STEMxm Episode 27 -  Laboratory Research without a PhD, Rosa Hoyle "Forget about what you think people are thinking about you, and just try your hardest. That's the wonderful thing about science. People respect hard work and your results talk a lot more than your appearance... What people really care about in science is what you're publishing, what you're giving to the scientific community..." -Rosa Hoyle Rosa's LinkedIn Profile The laboratory Rosa works in is Dr. David Holtzman's Neuroscience Lab which is studying Alzheimers disease. Here are a few of the major items we discussed:

• Alzheimer's Disease
• Antibodies
• Plaques & tangles

Ted Talk about Alzheimers that Mel mentioned: click here

STEMxm Episode 26 -  Paleo-Oceanography with Jennifer Walker This is the 4th episode in a series touching on climate change careers and research. Check out the others here: Episode 23 - Atmospheric Physics with Dr. Joanna Haigh Episode 24 - Theoretical Ecology with Dr. Emily Moberg Episode 25 - Ocean Corals and Climate Change with Dr. Jessica Carilli Envirothon - Environmental resources research competition for highschoolers Related Headline: Sea level rise in 20th century was fastest in 3,000 years, Rutgers-led study finds Rutgers Department website where Jennifer is completing a PhD   Research concepts discussed with Jennifer on episode 26

• Proxy - "In paleoclimatology, or the study of past climates, scientists use what is known as proxy data to reconstruct past climate conditions. These proxy data are preserved physical characteristics of the environment that can stand in for direct measurements. Paleoclimatologists gather proxy data from natural recorders of climate variability such as tree rings, ice cores, fossil pollen, ocean sediments, corals and historical data. By analyzing records taken from these and other proxy sources, scientists can extend our understanding of climate far beyond the instrumental record."
• Foraminifera are a species that are used as proxy indicators for scientists like Jennifer to study historic sea level changes. "Foraminifera (forams for short) are single-celled protists with shells. Their shells are also referred to as tests because in some forms the protoplasm covers the exterior of the shell. The shells are commonly divided into chambers which are added during growth, though the simplest forms are open tubes or hollow spheres. Depending on the species, the shell may be made of organic compounds, sand grains and other particles cemented together, or crystalline calcite." You can read a peer-reviewed article about that here.
• Sediment Stratigraphy - "The branch of geology that seeks to understand the geometric relationships between different rock layers (called strata), and to interpret the history represented by these rock layers."
• Marsh - "A marsh is a type of wetland, an area of land where water covers ground for long periods of time. Unlike swamps, which are dominated by trees, marshes are usually treeless and dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants.
  • Herbaceous plants have no woody stem above ground, and they grow and die back on a regular cycle. Herbaceous plants can be annuals (which grow anew every year), biennials (which take two years to complete their life cycle), or perennials (which take more than two years to complete their life cycle.)
  • Marsh grasses and other herbaceous plants grow in the waterlogged but rich soil deposited by rivers. The plants roots bind to the muddy soil and slow the water flow, encouraging the spread of the marsh. These watery pastures are rich in biodiversity.
  • There are three types of marshes: tidal salt marshes, tidal freshwater marshes, and inland freshwater marshes. Marshes are also common in deltas, where rivers empty into a larger body of water. Although all are waterlogged and dominated by herbaceous plants, they each have unique ecosystems."
• Glacial isostatic adjustment - the ongoing movement of land once burdened by ice-age glaciers.

STEMxm Episode 25 -  Ocean Corals and Climate Change with Jessica Carilli, PhD This is the 2nd episode in a series touching on climate change careers and research. Check out the others here: Episode 23 - Atmospheric Physics with Dr. Joanna Haigh Episode 24 - Theoretical Ecology with Dr. Emily Moberg Where Jessica earned a PhD - Scripps Institution of Oceanography Stuff we discussed  -- How are scientists able to "go back in time" to study how the environment was on earth many years ago?

• Ocean floor core sampling
• Tree rings as a way to understand the environment in years past (Dendrochronology) - This audio clip is an excellent explanation of how scientists use tree rings in combination other data to perform dating: listen here
• Ice corps from Greenland and Antarctica
• Corals also have annual layers they grow through time. You can use these similarly
• We also spoke with Dr. Holmes in episode 14 about core sampling!

How do scientists date this stuff? Radiometric clocks!

• How carbon dating works (must click through all pages)!
• Ice core sample dating works and what the heck is ferne?

Now Corals...

