People Behind the Science Podcast - Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Dr. Brian Keating is a Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego. Additionally, he is the Co-Director of the Ax Center for Experimental Cosmology and Director of the Simons Observatory. Brian is also author of the book Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science’s Highest Honor. As a cosmologist, Brian studies the universe using a variety of different tools. In his research, he examines the stars, how the universe originated, and what (if anything) was present before our universe existed. Brian and his colleagues build instruments to detect the very first light in the universe by investigating an ancient heat called the cosmic microwave background radiation. This is a three degree Kelvin signal that resulted from the birth of the universe. Outside of science, Brian’s hobbies include flying airplanes and performing stand-up comedy. His interest in flight began when he was a young kid determined to become an astronaut, and he made his piloting dream come true when he earned his private pilot license in graduate school. Brian’s forrays in stand-up comedy began with an open mic session at a famous comedy club in La Jolla. He originally signed up to prepare for his TED Talk a few years ago, and since then, Brian has continued to work on his repertoire. He received his B.S. in physics from Case Western Reserve University and his Ph.D. in physics from Brown University. Brian conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University and at the California Institute of Technology before joining the faculty at UC, San Diego. Brian and his work have earned many awards and accolades over the years. He has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a UC, San Diego Hellman Faculty Fellow. In addition, Brian is the recipient of the White House Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for Faculty Early Career Development, the Second Place Prize for the 2014 Buckhalter Cosmology Prize, and a UC, San Diego Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity Award. In our interview Brian shared his stories and experiences from his life and science.

Dr. Thijs Heus is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Cleveland State University. Thijs’s research focuses on clouds and the impact they have on weather and climate. Some of the effects clouds can have include reflecting sunlight (which lowers temperatures) and transporting heat and moisture through the atmosphere. However, clouds remain one of the major sources of uncertainty in climate and weather predictions, partly due to their relatively small size and varying shapes. Thijs uses computer models and simulations to determine, for instance, what happens to clouds when temperatures change, and how the size of clouds impacts weather and climate. When the weather is nice, you can often find Thijs outdoors running. He also enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, and indulging in the many museums, music venues, sporting events, and restaurants in Cleveland, Ohio. He received Masters degrees in Physics as well as Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Afterwards, he attended Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands where he was awarded a PhD in Applied Physics. Next, Thijs conducted postdoctoral research with the Department of Climate Services of The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and then at the Hans Ertel Center of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Thijs also worked as Researcher at the Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology at the University of Cologne before accepting his current position at Cleveland State. He has been awarded the Faculty Merit Recognition Award from Cleveland State University, as well as Undergraduate Research Awards for the work of his students. In this interview, Thijs shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Jennifer Ramp Neale is Director of Research and Conservation at the Denver Botanic Gardens. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Biology at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado Denver. The Denver Botanic Gardens is an accredited museum, a public nonprofit organization, and a research institution, so Jenny has a variety of different roles. She oversees the research conducted there, communicates their findings and the importance of science to different audiences, and works closely with land managers/owners to provide information on the local plants to help guide land management decisions. Jenny’s research focuses on applied conservation of plants, particularly rare and endangered species in Colorado. Jenny is a wife, mother, and outdoors enthusiast outside of work. She enjoys being active outdoors with her family playing soccer, skiing, camping, hiking, and generally having fun outside. Jenny’s passion for identifying plants and mushrooms is contagious, and as a result, her family has also become quite knowledgeable about the plants of Colorado. She received her B.S. in Biology from Rhodes College and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado. Afterwards, Jenny conducted postdoctoral research in community genetics at the University of Colorado. Jenny’s previous positions include Manager of Research Programs and Associate Director of Research at the Denver Botanic Gardens, as well as Conservation Genetic Consultant with LSA Associates and Solano County Water Agency through the University of Colorado Museum. Jenny is the recipient of the 2012 Partners in Mission Recovery Champion Award as part of the Rare Plant Conservation Initiative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She joined us for an interview to talk about her experiences in life and science.

Dr. Chris Barrett is Executive Director and Professor at the Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech, as well as a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. Chris lives on a small farm in the Blue Ridge area of Virginia, and the they daily chores keep him quite busy. He also enjoys playing guitar and riding his motorcycle in his free time. At the Biocomplexity Institute, Chris and his colleagues are using computational methods to better understand our very complicated, interdependent, and multiscale world. They are studying how information is created, transmitted, and manipulated in living systems. Their goal is to take these large, multiscale, massively-interacting systems that have billions of interacting pieces and bring it into a state where people can begin to understand and make sense of them. Chris received a M.S. in Engineering Science and a Ph.D. in Bioinformation Systems from the California Institute of Technology. He also earned a U.S. Navy Aerospace Experimental Psychology Post PhD certification. Before coming to Virginia Tech, Chris led a research group at the Naval Air Development Center, and he later led the Basic and Applied Simulation Science Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Chris has received many awards and honors throughout his career, including Distinguished Service Awards from the U.S. Navy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Alliance for Transportation Research, and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He was also named a Jubilee Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. In our interview Chris tells us more about his life and science.

