This week, we present two stories about confronting threats -- whether it’s actual physical danger or a threat to your career.

Part 1: Climate scientist Kim Cobb is exploring a cave in Borneo when rocks begin to fall.

Part 2: Neurobiologist Lyl Tomlinson is startled when he's accused of stealing cocaine from his former lab.

Kim Cobb is a researcher who uses corals and cave stalagmites to probe the mechanisms of past, present, and future climate change. Kim has sailed on multiple oceanographic cruises to the deep tropics and led caving expeditions to the rainforests of Borneo in support of her research. Kim has received numerous awards for her research, most notably a NSF CAREER Award in 2007, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2008, and the EGU Hans Oeschger Medal in 2020. She served as Lead Author for the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board under President Biden. As a mother to four, Kim is a strong advocate for women in science, and champions diversity and inclusion in all that she does. She is also devoted to the clear and frequent communication of climate change to the public through speaking engagements and social media.

Lyl Tomlinson is a Brooklyn native and a post-doctoral researcher and program coordinator at Stony Brook University. He is also a science communication fanatic who often asks: “Would my grandma understand this?” Using this question as a guiding principle, he won the 2014 NASA FameLab science communication competition and became the International final runner-up. In addition to making complex information understandable, he has a growing interest in science policy. Lyl meets with government representatives to advocate for science related issues and regularly develops programs to tackle problems ranging from scientific workforce issues to the Opioid Epidemic. Outside of his work and career passions, he seems to harbor an odd obsession with sprinkles and is a (not so secret) comic book and anime nerd.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers struggle to get the right words out.

Part 1: After living with a stutter all her life, Sara Street thinks coding might be the solution to her communication problems.

Part 2: Electrical engineer Anna Fox longs to share her work with her family, but struggles with how to explain it.

Sara Street has lived in Idaho for seven years with her mom and dad after moving from Texas in 2019; however, her hometown is Greensboro, North Carolina. She is now pursuing her undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has been very active within the STEM community for the past four years, especially within her school. She served as the Idaho State Secretary for the Technology Student Association (TSA), a student-led STEM CTSO. In her free time, she loves to read and paint.

Anna Fox is a scientist and device fabricator at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder Colorado. Besides working with superconducting integrated circuits, she is an avid biker, rafter, crocheter, and reader.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers explore what happens when belief systems collide—and how science and empathy can help bridge the divide.

Part 1: Neuroscientist Lauren Vetere is excited to see if real life will mimic science at an interfaith event.

Part 2: Growing up as a devout Jew, Fred Gould’s relationship with God is shaken by existential philosophy and science.

Lauren Vetere is a neuroscientist, writer, and science communicator based in NYC. She recently received her PhD in Neuroscience from Mount Sinai, where she studied how different parts of the brain communicate to make memories, and how that communication is disrupted in epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Outside of the lab, she works to make science accessible through writing, community outreach, and art. Lauren serves as a council member and blog writer for BraiNY, a NYC-based neuroscience outreach group. In 2023, she co-created the winning science-inspired short film for Symbiosis, a competition where scientists and filmmakers are paired to make short films in one week. She then returned as the coordinator for the 2024 Symbiosis competition. In her free time, you can find Lauren writing, baking, or listening to sci-fi and fantasy audiobooks in central park.

Fred Gould graduated from Jamaica HS in NYC and received his BS in biology from Queens College of the City University of New York.  He went on to a PhD program in ecology and evolutionary biology at the State University of NY at Stony Brook. He moved to North Carolina for a postdoc and then a job on the faculty of NC State University. Gould is now the executive director of the NC State Genetics and Genomics Academy and is co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center. He conducts research on the application of evolutionary biology and population genetics to enable sustainable use of insect resistant crops and genetically engineered agricultural pests. He also does research aimed at development of strategies for engineering insect vectors of human pathogens to decrease disease. Most of Gould’s current teaching focuses on technical and societal issues related to genomics and genetic engineering. He also teaches lectures within a course on Darwinism and Christianity. Gould is a fellow of the Entomological Society of America and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2011, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. 

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Is who we are shaped more by nature or nurture? It's a question science has grappled with for years. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers dive into their family histories to explore how the people and experiences that came before them continue to shape who they are today.

Part 1: As a teenager, Mark Pagan worries that having an old dad is affecting his social development.

Part 2: Curious about his DNA, Christopher Rivas takes his father on a journey to the Dominican Republic to learn about his family history.