• How do we date corals?  More core sampling!
• Then what?  X-rays and Cat-scans for corals
• Proxies of past ocean chemistry
• How does sediment runoff impact corals?

 

• Phytoplankton
• Zooplankton
• Ocean acidification
• Saltwater Science Blog (no longer active)
• Jessica's personal Blog
• Jessica's Twitter

 

STEMxm is available on iTunes & Stitcher:

STEMxm Episode 24 -  Theoretical Ecology with Emily Moberg, PhD This is the 2nd episode in a series touching on climate change careers and research. Check out the others here:  Episode 23 - Atmospheric Physics with Dr. Joanna Haigh Episode 25 - Ocean Corals and Climate Change with Dr. Jessica Carilli Emily's blog Stuff we talked about

• Fishery
• Envirothon - the Environmental science competition that Emily participated in as a high schooler
• Phytoplankton
• Micro-fluidics
• Impacts of climate change on fish populations
  • NOAA
  • Marine Stewardship Council
  • Impacts on fish with Reef focus

Where Emily went to school/did research Woods Hill Oceanographic Institute MIT & WHOI joint program MIT Civil & Environmental Engineering

STEMxm Episode 23 -  Atmospheric Physics with Dr. Joanna Haigh This is the 2nd episode in a series touching on climate change careers and research. Check out the others here:  Episode 24 - Theoretical Ecology with Dr. Emily Moberg Episode 25 - Impact of Human Activity on Coral Reefs with Dr. Jessica Carilli Dr. Joanna Haigh has been Co-Director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College since 2014. For the previous 5 years she was Head of the Department of Physics. Joanna's scientific interests include radiative transfer in the atmosphere, climate modelling, radiative forcing of climate change and the influence of solar irradiance variability on climate. She has published widely on these topics in the scientific literature and also contributed to numerous items to the written and broadcast popular media. She has been President of the Royal Meteorological Society, Editor of Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society and of the Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and acted on many UK and international panels.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Institute of Physics, the City & Guilds and the Royal Meteorological Society and an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College Oxford.  She was awarded the Institute of Physics Charles Chree Medal and Prize 2004, the Royal Meteorological Society Adrian Gill Prize 2010 and appointed CBE in the 2013 New Years Honours. Articles featuring Dr. Haigh

• British scientist face a 'huge hit' if the US cuts climate change research
• Scientist warns global warming is a run away train

Discussion Topics:

• Meteorology
• Electromagnetic versus ionizing radiation
• Atmospheric heating, cause of winds
• Stratospheric ozone
• Ozone hole
• Gas phase chemistry versus chemistry on clouds
• Fourier Transforms
• Guy Stewart Callendar - attributed to positing how CO2 can increase earth's temperature
• Atmospheric lives of greenhouse gases
  • CO2, Methane, Nitrous Oxides, Flourocarbons
• The Montreal Protocol
• Paris Conference 2015
  • At the time of this episode's release, this is something the current US administration is considering reneging on. If you feel strongly that it is also our duty to join other nations in taking steps to curtail climate change impacts, you should speak up to your local legislators (Senators, House Representatives) immediately.
• Heat waves in Russiahttp://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/03/16/science.1201224
• Sun spots

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STEMxm Episode 22 (Part 2)-  Environmental Water Quality with Tracy Fanara, PhD This is the 6th episode in a series on water and wastewater careers. Check out the others here: Water/Wastewater Treatment Operations with Stacy Passaro, Episode 17 Municipal Water and Wastewater Master Planning with Kristiana Dragash, Episode 18 Drinking Water Treatment with Emily Moore, Episode 19 Green Infrastructure & Stormwater Management with Bethany Bezak, Episode 20 Environmental Water Quality with Tracy Fanara, Part 1, Episode 21 Tracy Fanara's profile on The Science Channel Q&A with Tracy Stuff we chatted about...

• University of Florida Environmental Engineering
  • Ecotoxicology
  • Endocrine disruptors
• Tracy's work experience
  • Low Impact Development (LID)
  • Stormwater detention / retention
• Tracy at Mote Marine Laboratory
  • EPA Rainworks Challenge
  • Growing coral in a lab that successfully transitions to living in the wild
  • Shark research at Mote
  • Red Tide Bloom
  • Mote app analyzes red tide data
  • Cyano bacteria

STEMxm is available on iTunes & Stitcher:

STEMxm Episode 21-  Environmental Water Quality with Tracy Fanara, PhD This is the 5th episode in a series on water and wastewater careers. Check out the others here: Water/Wastewater Treatment Operations with Stacy Passaro, Episode 17 Municipal Water and Wastewater Master Planning with Kristiana Dragash, Episode 18 Drinking Water Treatment with Emily Moore, Episode 19 Green Infrastructure & Stormwater Management with Bethany Bezak, Episode 20   Tracy Fanara's profile on The Science Channel Q&A with Tracy Stuff we chatted about...

