From the sea to how we see!

Barbara Labbe and Isabelly de Lima may have very different research fields, but what they do have in common is that they are both in the 2025 cohort of Inspiring Women in STEMM Fellows! 

Tune in to today’s episode for Part 1 about this year’s fellows. You’ll hear about Barbara’s work with seaweed and her outreach in Chile, as well as about Isabelly’s work in paediatric cataract and her outreach in Brazil. 

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)

Co-Host: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahCMoore)

Production: Dr Simin Salarpour

Media & Promotion: Katya Bandow (@katyabandow)

We’re proud to share That’s What I Call Science’s 300th episode!

This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come since our café planning sessions in 2018 and first live broadcast in 2019. TWICS is a volunteer-led radio and podcast show created to provide a platform for people from under-represented backgrounds to share their work in STEMM.

What began as a small team in Hobart is now broadcast Australia-wide and downloaded in over 60 countries. Our team of 16 volunteers bring together skills in science communication, media production, and community engagement, and it truly takes a village to make each episode possible.

We are grateful to our team, our community, and our listeners for helping us highlight the diversity of people in STEMM. Here’s to the next 300 episodes.

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod
Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)
Production: Dr Olly Dove, Richard Siu (Insta: richard.siu.photography)
Media & Promotion: Ella Burgun

It’s that time of year again! Beaker Street Festival 2025 came to Hobart in August and, with other 100 events going on, the TWICS team wanted to pop in to say hi to the scientists sharing their work. Last year, we recorded at the Roving Scientist Bar and, this year, we’re back again!

From fear of sharks to rocks to brains, we’ve got a little bit of a lot of STEMM in today’s episode for you!

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)

Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@volcanohannah)

Media & Promotion: Zi Yi Kho. 

Ever had a burning question you’d hoped to ask a scientist? Dr Olly Dove and Katya Bandow answer your burning science questions in a candid conversation covering everything from sci-fi favourites to very old plants, and the not-so-glamorous reality of being early-career scientists living on a below-minimum wage.

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)

Co-Host: Katya Bandow

Production: Ryan Smith 

Media & Promotion: Katya Bandow (@katyabandow)

Join us as we dive into the icy waters of the Southern Ocean aboard the Denman Voyage to Antarctica. In this episode, we chat with marine biologist Dr Haiting Zhang (IMAS & AAPP), who studies the physiology, biochemistry, and ecology of Antarctic krill. Haiting shares her experience leading a research team on board, investigating how krill respond to climate change using biochemical indicators and field sampling methods. We explore why these tiny creatures are so vital to Southern Ocean ecosystems, what the voyage could reveal about their future, and what life is really like on an Antarctic research expedition.
Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)
Co-Host: Elise Tuuri (@elisetuuri_)
Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahCMoore) & Richard Siu (@richard.siu.photography)
Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri (@elisetuuri_)

In the final episode of our plastics series, we head to the world’s most remote continent, Antarctica. PhD candidate Vaibhavi Dwivedi (University of Tasmania) joins us to explore how plastic pollution, including micro- and nanoplastics, is reaching the Southern Ocean. With a background in law and environmental management, Vaibhavi examines how plastics are governed across international treaties, national policies, and global agreements. We discuss the challenges of managing this pollutant in a global commons, the politics and dynamics shaping action, and what the Antarctic case can teach us about tackling plastic pollution. This episode weaves together science and governance to close our series looking at solutions and responsibility.

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)

Co-Host: Elise Tuuri (Insta: @elisetuuri_)

Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahClareMoore)

Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri

This episode continues our microplastics mini-series with a focus on engineering solutions.  Dr Anna Wróbel an environmental engineer from the School of Engineering at the University of Tasmania joins us to talk all things microplastics and the key role that engineers can play in reducing future microplastics and removing existing microplastics from the environment.  We’ll explore a range of questions including if stopping using plastics tomorrow would solve the problem, and how engineers contribute to solving the challenges of microplastics.

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Elise Tuuri (insta: @elisetuuri_)

Co-Host: Dr. Sarah Lyden

Production: Ryan Smith

Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri

In this episode we continue our microplastics mini-series, this time considering the intersection between agricultural systems and engineering.  Our two guests, Sadique Bawa Anyame and Carmel Towns are PhD students studying different aspects of agricultural systems and microplastics.  Both come from industry backgrounds, and share their extensive experience in their fields as well as the innovative work they are doing in their PhDs in this episode.  Anyame is investigating microplastics in biosolids while Carmel is investigating how microplastics end up in farm systems with a focus on poultry, both are also considering how to engineer a solution.  Tune in to learn more about how microplastics end up in the food chain and the innovative work these PhD students are doing to combat this.  

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Elise Tuuri (Insta: @elisetuuri_)
Co-Host: Sarah Lyden
Production: Richard Siu (Insta: @richard.siu.photography)
Media & Promotion:  Elise Tuuri

Microplastics are everywhere, in the ocean, our food, and even the air we breathe. But what exactly are they, where do they come from, and why should we care? In this episode, we chat with Elise Tuuri, a marine scientist who has just submitted her PhD on microplastic pollution. Elise shares her journey into marine science, what sparked her interest in studying tiny plastics, and what she discovered about microplastics in Australian waters. We also discuss how these plastics affect marine life, what it’s like working in this field, and her hopes for the future of microplastics research. Tune in to learn more about these tiny plastics with big impacts, and what we can all do to make a difference.

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)

Co-Host: Dr. Sarah Lyden

Production: Ryan Smith

Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri (@elisetuuri_)

How do you track the invisible spread of disease or predict the risks of invasive species? In this episode, we speak with ecological modeller, Nick Beeton, who uses maths, stats and a whole lot of code to make sense of complex environmental challenges. Nick shares his journey from growing up in Tasmania to working at CSIRO, where his projects have included modelling for wildlife disease like Devil Facial Tumor Disease on Tasmanian devils to genetically engineered mosquitoes for malaria prevention. It’s a fascinating dive into how numbers help us make better decisions for the planet.

Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod

Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! 

Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove)

Co-Host:  Zi Yi Kho (‪@ziyikho.bsky.social)

Production: Dr Simin Salarpour

Media & Promotion: Zi Yi Kho