Mark Pagán is an award-winning producer, writer, and editor for non-fiction podcasts and film. He is the creator and host of the critically acclaimed show Other Men Need Help. His work has been featured on Latino USA, Radiotopia, On the Media, 99 Percent Invisible, Code Switch, among others. His films and performances have been shown at dozens of festivals and shows worldwide including Slamdance Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, RISK!, The Moth, and Story Collider. Mark's work has been nominated for a Peabody, has made The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New Yorker annual “best of” lists, and has been recognized by Vulture, TIME Magazine, CBC, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Financial Times. Before working in digital media, Mark was a teacher, social worker, comedian, part-time mascot, and bboy. He currently lives in NYC with his wife and an emo pit bull named Soca.

Christopher Rivas is quickly becoming one of the most sought after multi-hyphenates as an actor, author, podcaster, and storyteller. His book Brown Enough, explores what it means to be Brown in a Black/white world. The book is part memoir and part social commentary. He also hosts two podcast series with SiriusXM's Stitcher: Brown Enough, which explores the parallel themes of this book through interview-style episodes; and Rubirosa, a 10-episode documentary-style investigation of Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican diplomat, race car driver, soldier and polo player who is believed to be the inspiration for the famous character ‘James Bond’. On screen, Rivas is known for his work on the Fox series, Call Me Kat, opposite Mayim Bialik, Leslie Jordan, Kyla Pratt and Cheyenne Jackson.

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In this week’s episode, both our storytellers examine the importance of diversity and representation in science – and not just in their research sample.

Part 1: While serving on a diversity panel, biologist Latasha Wright is asked if representation in STEM matters, prompting her to reflect on her experiences.

Latasha Wright, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, received her Ph.D. from NYU Langone Medical Center in cell and molecular biology. She continued her scientific training at Johns Hopkins University and Weill Cornell Medical Center. She has co-authored numerous publications, presented her work at international and national conferences. BioBus enables Latasha to share her love of science with a new generation of scientists. Latasha spearheaded the creation of the first BioBase community lab, the BioBus internship program, and our Harlem expansion. Everyday that Latasha spends teaching students about science in this transformative environment helps her remember that science is fun. She loves sharing the journey of discovery with students of all ages.

Part 2: LFC's childhood experiences with nature – and with bigotry – come together to inform her career in environmentalism.

LFC has been organizing in Missouri for almost 10 years now. Starting in Reproductive Justice through a faithful lens, to School to Prison Pipeline and Statewide Policy initiatives, to now Environmental Justice/ Climate Change. She believes that a call out is an invitation to be called into authentic and transformational relationships in order to obtain Environmental Justice for All.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers experience a shift in how they see themselves.

Part 1: Fangfang Ruose fears that her prosthetic legs will exclude her from becoming a fashion model.

Part 2: When engineering student Devan Sandiford runs into an old friend from his former college, he desperately wants her to think he’s cool.

Fangfang Ruose is originally from a small village in China and grew up in a Chinese Catholic orphanage, where she received her first prosthetics at the age of three. Later, she was adopted by an American father and a Spanish mother, and moved to Miami as a teenager. She graduated from FIU with a Bachelor’s in Finance and is now pursuing a Master’s in International Real Estate and Finance, focusing on development. Alongside her studies, she models, proudly showcasing her prosthetics and embracing her unique journey to advocate for body positivity and self-acceptance.

Devan Sandiford is a published writer, award-winning storyteller, and community activist. His stories have been featured in The Washington Post, NPR, The Moth Podcast, Story Collider, Simple Families Podcast, Speak Up Storytelling, and elsewhere. He is an alumni of and former writer-in-residence at the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA), a finalist for The Kenyon Review Developmental Editing Fellowship for Emerging Writers, and a recipient of the Corporeal Writing Scholarship for Writing Trauma Toward Healing and Joy with Terese Maria Mailhot. He has a poem in the anthology Excitement and Talisman (2023) and an essay in the anthology Bodies of Stories (2022). Devan has contributed his opinions on race, identity, grief, parenting, and storytelling for articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Slate Magazine. He has received acclaim from multiple New York Times bestselling authors, including Roxane Gay, who called him "an excellent writer who will be endlessly interesting to his readers." Devan lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and their two sons and works as a story developer at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He loves brunch, biking in a morning chill, bookstore crawls, and being roasted on his birthday.

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While love and science don’t often go hand-in-hand, this week, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, both of our stories are about finding love using scientific methods.

Part 1: After Tony Dahlman plucks up the courage to ask out a fellow statistician, he consults the Survey Administration Manual for guidance on how to construct the perfect date.

Part 2: When engineering student Heather Monigan asks liberal arts major Michael Berger on a date he’s completely unaware that she's interested in him.

Tony Dahlman is a numbers guy. He has spent nineteen years as a statistician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tony is a native Minnesotan who enjoys running, biking, public speaking, college football, and is obsessed with State Fairs. A few years ago he got hooked on storytelling and has told stories with Story District in Washington, DC, the Des Moines Storyteller’s Project, TellersBridge in Cedar Rapids, IA, and The Moth in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Tony lives with his wife in Des Moines, Iowa.