• The Love Canal Tragedy
• Erin Brokovich
• Where Tracy first went to college and learned about plate tectonics - Hobart William Smith
• University of Florida Environmental Engineering
  • Dr. Chadik
  • Ecotoxicology
  • Endocrine disruptors
• Tracy's work experience
  • One of the early company's Tracy worked at was Malcolm Pirnie. Later, that company was purchased by Arcadis.
  • Cross connection design for developers
  • Low Impact Development (LID)
  • Stormwater detention / retention
• Tracy going back to school for graduate work
  • Where does stormwater go?
  • Understanding how to get funded for a PhD [seeking legit sources. Have one? Email it to me please!]
  • Phosphorus or Nutrient Limited
  • Watershed Rehabilitation
• Tracy at Mote Marine Laboratory
  • EPA Rainworks Challenge
  • Growing coral in a lab that successfully transitions to living in the wild
  • Shark research at Mote
  • Red Tide Bloom
  • Mote app analyzes red tide data
  • Sea SIC
  • Cyano bacteria

STEMxm is available on iTunes & Stitcher:

STEMxm Episode 20-  Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Management, Bethany Bezak This is the 4th episode in a series on water and wastewater careers. Check out the others here: Water/Wastewater Treatment Operations with Stacy Passaro, Episode 17 Municipal Water and Wastewater Master Planning with Kristiana Dragash, Episode 18 Drinking Water Treatment with Emily Moore, Episode 19 Where Bethany earned her BS - Lawrence Technological University Where Bethany earned her MS - Virginia Tech University Terminology:

• Green Infrastructure
• Combined Sewer System
• Combined Sewer Overflows
• Rain garden

 

STEMxm is available on iTunes & Stitcher:

STEMxm Episode 19-  Environmental Engineer & Drinking Water Expert, Emilie Moore This is the 3rd episode in a series on water and wastewater careers. Check out the others here: Water/Wastewater Treatment Operations with Stacy Passaro, Episode 17 Municipal Water and Wastewater Master Planning with Kristiana Dragash, Episode 18 Emilie Moore is an Environmental Engineer with expertise in drinking water treatment process design. Emilie has a BS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and a Masters in Engineering Management from the University of Kansas.  She currently works as a Senior Project Manager and Area Manager for Tetra Tech. She performs water supply planning, water treatment design, water distribution system design, wastewater collection system design, and wastewater treatment process design. Here are some of the things mentioned on this episode that you might be interested in learning more about... Drinking Water Treatment Processes

• Overall view of common treatment processes
• Coagulation and Flocculation
• Sedimentation
• Disinfection
• Corrosion Inhibition
• Fluoridation
• RO as treatment for seawater or brackish water

  Other stuff

• Disinfection Byproducts
• Emerging Contaminants
  • Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water
• EPA Regulations for Drinking Water

 

STEMxm is available on iTunes & Stitcher:

STEMxm Episode 18-  Environmental Engineer & Master Planning Expert, Kristiana Dragash This is the 2nd episode in a series on water and wastewater careers. Check out the others here: Water/Wastewater Treatment Operations with Stacy Passaro, Episode 17 Drinking Water Treatment Process Design with Emilie Moore, Episode 19 Kristiana Dragash is a licensed professional environmental engineering consultant for Carollo. She has special expertise in municipal water and wastewater master planning, as well as hydraulic modeling. At the time of recording this podcast, Kristiana works for Carollo Engineer and also serves as the Vice-President of the Florida Water Environment Association.

• Where Krisitiana went to school: University of South Florida department of Engineering
• Learn about reclaimed water here
• Learn about master planning here
• Learn some of the basics of pipe flow hydraulics here
• Learn about water age here and drinking water disinfectant residual here
• Here's the smart ball that Kristiana mentioned.
• Organization mentioned on the episode -
  • Water Environment Federation (WEF) and Florida Water Environment Association (FWEA)
  • American Water Works Association
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) - Environment & Water Resource Institute
• Where Kristiana worked at the time of recording: Carollo Engineers

 STEMxm is available on iTunes & Stitcher: