Being able to change to meet one’s circumstances is essential to survival. As HG Wells famously wrote: “adapt or perish.” In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers find themselves in unfamiliar territory and need to change course.

Part 1: As the only American, microbiologist Chris Robinson struggles to make friends with the other researchers in Chernobyl.

Part 2: In his quest to study the adaptability of stickleback fish, neuroscientist Ashwin Bhandiwad keeps needing to adjust his experiment with each new hurdle.

Chris Robinson is a published writer and PAm-Costco USA Scholar in the midst of his PhD at Indiana University. His research uses the honey bee as a model to study the ecology and evolution of the gut microbiome and how evolutionary adaptations, such as antibiotic resistance, are transmitted by mobile genetic elements. Originally from the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Chris has harvested watermelon with the USDA, spent a few years as a line cook in Charleston kitchens, and was formally a Fulbright Research Fellow in Ukraine. When not staring at a computer screen, Chris can be found deep into a bicycle ride, playing in the garden, or lamenting the failure of some baking experiment.

Ashwin Bhandiwad has spent a remarkable amount of time trying to understand how the brain is organized. Once called "the most handsome boy in the world" by his mom, Ashwin is now a scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science working on developing tools to create maps of the brain. Ashwin received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Washington where he investigated how loud noise causes damage in the inner ear. Simultaneously, he disregarded that research by attending many loud concerts. Ashwin also loves swimming, starting projects that he’ll never finish, and talking in silly voices to his young children.

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From bizarre job requirements to downright horrible bosses, sometimes our jobs just don’t fit. In this week’s episode, both our storytellers share stories about what happens when work doesn’t work.

Part 1: When fertility research scientist Sarah Adelman gets a job at a sperm bank, she’s apparently the only one who finds it funny.

Part 2: In her new job at a neuroscience lab, Anna Zhukovskaya’s boss starts to pick on her.

Sarah Adelman is a born and bred New Yorker, former fertility research scientist, and stand up comedian. She performs regularly at all the top NYC comedy clubs and independent shows, can be seen on two episodes of HBO Game Theory and has over 35,000 followers across her platforms . Her content has been featured on The Today Show, NBC News, Meta, the 92nd Street Y, and more. Sarah graduated Cum Laude from Dartmouth College in 2019 and earned her Masters of Public Health from Columbia University in 2021. She trained as a research scientist in NYC where she studied fertility and ran human subjects trials at a sperm bank. Her one hour comedy solo show, EGG, brings audiences through her hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age journey to her present-day career in science, the day-to-day of studying male reproduction, why she started comedy, and culminates in an earth-shattering clash of her two worlds. EGG premires in June 2024.

Anna Zhukovskaya is a neuroscientist studying the role of somatosensation in social behavior and its effects on stress. She is currently doing a postdoc in the Abdus-Sabor lab in Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute. She did her PhD at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Ilana Witten's lab.

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When life throws challenges our way, sometimes the most surprising people—or even baked goods—step up to save the day. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers remind us that heroes can come in all shapes, sizes, and forms.

Part 1: While on a bike ride with her daughter, Rebecca Stronger comes across an unconscious stranger on the ground.

Part 2: The only thing standing between Ruby Mustill and being trampled by elephants is a tent.

Rebecca Stronger was born and raised in Brooklyn, and she wants you to know that she HAS left the neighborhood a few times. She is a retired acrobat, a veterinarian, a single mother and is just about ready to start calling herself a writer.

Ruby Mustill is an evolutionary biology PhD student at Texas A&M University. Before moving to Texas, she graduated from Columbia University with a BA in anthropology, studied monkeys in Puerto Rico, and managed a remote field site in Kasanka National Park, Zambia. Outside of research, Ruby spends her time knitting and talking at length about her elderly cat, Muffin. She hopes to work at a natural history museum in the future.

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This week, we bring you two stories about the science of morality. Or morality in science. Either way you want to look at it.

Part 1: Political scientist Ethan Hollander interviews a Nazi war criminal as part of his research.

Part 2: As a graduate student, Cather Simpson is excited to present her work -- but then her adviser lies about it.

Ethan J. Hollander is a professor of political science at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He is also the author of Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe. Hollander’s published scholarship also includes research on democratization in Eastern Europe and on the Arab Spring. At Wabash, Dr. Hollander teaches courses on the Politics of the Middle East, Ethnic Conflict and Genocide, European Politics, and Research Methods and Statistics. He is a native of Miami Beach, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2006.