Heather Monigan is a resilient lady with a sharp wit who has learned to laugh in the face of adversity. Her hobbies include staying happily married, keeping two teens alive and spontaneous home remodels. In her spare time, she is an Engineering Executive in the semiconductor industry for over 24 years and active in the tech community. She currently serves as Chair of the IEEE Phoenix Section and is the Phoenix Section’s International Development Lead for Engineers Without Borders. Heather also serves on the Grand Canyon University President’s STEM Advisory Board and the GCU Engineering Advisory Council. She is an adjunct engineering professor for Grand Canyon University. Ms. Monigan holds an MBA and BSCE and never got the memo to “relax”.

Michael is married to Heather Monigan, which is what got him this gig. He also considers that his greatest achievement. Like most everyone else out in Phoenix he is an ex-Midwesterner, hailing from Dayton, Ohio. Since moving to Phoenix in 2004 he acquired a son, a daughter, a doctorate, and too many cats. Since his parents were both in education he decided to start his career there and never left, now working as the Dean of the College of Doctoral Studies for Grand Canyon University. In his limited free time he enjoys playing games of all kinds, the odd bit of creative writing, working out, and attempting ridiculous obstacle course races. Michael doesn’t mind public speaking but has difficulty memorizing scripts. Hopefully this won’t be a problem for Heather. 

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share stories about times their deepest secrets were discovered.

Part 1: Growing up in Ghana, Pauline Owusu-Ansah hides her secret desire to study lizards.

Part 2: Saad Sarwana’s secret identity as a standup comedian threatens to ruin his burgeoning physics career.

Pauline Owusu-Ansah is a first year PhD student whose passion for evolutionary biology didn't fade off despite growing up in a place where scientists are known to be just medical doctors or engineers. Her story, "The lizard's leap..." capture's a journey from curiosity in Ghana, West Africa to becoming a scientist in this part of the world.

Saad Sarwana also know as “The Standup Physicist” has been a comedian for 25+ years. He has performed in every major comedy club on the east coast, and over 25 states. As a certified geek, Saad hosts the “Science Fiction and Fantasy Spelling Bee”. Saad is also a four time MOTH StorySLAM champion, has appeared on the Story Collider podcast six times, and is Arizona Story Collider producer. As a Physicist/Engineer, Saad has 40+ peer reviewed papers and is the past president of the US Committee on Superconductor Electronics. Saad had appeared on multiple Scifotainment (Scientific Entertainment) shows on Discovery / Science Channel, including over 100 episodes on the TV show “Outrageous Acts of Science.”

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This week, we present two stories about science intersecting with love -- in both fortunate and unfortunate ways.

Part 1: Nothing can come between Lindzi Wessel and her new boyfriend, David -- except maybe herpes.

Part 2: Marine biologist Skylar Bayer and first mate Thom Young find love on a boat.

Lindzi Wessel is a science and health journalist who recently graduated from the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program. Before turning her sights on journalism, she studied the mind, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in neuroscience from UC Davis. She has covered topics ranging from wildfire management to Zika transmission for outlets including The San Jose Mercury News, Alzforum, and STAT. For the moment, she resides in DC where she is writing for Science. Lindzi is a traveler who enjoys spending time outdoors and in the presence of dogs, whenever possible.

Thom and Skylar Young-Bayer live in Juneau, Alaska with their four rescue dogs, Millie, Echo, Zoey, and Atlas, and their cat Mistletoe. Thom Young-Bayer has worked in various careers including as a marine biologist, a tall ship sailor, an organic farmer, and an EMT. Skylar Young-Bayer has a Ph.D. in Marine Biology and is on the storyboard of Mudrooms, a local storytelling show in Juneau.

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Few things sting more than being on the outside looking in. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share deeply personal accounts of feeling rejected.

Part 1: At school, Natalie Ayala can’t understand why she and the other dual-language kids are treated differently.

Part 2: As a photographer on a research expedition in Antarctica, Marley Parker can’t seem to break into the scientist inner circle.

Natalie Ayala is a third-year mechanical engineering student at Boise State University. Her goal is to pursue a career in the space industry, have hands-on involvement in human space flight missions, and advocate for minorities in STEM! 

Marley Parker has been working as a professional science communicator for over a decade. At the beginning of 2018, Marley left a full-time position at a tier one research university to start her own business as a freelance photographer, videographer, and science writer. Over the past seven years, Marley has found a special niche: documenting deep sea research. She has joined 25 expedition teams on eight different vessels, highlighting projects sponsored by NOAA, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Ocean Exploration Trust, and many others. When she is not documenting ocean science in remote parts of the world, Marley loves sharing the lessons she has learned from pursuing an unconventional career path.

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