Spark Science

How do you explain science to your family? How has science helped your health or relationships? We talk about this and gut microbes with the amazing Dr. Kat Milligan-Myhre at the SACNAS National Convention in San Antonio. We also had the pleasure of speaking with Minerva Contreras who was presenting her work in neuroscience at the convention and was also a speaker at a live taping of Story Collider.

Follow Dr. Kat, Minerva Contreras & SACNAS on twitter

@Napaaqtuk    @minicontreras     @sacnas

Check out Ed Yong’s “I Contain Multitudes” Youtube Channel to learn more about the world of microbes.

Image Credit:  Dr. Kat Milligan-Myhre

Science, games, comics, any part of geekdom - Are they strong parts of your identity? If so, you will love this show about the annual Seattle convention, Geek Girl Con. We had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. J. C. Lau about the mission of Geek Girl Con and video game development. We also met Dr. Adriana Ferez in the DIY Science Zone who shared the story of Chaos Theory with us.

Big Thank You to Geek Girl Con, who we invite every year to join in the fun.

Jurassic Park clip courtesy of Universal Pictures & Amblin Entertainment

To find out more about Dr. Lau and/or Geek Girl Con follow them on twitter.

@GeekGirlCon

@drjclau

Did you know rats in Tanzania are saving lives by detecting landmines and tuberculosis? Our guest Dr. Danielle N. Lee shares with us her work with giant pouched rats and her work on decolonizing STEM. This is our first interview at the 2018 GeekGirlCon.

Check out the rest of Dr. Lee’s TED talk featured in this episode by clicking on the link.

Twitter: @DNLee5 & @GeekGirlCon

What is the most common or dangerous geologic hazard in your region? Can you name the nearest Volcano to Bellingham, WA? We enlist the help of WWU’s own Dr. Jackie Caplan-Auerbach and students on campus to answers these questions. We also talk about Dr. Caplan-Auerbach’s research on underwater volcanoes which involved the recent eruptions in Hawaii. Don’t worry, we still bring up some pop culture, which includes commentary on the 1997 movie Dante’s Peak).

Photo of Shishaldin Volcano by Pete Stelling

What is it like to be entrusted with running a university while being originally trained as an engineer? Check out our 4th Season Finale where we interview WWU President Sabah Randhawa.

We discuss science's origins related to the leisure class, parking optimization and how training in science, technology, engineering or math can lead to problem-solving in other parts of life.

Video of this interview coming soon but in the meantime, check out this wonderful clip, referred to in our interview, of President Randhawa explaining cricket.

Is there one clear path to take to med school? WWU biology major, Nicole DeRaimo interviewed two other WWU students about their path and plan to go to medical school. 

Nicole created this podcast in Science Communication 497 taught by Spark Science Host Dr. Barber DeGraaff.

Each student has opinions of what kept them on the path and what changed their plans.

Image Credit: Michigan Medicine

How can we watch an action and instantly know how to do it? What about 'Empathy' in humans? What kind of research is happening on the Western Washington University campus? Listen to this episode to find out. 

Outstanding Behavioral Neuroscience (BNS) graduate, Anna Marie Yanny, interviews BNS chair Dr. Jantzen for WWU Science Communication course. Another student in the class, Lilah Nay, then interviews Anna Marie Yanny about the research undergraduate BNS students are performing at WWU.

Lilah Nay also interviews WWU graduate students and faculty to show what kind of research happens on campus.

The material for this episode was created in a science communication course taught by Spark Science host, Dr. Barber DeGraaff, to help undergraduate science students gain skills in effectively sharing their work with the public and other fields.

Image Credit: Medium.com

Immunology, Tay Sachs, vaccines and the feeling of intimidation when interviewing a person who has won a Nobel prize are the topics of this episode.

Dr. Beutler, who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with another researcher, came to Bellingham, WA in 2018 and I have a few minutes to have a discussion with him. I also enlisted the help from Spark Science veterans and WWU scientists Dr. Jackie Rose and Dr. Dahlberg to answer some of the questions I had about biology terminology and analysis of Dr. Brutler's answers.

A big THANK YOU to WWU Chemistry for fitting Spark Science in Dr. Beutler's schedule.

Make sure to check out Dr. Rose and Dr. Dahlberg back in Season 1.

Student correspondent, Andra Nordin, attended the 2018 Geohazards Symposium and spent many hours putting this show together. She spoke to scientists about a range of natural disasters and how to prepare for these events.

Please enjoy.

In this episode, we share the work being done by Dr. Tim Kowalczyk at Western Washington University (WWU) in relation to Solar Thermal Fuels.  We break down what this term actually means. We also go back in time and discuss Dr. Kowalcyzk's unconventional path to physical chemistry.

Here is a short clip produced by WWU we refer to at the beginning of the interview.

Music was created by Dr. Tim Kowalczyk (video game music discussed in the interview)

Image credit: MCEC