When Cather Simpson graduated from high-school in the USA, she was certain she was going to become a neurosurgeon. She was very, very wrong. In her first year at uni, she discovered scientific research and got completely hooked. She is now a Professor of Physics and Chemical Sciences at the University of Auckland, where she started and directed a super-fun ultrafast laser lab called the Photon Factory. These days, she’s morphed into an entrepreneurial academic. The first company she co-founded, Engender Technologies, uses lasers to sort sperm by sex for the dairy industry. The second, Orbis Diagnostics, uses lasers for infectious disease testing at point-of-care – she is currently CEO there. The latest, Luminoma DX, uses light to screen more effectively for skin cancers. When she’s not enjoying the pleasure and satisfaction from using lasers to solve the knotty problems presented by Mother Nature, she’s doing 5000 piece puzzles and being “Schrodinger’s Mom” – simultaneously the world’s best and worst mother – to two lovely sons.

Note: Ethan's story was produced as part of our partnership with Springer Nature's Springer Storytellers program. Find out more at beforetheabstract.com. Cather's story was produced as part of our partnership with SCANZ, Science Communicators Association of New Zealand. Find out more at www.scanz.co.nz. And look for more Story Collider shows in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2018!

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Whether you're playing a game of poker or a taking a leap of faith with your future, everything has its risks and possible rewards. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share moments when they took a chance.

Part 1: Beatriz Perez’s parents want her to use her first pay check to gamble on the slot machines.

Part 2: Dave Piontkowski is on a winning streak in Vegas when his severe ulcerative colitis rears its ugly head.

Beatriz Perez: I'm a Mexican-American computer engineer working in Massachusetts. I thrive on finding new things to try out and putting myself outside of my comfort zone, hence my new interest for story telling. I have a deep passion for empowering women and young girls in STEM. During the weekends you'll find me traveling to a random country, crafting, working on a new project, or reading a good book.

Dave Piontkowski is an NYC based stand-up comedian who performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023 and 2024 with his one man show 3 Kidneys No Colon which he is currently touring with.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales about birds that had a big impact in their lives.

Part 1: Paula Croxson uses her neuroscience background to get rid of the pigeon family that has taken up residence on her window sill.

Part 2: As a new urban park ranger, Tim Lopez gets a call to capture a swan on the loose.

Paula Croxson is a neuroscientist, science communicator, musician and open water swimmer. She received an M.A. from the University of Cambridge and a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford before moving to New York to run a neuroscience lab. She changed career direction around 5 years ago to focus on public engagement with science, first at Columbia University and then at the Dana Foundation. She is also the flautist in alternative rock band Marlowe Grey and nerdy rock band Pavlov’s Dogz. The swimming is apparently for “fun”.

Tim Lopez is a storyteller and educator born and raised in Los Angeles. His stories have been featured on the Moth Radio Hour, KCRW in Los Angeles, and CBS Radio nationwide. He is currently an Interpretive Park Ranger at Channel Islands National Park, where he brings the stories of the natural environment and the history of California to life. He is also a Jeopardy! champion and is legally obligated to mention that fact as often as possible.

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When it comes to mental health problems, there aren't really "cures," but in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share how they figured out what worked for them.

Part 1: Deandra Anjahlee decides to study psychology to try to understand what is happening with her mind.

Part 2: After all other treatments fail to treat Nick Caruso’s 25-year long depression, he gives transcranial magnetic stimulation a shot.

Deandra Anjahlee is a community centered educator, leader, and fresh storyteller. She is a proud Brooklynite with Caribbean roots. Themes of identity and equity ground her work on and off stage. She is passionate about creating safe spaces for intergenerational learning, growth and joy. Her storytelling evokes laughter, nostalgia, and encourages introspection. When she’s not on stage, you can find her sneaking explicit music in at your kid’s prom, or catching the last bits of sunlight in Prospect Park.

Nick Caruso is a proud Michigan native living in Brooklyn bliss with his amazing partner and a bunch of plants. He's a lifelong lover of comedy and cinema, an entertainer at heart, and a career writer/editorial director/multimedia presenter. Nick is passionate about the intersection of storytelling and education and is always on the hunt for professional (or not) opportunities to craft and communicate new, additive narratives. He’s also an ordained minister, amateur mechanic, and aspiring 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me' panelist.