Dr. Bruce Beehler is an ornithologist and Research Associate in the Bird Division of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Bruce spends much of his free time outside and immersed in nature. He enjoys playing tennis, going for hikes, and kayaking, as well as watching wildlife at the feeders outside his home. Writing scientific books is a big part of Bruce’s current work. He and two colleagues have begun planning for a comprehensive synthesis of all the available data for a particular mountain in New Guinea. This rich dataset on one location, will serve as a benchmark for future research studies. In terms of field work, Bruce is now solely focused on the birds of the boreal conifer forests of the U.S. and Canada. He is interested in understanding how the permanent resident birds survive in these forests year round. Bruce completed his undergraduate studies in American Civilization at Williams College and received his Masters and PhD degrees in Biology from Princeton University where he studied behavioral ecology of the birds of paradise. Afterwards, Bruce worked for ten years at the Smithsonian’s Natural Museum of Natural history. Before returning to the Museum in 2014, Bruce worked for Conservation International, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the U.S. Department of State, Counterpart International, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Bruce is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists Union, and he is the author of eleven books including a field guide and a taxonomic checklist of Birds of New Guinea and the recently released book North on the Wing. In our interview, Bruce shared some of his fantastic stories about life and science.

Dr. Michele Koons is a Curator of Archaeology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. When Michele’s not at work, she spends her time hanging out with her husband and one year old son. Some of her favorite activities include skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, cooking dinner with friends, and playing games like Trivial Pursuit and Settlers of Catan. As an archaeologist, Michele’s research involves studying people from the past using all of the clues they left behind. It’s like putting together a big puzzle to understand what people in previous civilizations did and how they did it. She was awarded her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, her M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Denver, and her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University. Afterwards, Michele worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science before accepting her current position as curator there. Michele joined us for an interview to talk about some of her experiences in life and science.

Dr. Ian Winship is an Associate Professor and a former Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Scholar in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta. He is also Director of the Neurochemical Research Unit there. Much of Ian’s free time is spent on or near the ice rink. He coaches his son’s hockey team and his daughter’s ringette team, as well as playing on his own recreational hockey team. In the summer, Ian enjoys being outside, traveling, visiting the mountains, and relaxing at the beach. Ian is interested in understanding how we can reduce the damage early after a stroke and ways we can improve recovery in people who had a stroke a long time ago. His research also examines changes in the brain that lead to symptoms in other brain disorders like schizophrenia. Ian received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in Psychology from the University of Alberta. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia before returning to the University of Alberta to join the faculty. In this interview Ian shares more about his life and science.

Dr. Bryan Lewis is a Research Associate Professor working in the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory at the Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech. Bryan works in the field of computational epidemiology. His research uses computers to simulate disease so they can make policy recommendations and help in response to an infectious disease epidemic. When he has spare time, Bryan likes going mountain biking and exploring the national forest nearby in Blacksburg, Virginia. He also enjoys swimming, hiking, and going for walks with his family and their dogs. He received his B.S. in Computational Biology from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s of Public Health specializing in Infectious Diseases from the University of California, Berkeley. Afterwards, Bryan attended graduate school at Virginia Tech where he was awarded his PhD in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology and then later joined the faculty. In this interview Bryan shares more about his life and research.

Dr. Suzanne Clough is the Chief Medical Officer at Amalgam Rx and Chief Innovation Officer at ArmadaHealth. In her free time, Suzanne revels in the pleasant chaos of her house with her husband, two children, and two dogs. She is also an athlete who enjoys basketball, swimming, and cycling. Suzanne is a physician by training, but she has been dedicating her efforts in recent years to investigating the behavioral science and psychosocial aspects of being a patient. She is working to discover what motivates people to engage in their healthcare, what creates barriers, and what can help people build reduce stress and build resilience. Through her companies, Suzanne develops digital health solutions that help people better manage their chronic diseases, improve their healthcare experience, and live happier lives. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from James Madison University and her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She completed her residency and an endocrinology fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical System. Afterwards, Suzanne worked as an Endocrinologist within the University of Maryland Medical System, as well as a faculty member and Medical Director for the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Afterwards, she co-founded the mobile health company WellDoc and served as its Chief Medical Officer until 2016 when she began her current endeavors. Suzanne joined us for an interview to share her experiences in life and in her career.

Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Systems Neuroscience at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. He is also an author of the books Borges and Memory, Principles of Neural Coding, Imaging Brain Function with EEG, and the recently published book The Forgetting Machine. Rodrigo enjoys getting out of the lab to do different activities to give his mind a break from thinking about experiments. In particular, he enjoys hanging out with his wife and kids, playing sports, and practicing Judo. Rodrigo is interested in understanding how memory works and how the brain works in general. He conducts experiments to determine how the neurons in our brain make us see, feel, make decisions, and remember the things we experience and learn in our lives. The memory research in Rodrigo’s lab investigates how memories are formed, stored, consolidated, and forgotten. Rodrigo received his undergraduate training in physics from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and was awarded his PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Luebeck in Germany. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Research Center Juelich in Germany and he received a Sloan Fellowship to conduct research at the California Institute of Technology. Rodrigo also worked briefly at RIKEN in Japan and at the University of Nijmegen in The Netherlands. Rodrigo has received numerous awards and honors including the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, a Young Investigator Award from the American Epilepsy Society, and Rodrigo was also named one of 10 UK RISE Leaders in Science and Engineering in 2014. Rodrigo spoke with us about his experiences his career, research, and life.