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

Dr. Marla Sokolowski is a University Professor in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology  as well as Canada Research Chair in Genetics and Behavioral Neurology at the University of Toronto. She is also Academic Director of the University of Toronto Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development and Co-Director of the Child & Brain Development Programme of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research where she is the Weston Fellow. She received her PhD in Zoology from the University of Toronto and served on the faculty at York University before joining the faculty at the University of Toronto. Marla has received many awards and honors during her career. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Senior Fellow at Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. She has also received the Genetics Society of Canada’s Award of Excellence, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Award of Excellence from the International Society of Behavior and Neurogenetics. Marla is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Rob Phillips is the Fred and Nancy Morris Professor of Biophysics and Biology at the California Institute of Technology. He received his PhD in Physics in condensed matter physics from Washington University in St. Louis. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in physics at Sandia Labs in Livermore California and at Cornell University. Rob served on the faculty at Brown University for 7 years before joining the faculty at Caltech. Rob is here with us today to tell us about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Raymond Huey is a Professor of Biology and former chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Washington. He received his Masters degree in Zoology from the University of Texas, Austin and his PhD in Biology from Harvard University. Ray was a Miller Research Felllow at the University of California, Berkeley before joining the faculty at the University of Washington where he has worked for over 35 years. Ray has received numerous awards and honors during his career, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and receipt of the President's Award from the American Society of Naturalists. He was also recently selected to give the Cramer Lecture at Dartmouth University, the Sutton Lecture at the University of Oklahoma, and the Inaugural Plenary Lecture of the International Max Planck Research School for Organismal Biology at the University of Konstanz. He was also a guggenheim fellow. Ray is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Karla Kaun is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Brown University. She received her PhD in Zoology from the University of Toronto and afterward completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco and Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Janelia Farm Research Campus before joining the faculty at Brown. Karla is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Jason Wright is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Masters degree and PhD in Astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley. Afterward, he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley and then a Research Associate at Cornell University before joining the faculty at Penn State. Jason has received a number of honors and awards during his career, including receipt of the Dean's Climate and Diversity Award from Penn State, being named a Rock Institute Ethics Fellow, and receipt of the NASA Group Achievement Award as part of the SIM Planet Finding Capability Study Team. Jason is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Jonathan Copley is a Senior Lecturer in Marine Ecology and Director of the Postgraduate Taught Programmes in the Department of Ocean and Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Chemosynthetic Environments Research Team and Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum in London. Jon received his Masters degree and PhD in Oceanography from the University of Southampton. He then worked for the New Scientist magazine before accepting a position as a Science Coordinator at the Natural Environment Research Council Autosub Under Ice research Programme, in addition to a position at the University of Southampton. Jon has received many awards and honors during his career, including a University of Southampton Staff Achievement Award, the British Association for the Advancement of Science Charles Lyell Lecture Award, The University of Southampton Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Award and Award for Postgraduate Training, as well as The Biosciences Federation Science Communication Award for Established Researchers. Jon is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Andy Piacsek is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Physics Department at Central Washington University. He received a B.A. in Physics from Johns Hopkins University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Acoustics from the Pennsylvania State University. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory before joining the faculty at Central Washington University. Andy is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. David Spergel is the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, and Chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. He is also involved in the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science and the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Tokyo. He completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University and received his Master's degree and PhD in Astronomy from Harvard University. After two years as a long-term member at the Institute for Advanced Study, he joined the Princeton faculty in 1987. David has received a number of awards and honors during his career, including the Shaw Prize, being named a Science Citation Laureate, a MacArthur Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, the Presidential Young Investigator Award, and the Gruber Prize (awarded to the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe team). In addition, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the National Academy of Sciences. Time Magazine has listed Spergel in its 2001 issue as one of America's Top scientists and in its 2012 issue as one of the 25 most influential people in Space. David is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Michael Scharf is a Professor and the O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Endowed Chair in Urban Entomology at Purdue University. He received his Masters Degree in Urban Entomology and his PhD in Insect Toxicology from Purdue University. Afterward, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Nebraska. Mike worked as a Research Associate at Cornell University, a staff member at Purdue University, and a faculty member at the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska before joining the faculty at Purdue. Mike is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Jeffrey Diamond is a Senior Investigator in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the National Institutes of Health. He received his PhD in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Francisco and University of California Berkeley. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Vollum Institute before joining NINDS. Jeff has received a number of honors during his career, including the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. Jeff is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.