SPE Talks

SPE Talks

By Science & Policy ExchangeSciencePolitics
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SPE Talks episodes

  • Volunteering and Career Development Series - An interview with Dr. Félix Proulx-Giraldeau

    This episode is part of a series called “Volunteering and Career Development” where we explore the perspectives of professionals who volunteered at SPE in the past. In the series, we learn about their careers, their experience volunteering for SPE, and how that volunteering experience influenced their career progression and professional development.

    In this episode we interview Dr. Félix Proulx-Giraldeau, former Interim Executive Director at Evidence for Democracy. We sincerely thank Dr. Proulx-Giraldeau for this interview.

    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange. This podcast series is possible thanks to the contributions of a great team of volunteers. Interviews by Gloria Lau and Alexa D'Addario, sound editing by Jacob Van Oorschot, Executive Production by Jonathan A. Caballero.

    To learn more and discover opportunities to engage in Science Policy, please visit ⁠⁠⁠https://www.sp-exchange.ca/⁠⁠

    18 min
  • Volunteering and Career Development Series - An interview with Dr. Gavin Douglas

    This episode is part of a series called “Volunteering and Career Development” where we explore the perspectives of professionals who volunteered at SPE in the past. In the series, we learn about their careers, their experience volunteering for SPE, and how that volunteering experience influenced their career progression and professional development.

    In this episode we interview Dr. Gavin Douglas - Assistant Professor in Biology at the University of New Brunswick. We sincerely thank Dr. Douglas for this interview.

    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange. This podcast series is possible thanks to the contributions of a great team of volunteers. Interviews by Alexa D'Addario and Gloria Lau, sound editing by Jacob Van Oorschot, Executive Production by Jonathan A. Caballero.

    To learn more and discover opportunities to engage in Science Policy, please visit ⁠⁠https://www.sp-exchange.ca/⁠

    29 min
  • Volunteering and Career Development Series - An interview with Dr. Julia Messina-Pacheco

    This episode is part of a series called “Volunteering and Career Development” where we explore the perspectives of professionals who volunteered at SPE in the past. In the series, we learn about their careers, their experience volunteering for SPE, and how that volunteering experience influenced their career progression and professional development.

    In this episode we interview Dr. Julia Messina-Pacheco - Program Officer at NSERC. We sincerely thank Dr. Messina-Pacheco for this interview.

    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange. This podcast series is possible thanks to the contributions of a great team of volunteers. Interviews by Alexa D'Addario and Gloria Lau, sound editing by Jacob Van Oorschot, Executive Production by Jonathan A. Caballero.

    To learn more and discover opportunities to engage in Science Policy, please visit ⁠⁠https://www.sp-exchange.ca/⁠

    20 min
  • Working towards bird friendly Canadian cities - Ft. Mercy Harris

    In this episode, we discuss bird friendly infrastructure, its importance in the face of biodiversity loss, and its history in Canadian cities. We also discuss how to bring science policy to the city level.

    • Mercy’s Interview with Saskatoon Morning

    • Environment and Climate Change Canada statistics on bird-window collisions

    • Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP Canada) has data on bird fatalities and several resources for advocacy, involvement, and promoting bird friendliness; all of which can be found at flap.org. One of their recommendations for window dot decals is Feather Friendly DIY Tape.

    • The Toronto Green Standard and its building guidelines to promote bird friendliness and prevent bird-window collisions.

    • CBC Report on Calgary’s recertification as a bird friendly city.

    • CBC Reporting on Winnipeg and its inclusion of bird friendly requirements in development:

      • 2025 public hearing to challenge the bird friendly requirements in 2024 development bylaw.

      • 2025 decision to keep the bird friendly requirements. 

    SPE Talks is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange – learn more and get involved at https://www.sp-exchange.ca/

    We sincerely thank Mercy Harris for providing the interview for the valuable discussion during this episode.

    This podcast is possible thanks to the contributions of a great team of volunteers. This episode was produced, edited, and written by Gloria Lau, with help from Jonathan A. Caballero. Executive production by Jonathan A. Caballero.

