People Behind The Science Podcast - Stories From Scientists About Science, Life, Research, And Science Careers

Dr. Tom George is Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. He earned his bachelors degree from gettysburg college and MS and PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Yale University and conducted postdoctoral research at MIT and UC Berkeley. Afterward, Tom joined the faculty at the University of Rochester, he later served as Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at SUNY - Buffalo, Provost at Washington State University, and Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point before accepting his current post. Tom has received many awards and honors during his career, including receipt of the Marlow Medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry and being named a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Physical Society, the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Dreyfus Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Tom has also been elected as

Dr. Noah Fierer is a microbial ecologist and an Associate Professor in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology department and a fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Noah completed his PhD in Ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Afterward, he conducted postdoctoral research at Duke University. Noah is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Cassandra Extavour is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. She received her PhD from the Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Cassandra then conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Crete, Greece as well as at the University of Cambridge. Afterward, she worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Zoology at Cambridge before joining the faculty at Harvard. Cassandra is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Christina (Naomi) Tague is an Associate Professor of ecoHydrology in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her Bachelor degree from the University of Waterloo in Systems Design Engineering and her MS and PhD degrees in Geography from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral research with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Naomi then spent five years as a member of the faculty at San Diego State University before moving to UC Santa Barbara. Naomi is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Yasmin Hurd is Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics as well as the Ward-Coleman Chair in Translational Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. She is also Director of the Center for Addictive Disorders in the Mount Sinai Behavioral Health System. She received her PhD in Medical Science from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and spent time as a Pharmacology Research Associate Fellow with the NIH and Staff Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health. Afterward, Yasmin returned to the Karolinska Institute where she remained as a faculty member for 13 years before coming to Mount Sinai. She is also a member of the American Society for Neuroscience, New York Academy of Sciences, and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. Yasmin is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Rob Dunn is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at North Carloina State University.  He is also an accomplished author with his books Every Living Thing, The Wild Life of Our Bodies, and recently released The Man Who Touched His Own Heart. In addition, his writings have been featured in BBC Wildlife Magazine, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic, and more. Rob received his PhD in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Connecticut and received a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at Curtin University in Australia afterwards. He then completed a short postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Tennessee before joining the faculty at North Carolina State University. Rob is here with us today to tell us all about his own experiences in life and science.

Dr. Susan Wessler is a Distinguished Professor of Genetics at the University of California, Riverside. She is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and the Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from Cornell University. Susan then spent time as a postdoctral fellow at the Carnegie Institute of Washington. She served on the faculty at the University of Georgia for over 25 years before moving to UC Riverside. Susan has received many awards and honors over the course of her career. She is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a member of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also the recipient of the Stephen Hales Prize from the American Society of Plant Biologists the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Excellence in Science Award, and the McClintock Award from the Maize Genetics. Susan is w

Dr. Tess Russo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at The Pennsylvania State University. She received her PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Her fantastic work is already getting a lot of attention. Last year, Tess was featured by the Green Sense Podcast, Scientific American, and she is a guest on an upcoming episode of Startalk Radio with the wise and wonderful Neil Degrasse Tyson. Tess is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Ruth Hufbauer is a Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at Colorado State University in the department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management. She received her Phd in Entomology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University and completed postdoctoral research at Cornell before joining the faculty at Colorado State University where she is today. Ruth was the recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship and during this time she had the opportunity to work at the National Institute of Agronomic Research in France. Ruth is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Reggie Edgerton is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Reggie received his Master's degree from the University of Iowa and his PhD in Exercise Physiology from Michigan State University. Reggie's work has been featured by CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, the LA Times, Popular Mechanics, and other media outlets. He has also co-authored two books entitled The Biology of Physical Activity and An Atlas of the Lesser Bushbaby. Reggie is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Pam Ronald is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis. She is also the Director of the UC Davis Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy, Director of Grass Genetics at the Joint Bioenergy Institute, and Cofounder of Biology Fortified Incorporated, an educational non-profit organization. Pam received a Master's Degree in Biology from Stanford University as well as a master's Degree in Plant Physiology from the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Her PhD was awarded from UC Berkeley in Molecular and Physiological Plant Biology. Afterward Pam conducted postdoctoral research at Cornell University before joining the faculty at UC Davis. Pam is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the USDA 2008 National Research Initiative Discovery Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair, the National Association of Science Writers -Science in Society Journalism Award, the Louis Malassis International Scie

Dr. Seth Bordenstein is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University. He received his undergraduate, Master's and PhD degrees from the University of Rochester, receiving his PhD in Evolutionary Genetics. Seth then served as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Research Council in the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. He worked as an Assistant Research Scientist and Assistant Scientist there and also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Brown University before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt. Among his many honors and awards, Seth has received the Chancellor's Award for Research and awards for Excellence in research as well as Teaching and Mentoring from Vanderbilt. His research was also featured in as a top story of 2013 in Science News. Seth is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Mariana Wolfner is the Goldwin Smith Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University. She received her BA in Genetics and Chemistry from Cornell University, and her PhD in Biochemistry from Stanford University. She did postdoctoral work at UCSD, before joining the Cornell faculty in 1983. Mariana has received many awards and honors during her career. For example, she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a Lady Davis Fellow. She has given numerous named or distinguished lectures, and has also received awards for her teaching and advising of students. In addition to research, teaching, and advising, Mariana is very active in service to her field, serving on many Society Boards, Editorial Boards and organizing many conferences. Mariana is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. S. Thomas (Tom) Carmichael is a Neurologist, as well as Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Neurology Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also a Member of the Brain Research Institute and Co-Director of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center. Tom received his MD and PhD from Washington University School of Medicine. He completed a Neurology residency there, followed by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship at UCLA. He then joined the faculty at UCLA where he remains today. Tom is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Nick Dodman is a Professor, as well as Section Head and Program Director for the Animal Behavior Department of Clinical Sciences at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. He graduated from the Glasgow University Veterinary School in Scotland, and he served as a surgical intern there before joining their faculty. Nick also later received a Diploma in Veterinary Anesthesia from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Afterward, Nick joined the faculty at Tufts where he is today. Nick has received many honors and awards in his career. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, leadership council member of the humane society veterinary medical association, scientific advisor to the center for canine behavior studies, scientific advisor to DogTV, diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists,  and one of the founder member of "Vets for Equine Welfare". Nick has also authored four b

Dr. Michael Clegg is a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. He is also the past Foreign Secretary of the US National Academy of Sciences, and just recently finished serving in his third consecutive term. Mike received his PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. He served on the faculty at Brown University, the University of Georgia, and the University of California, Riverside before accepting a position at UC, Irvine. Mike has a long list of career and research accolades. He was elected as a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Member of the American Philosophical Society, a Fellow of the Global Academy of Sciences, an Honorary Member of the Palestinian Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, and a Corresponding Member of multiple other international Academies. He is also a Senior Fellow of the California Council

Dr. Lawrence Crum is the Principal Physicist and Founder/Former Director of the Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound in the Applied Physics Laboratory, and Research Professor of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington. He received his Masters and PhD in Physics from Ohio University and prior to joining the faculty at the University of Washington, Larry held positions at Harvard University, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the University of Mississippi. Larry has received many awards and honors during his career, including the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America. He is Past President of the Acoustical Society of America, the Board of the International Commission for Acoustics, and the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound. He is preparing to begin as a senior Visiting Fellow at Magdalin College at Oxford University. Larry also has 11 patents and has served as co-founder of 3 medical device companies. Larry is here with us today to tell us all about hi

Dr. Aleix Martinez is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Computational Biology and Cognitive Science Laboratory at the Ohio State University. He is also affiliated with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and to the Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Aleix received a Master's degree and PhD in Computer Engineering from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Paris. Afterward, he conducted postdoctoral research at Purdue University, and also spent some time working as a Researcher at the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris before joining the faculty at OSU. Aleix and his research have been widely featured in the media by sources like CNN, The Huffington Post, Time Magazine, CBS News, NPR, and The Guardian. Aleix is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Andrew is the Lead Neuroscientist at TruBrain and Director of Neurocognitive Services at Alternatives Behavioral Health and the Alternatives Brain Institute. He is also a Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCLA. Andrew is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Charles Cockell is a Professor of Astrobiology in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology. In addition, he is the Founder and Chair of the Earth and Space Foundation and also the Co-Founder, current Board Member, and Past President of the Association of Mars Explorers. Charles has also been elected as an International Fellow of the Explorers Club. He did his undergraduate training in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Bristol University and received his PhD in Molecular Biophysics from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Edinburgh, Charles was a National Academy of Sciences Associate with NASA, a visiting Scholar at both Stanford University and the University of Arizona, a Research Scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, and also Professor of Geomicrobiology at Open University. Charles is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.