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This week, we bring you two stories about frustrations in the field, whether it's a failure to find dinosaur fossils or a struggle with a painful medical condition.

Part 1: Paleontologist David Evans and his team start to feel defeated after three days of searching fruitlessly for fossils. 

Part 2: After cave geologist Gabriela Serrato Marks develops fibromyalgia, exploring caves becomes a challenge.

David C. Evans holds the Temerty Chair in Vertebrate Palaeontology and oversees dinosaur research at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. David is an Ontario-born researcher who is recognized as an authority on the rich dinosaur fossil record of Canada. As a curator, David helped develop the ROM's dinosaur galleries, and was Lead Curator of the major travelling exhibition Ultimate Dinosaurs. He has been featured on numerous television shows, and most recently, David was co-creator of the HISTORY series Dino Hunt Canada. David’s research focuses on the evolution, ecology and diversity of dinosaurs, and their relationship to environmental changes leading up to the end Cretaceous extinction event. Active in the field, he has participated in expeditions all over the world, including the Africa, Mongolia, and Canada, and has helped discover 10 new dinosaur species in the last five years- including the remarkable horned dinosaur Wendiceratops from southern Alberta, and the wickedly armoured Zuul named after the Ghostbusters movie monster.

Gabi is a science communicator with a passion for expanding inclusion in STEM. As a co-founder of Stellate Communications, she helps academics multiply the impact of their research and engage with new communities. She also co-edited Uncharted, an anthology of personal stories from disabled scientists (Columbia University Press). Gabi is based in Boston and spends her free time drinking iced coffee with her husband and two cats, Spock and Moose.

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Science can sometimes feel like an exclusive club that only certain people are allowed into. In this week’s episode, produced in partnership with the Allen Institute, both of our storytellers try to find their place in science.

Part 1: After getting accepted to a PhD program, Max Departee can’t help but feel like he’s not good enough to be there.

Part 2: Han Arbach is worried coming out as non-binary will ruin their scientific career.

Max Departee is a research scientist from the Pacific Northwest who has always had a fascination with the natural world. A curious nature and outdoor spirt led him to attend Montana State University where, between fly-fishing on local rivers and skiing the Rockies, he earned his Bachelors Degree in Biotechnology. Max's career and training as a scientist have taken him many places, from a PhD program in North Carolina, to a small Biotech Start-up in Washington, and back to his home town of Seattle where he now works at the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

Han Arbach grew up dreaming of becoming an astronaut after watching the space shuttle land at the military base their family was stationed at. As they continued to grow up and became a “frequent flyer” in the orthopedics department for various injuries, their aspirations shifted towards medical training. Encouraged by fantastic AP Biology and Chemistry teachers in high school they pursued a biochemistry major at Mount Holyoke College. Here they were encouraged by a chemistry professor to try out research. This fostered a newfound love for discovery and research, and with it a new dream career path of becoming a scientist. Han completed their Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Washington studying tail regeneration and nuclear structure in tadpoles. They then did Postdoctoral work at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center using viruses as a tool to probe facets of cell biology. Now, they are a Program Officer at the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group. Outside of work, you will find them raising two dogs with their partner, attempting to befriend crows, and being a poor but enthusiastic gardener. 

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In this digital age, technology can connect us in ways we never imagined. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share stories of the weird and wonderful ways technology created new opportunities and forged new relationships.

Part 1: In an attempt to be seen as “cool” by his friends, Azhar Bande-Ali reaches out to the Steve Wozniak and invites him for coffee.

Part 2: Don Picard can’t stop using technology to keep tabs on his son.

Azhar Bande-Ali is a storyteller who likes his tales with a side of laughs. His award-winning debut solo show, "Curry and Catharsis," presented at the NYC Fringe Festival, won hearts for telling an Indian story hyphenated by an American upbringing. As a former Moth StorySLAM winner, he obsesses over story structure that leaves plenty of room for silliness to highlight the complexities of the human experience.

Don Picard has worked in the Boston area for 30 years as a software developer. He was a double major in Theatre Arts and Computer Science at Cornell, and chose to work as an engineer in order to be able to live in Cambridge and feed his family. Don enjoys telling live stories about his kids, husband, and extended family as it is fun, therapeutic, and allows him to exercise the other half of his college degree so he doesn't become bitter. 

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