant Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Utah, explains how she began creating 3D animations and the impact within current medical research. We are also joined by my friend and past guest Dr. Lina Dalberg, associate professor in Biology at WWU. 

I hope you enjoy hearing our attempt to describe visuals with enthusiasm. 

To view Dr. Iwasa's animations, visit animationlab.utah.edu

How does pot affect the brain? We love showcasing interesting research happening at Western Washington University and we get an answer to this question from a WWU neuroscientist who researches how cannabis affects the brain Dr. Josh Kaplan.

Are you fascinated by space travel? We are, and so is our guest, Planetary Society’s Chief Advocate, one of the featured experts on Nat Geo’s show MARS and podcast host on Planetary radio, Casey Dreier. This conversation covers the struggles involved in journeys past our atmosphere but also the collaborations created between nations as we strive towards a common goal, exploration.

If you want to learn more about the Planetary Society or  listen to more Casey Dreier visit http://www.planetary.org/about/staff/casey-dreier.html

A big thank you to Casey, a friend of the show and amazing man, for taking time in his busy life to talk about what he is passionate about.

Image credit: Planetary Society

Music is a science! Many of us see this connection. SAMMUS does. She is a rap artist, producer and at the time of this recording finishing her PhD in Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University. 

Together we dissect academia (those ivory towers), her path and the music industry. She is now Dr. Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo. We are big fans of everything she has accomplished and excited about everything she will accomplish in the future.

Image credit: Zoolo Brown

Gravitational Waves are ripples in space, distortions in reality as we know it.

Learn more about this ground-breaking physics from Corey Gray, Lead Operator at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Hanford, Washington in this episode.

Corey has been featured by NPR -- not only because he was there at the start of LIGO, but also because he is an amazing science communicator. Corey’s mother is also part of an effort to translate LIGO press releases into Blackfoot.

You can follow Corey’s adventures on Twitter @QuantumOfSalsa

Who wants to pet a scorpion? Our guest does. Dr. Lauren Esposito was a keynote speaker at the national SACNAS convention and spoke with us about how she is only one of a dozen scientists who study scorpions, what are some misconceptions about these creatures and also how she is a founding member of 500 Queer Scientists.

Special thanks to SACNAS & Dr. Lauren Esposito who was a delight to interview. She is hilarious.

Follow Dr. Esposito on twitter @ArachnologyNerd and @500QueerSci

Audio from Arachnophobia courtesy of Hollywood Pictures & Amblin Entertainment