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

Dr. Michael E. Mann is Distinguished Professor of Meteorology at Penn State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC). Mike received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley in Physics and Applied Math, an M.S. degree in Physics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and served on the faculty of the University of Virginia before joining the faculty where he is today at Penn State. Mike has received many honors during his career, including being selected by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002, contributing to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and being named one of Bloomberg News' fifty most influential people in 2013. He has also received the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geosciences Union, the National Conservation Achievement Award for science by the National Wildlife Federation, and the Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education. Mike is also a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society.  Mike is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Fan-Gang Zeng is Director of the Center for Hearing Research and Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Sciences and Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California Irvine. He received  a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China and his Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering at the Institute of Physiology Academia Sinica in Shanghai. Fan-Gang then went on to earn his PhD in Hearing Science from Syracuse University. He served as a research Associate at the House Ear Institute and an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland before joining the faculty at UC, Irvine where he is today. Fan-Gang is a member of the Acoustical Society of America, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fan-Gang is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Alain Cuerrier is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Montreal, as well as a Botanist and Researcher at the Montreal Botanical Garden. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Montreal. He worked at Harvard University during his PhD and this helped him achieve his current positions. Alain is also a writer and poet. He recently contributed to a book on Medicinal Plants thriving in the arctic and he has published a book of poetry in French. Alain is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Andrea Califano is the Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Systems Biology in the Departments of Systems Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University.  He is Founding Chair of the Department of Systems Biology, Director of the JP Sulzberger Columbia Genome Center, and Associate Director for Bioinformatics of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. He completed his doctoral studies in physics at the University of Florence in Italy and his postdoctoral studies at MIT. Afterward, Andrea worked at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center, and he subsequently became Program Director of the IBM Computational Biology Center. In 2000, Andrea co-founded First Genetic Trust, Inc and founded another company called Therasys in 2008 before joining the faculty where he is today at Columbia University. Andrea is with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Holly Bik is a Birmingham Fellow in the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. She completed her PhD in Deep Sea Biology and Molecular Phylogenetics at the University of Southampton and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of New Hampshire and the University of California, Davis before accepting her current position. Holly is scientist and an avid science communicator, and you can find her writing on blogs such as Eukaryotic Ebullience, The Molecular Ecologist, Haute Science, and Deep Sea News. Holly is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Oliver Smithies is the Weatherspoon Eminent Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Caronlina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He received his PhD in Biochemistry at Oxford University and spent some time on the faculty at the University of Toronto, as well as the University of Wisconsin, Madison, before joining the faculty at UNC, Chapel Hill where he is today. Oliver is a distinguished scientist, and in 2007, he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Among many other accomplishments, he is the recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the Wolf Prize in Medicine, the Massry Prize, and the University of North Carolina's O. Max Gardner Award. Oliver is also a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Member of the U.S. Institute of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. Oliver is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Kurtis Williams is an Assistant Professor at Texas A and M University, Commerce. He received his Master's and PhD degrees in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and afterward served as a Research Associate at the Steward Observatory in Tucson. Kurtis was awarded an NSF Postdoctoral fellowship and completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Texas, Austin before accepting his current position. Kurtis is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Jack Schultz is a Professor in Plant Sciences and Director of the Bond Life Sciences Center at the University of Missouri. He received his PhD in Zoology from the University of Washington and completed postdoctoral research at Dartmouth College. He was then hired at Dartmouth as a Research Assistant Professor. Jack's next career move brought him to Penn State University where he remained for 25 years, rising to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Entomology before joining the faculty at the University of Missouri. Jack's research has been featured by the New York Times, People Magazine, and Time Magazine. Jack is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Luise Hermanutz is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Memorial University in Canada. She received her PhD in Plant Ecology from Western University in London, Ontario. Afterward, She taught as a per course instructor at the Geography Department at Memorial University, she did a postdoc university of wallingong in Sydney Australia, before joining the faculty at Memorial University. Luise is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

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 a foreign member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and he has received honorary doctorate degrees from the Universities in Hungary and Thailand. Further, Tom has been awarded the Medal of Honor from Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait and the Diploma of Honour from Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences in Finland. In addition to his phenomenal science career, Tom is dedicated to being active in his community, and he has been recognized with many awards for community service as well. Tom is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.