    30 min
  • Volunteering and Career Development Series - An interview with Dr. Anh-Khoi Trinh

    This episode is part of a series called “Volunteering and Career Development” where we explore the perspectives of professionals who volunteered at SPE in the past. In the series, we learn about their careers, their experience volunteering for SPE, and how that volunteering experience influenced their career progression and professional development.

    In this episode we interview Dr. Anh-Khoi Trinh - Senior Policy Advisor at NSERC. We sincerely thank Dr. Trinh for this interview.

    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange. This podcast series is possible thanks to the contributions of a great team of volunteers. Interviews by Alexa D'Addario and Gloria Lau, sound editing by Jacob Van Oorschot, Executive Production by Jonathan A. Caballero.

    To learn more and discover opportunities to engage in Science Policy, please visit ⁠⁠https://www.sp-exchange.ca/⁠

    19 min
  • Volunteering and Career Development Series - An interview with Dr. Antoine Zboralski

    This episode is part of a series called “Volunteering and Career Development” where we explore the perspectives of professionals who volunteered at SPE in the past. In the series, we learn about their careers, their experience volunteering for SPE, and how that volunteering experience influenced their career progression and professional development.


    In this episode we interview Dr. Antoine Zboralski - Researcher in Plant Pathology & Biological Control at the Montreal Botanical Garden and UdeM. We sincerely thank Dr. Zboralski for this interview.


    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange. This podcast series is possible thanks to the contributions of a great team of volunteers. Interviews by Alexa D'Addario and Gloria Lau, sound editing by Jacob Van Oorschot, Executive Production by Jonathan A. Caballero.


    To learn more and discover opportunities to engage in Science Policy, please visit ⁠https://www.sp-exchange.ca/  

    14 min
  • Urban planning, Artificial Intelligence, and inclusive cities - An interview with Rashid Mushkani

    In this episode we discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to design public spaces that are not only efficient, but also address the diverse needs of the communities they serve.

    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange - learn more at https://www.sp-exchange.ca/ 

    We sincerely thank Rashid Mushkani for this valuable discussion and we acknowledge the contributions of the team that made this podcast episode possible:

    • Interview by Zahra Soar
    • Script writing by Zahra Soar, with the support of Cassandra Johannessen, Gloria Lau, and Jonathan A. Caballero
    • Audio Editing by Jacob Van Oorschot
    • Executive production by Jonathan Caballero 


    If you have any comments or would like to share with us topics that you would like to learn about in the podcast, please reach us at [email protected]


    39 min
  • An interview with Paul Dufour, professor at the Institute for Science, Society and Policy of the University of Ottawa

    In this episode, SPE volunteer Cissy Suen interviews Paul Dufour, who is an expert on Canadian science policy and a past board member of SPE, about his blog piece on a 1973 senate committee report on science policy in Canada and how that relates to Canadian science policy today. The links to the editorial as well as a book recommendation by Paul can be found below.

    Editorial piece by Paul Dufour in the CSPC editorial series:https://sciencepolicy.ca/posts/senate-committee-releases-its-full-report-on-a-science-policy-for-canada-and-provides-recommendations-for-renewed-government-organization/


    Paul's recommended book from this episode:

    First Principles: The Crazy Business of Doing Serious Science, by Howard Burton


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    Don't miss our upcoming SPE events:

    • ‘EDI in Action : Inspiring Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) across the Canadian science policy landscape.' will be held virtually on October 12th, 2023 at 5:30 PM EST in collaboration with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. The registration page can be found here:https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIocOmvqTojHdFgLWV-yv479Pwn9YN3VfsH#/registration

    This podcast is brought to you by the team of Science and Policy Exchange - learn more at https://www.sp-exchange.ca/

    We sincerely thank Paul Dufour for this valuable discussion and weacknowledge the contributions of the team that made this podcast episode possible:

    - Interview by Cissy Suen - Script writing by Madhura Lotlikar and Gloria Lau
    - Audio edition by Noa Kemp- Podcast production by Jonathan A. Caballero

    34 min
  • How Canadian science is helping to support Ukrainian researchers

    In this special focusing on Canadian efforts to support Ukrainian science, Science & Policy Exchange interviews Dr. Brokoslaw Laschowski, national coordinator for Canada of the #ScienceforUkraine initiative. Dr. Laschowski details how the initiative is pairing Ukrainian researchers with opportunities abroad and how the website is amalgamating resources to help support these researchers both remotely and outside Ukraine. Next we talk to Sarah Overington, Director of Science and Engineering Promotion at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) about the Special Response Fund for Trainees (Ukraine) and how interested Ukrainians researchers can find a sponsoring grantee. Finally, we chat with three students working for the University of Toronto through the Science For Ukraine initiative - Alex Tsepa, Roman Burakov, and Dmytro Kuzmenko - about how the war has affected their research, their experiences coming to Canada, and thoughts on the war and its effect on the scientific relationship between Ukraine and Canada.

    • You can connect with Dr. Laschowski's lab by checking out this link or on Twitter @IATSL

    • Science For Ukraine can be found on Twitter @Sci_for_Ukraine and on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook @scienceforukraine, and on Telegram under “Science For Ukraine”

    • The statement from the government of Canada to support research trainees from Ukraine (links to CIHR and SSHRC found at the bottom of the page)

    • NSERC is on Twitter @NSERC_CRSNG, Facebook, or YouTube

    • The awards database to find grantees supported by NSERC can be found at this link

    The events reported at the end of the show featured:

    • the SPE café "Unlocking Science : The Rise of Open Science in Canada - Perspectives from Early Career Researchers" which is happening TOMORROW on June 2nd, 2022 from 12 - 1:30 PM

    • the SPE Public Forum "Nutrition in the Age of Misinformation" taking place on Thursday, June 23, 2022 from 5:30 - 7:00PM EST

    31 min
  • A wake-up call for sleep policies with Dr. Julie Carrier
    One out of every three people in Canada is not getting sufficient sleep. Many willingly trade their zzz's with all-nighters, Netflix binges, endless scrolling through social media, and to conform with the prevailing sleeplessness trend in modern culture. But sleep is not a luxury, for those dealing with sleep disorders, socioeconomic sleep disparity, or individuals with irregular working hours, such as pilots and healthcare workers.
    Compromising sleep to be productive is counterproductive. It compromises many cognitive functions and risks road and industrial accidents, medical errors and multiple disorders resulting in significant financial burdens on governments annually.
    Sleep research can play a crucial role in informing various policies, addressing issues like inadequate training for healthcare professionals to identify sleep disorders early, regulating shiftwork hours, and daylight savings, and tackling sleep health disparities.
    Despite having ample evidence, the translation of sleep research to society is on snooze.
    Listen from Dr. Julie Carrier, professor in the Department of Psychology at Université de Montréal, provides insights into the needs, barriers, and solutions for bridging the gap between sleep and circadian rhythm research with society. She explains the federal efforts of the Canadian Sleep and Circadian Network and provincial efforts in Quebec of Réseau Sommeil in developing strategies for integrating sleep and circadian rhythms into public health and policies.
    Highlights of the meeting organized by the Canadian Sleep and Circadian Network, can be found here: National strategy on the integration of sleep and circadian rhythms into public health research and policies: Report from the Canadian Sleep and Circadian Network.
    Find out more information about the Réseau Sommeil at reseausommeil.ca
    Upcoming SPE event:
    What: With the support of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, join Science & Policy Exchange at a public forum event on policies and emerging technologies shaping the future of Canada's carbon emissions.
    When and where: February 7th 2024 at 5:30 PM ET over Zoom.
    Link to register
    Past SPE event
    What: With the support of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO: EDI in Action: Inspiring BIPOC across the Canadian science policy landscape. The discussion centered on the challenges BIPOC may face and how EDI is being promoted in the field.
    Where: Link to YouTube recording.
    - Interview by Madhura Lotlikar- Script writing by Madhura Lotlikar, with input by Maïa Dakessian, Gloria Lau, and Antoine Zboralski- Audio edition by Madhura Lotlikar with input by Gloria Lau, Maïa Dakessian, and Jonathan Caballero- Podcast production by Jonathan Caballero
    51 min

About SPE Talks

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Science Policy & Exchange is a Montreal based non-profit organization aiming to foster the student voice in evidence-based decision making and to bring together leading experts from academia, industry, and government to engage and inform students and the public on issues at the interface of science and policy. If you'd like to join us, visit our website and fill out the registration form.