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

Dr. Haley Oliver is an Associate Professor of Food Science at Purdue University, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Texas Tech University. She received her B.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from the University of Wyoming, and she was awarded her PhD in Food Science from Cornell University. Next, Haley received a postdoctoral fellowship to conduct research in food science at Cornell University. Haley is the recipient of the New Teacher Award and the National Early Career Teaching Award from the United States Department of Agriculture, as well as the Outstanding Academic Counseling and Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards from Purdue University. She is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel is a Professor of Psychology and Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. She received her B.S. in Biology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and completed her M.S. in Neuroscience at Case Western Reserve University. She was awarded her PhD in Neuroscience from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, and conducted part of her graduate work at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research. Suzana served on the faculty of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt where she is today. She is the recipient of the Scholar Award in Understanding Human Cognition from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, as well as the José Reis Prize of Science Communication. In addition, Suzana has authored seven books for the general public on neuroscience, including her recently published book The Human Advantage: A New Understanding of How Our Brain Became Remarkable. She has written and presented the TV series Neurológica, has contributed over 260 to the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, and has written for the Scientific American Brazil magazine. In our interview, Suzana shares stories from her life and science.

Dr. Madhur Anand is a Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph. She received her BSc and PhD from Western University and went on to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of Trieste, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Utrecht University, and the University of New Mexico. Madhur served on the faculty at Laurentian University before accepting a position at the University of Guelph where she is today. Madder is the recipient of many awards and honors, including Premier’s Research Excellence Award, two Canada Research Chairs, Western University’s Young Alumni Award of Merit, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce Female Professional of the Year Award, and she was named a Young Scientist of the World Economic Forum. In addition to the accolades she has received for her science, Madhur is also an accomplished poet. Her first book of poems “A New Index for Predicting Catastrophes” was published in 2015 and nominated for a Trillium Book award for poetry in 2016. Madhur is with us today to tell us to share stories of her life and science.

Dr. Don Bryant is the Ernest C. Pollard Professor in Biotechnology and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The Pennsylvania State University. Don completed his undergraduate training in Chemistry and Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his PhD in Molecular biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was awarded an NSF-CNRS Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at the Institut Pasteur in France, as well as a DOE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Cornell University, before joining the faculty at Penn State. During his career, Don has received many awards and honors. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, an elected Member of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology, as well as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Rebeiz Foundation for Basic Research. Don is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Gail Ashley is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers University. She is Undergraduate Program Director and Director of the Quaternary Studies Graduate Certificate Program. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from the University of Massachusetts and completed her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia. After receiving her Ph.D., Gail accepted a faculty position at Rutgers, and she has been a faculty member there for 39 years. Gail has received many awards and honors during her career including the Sedimentary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America’s Laurence L. Sloss award for her lifetime achievements in sedimentary geology, as well as an Outstanding teaching award from the Association of Women Geoscientists. She has also served as President of the Society for Sedimentary Geologists, President of the Geological Society of America, President of the Society of Economic and Petroleum Mineralogists, and President of the American Geosciences Institute. In addition, Gail has served as Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Sedimentary Research. Gail is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Angelique C. Johnson is Founder and CEO of the startup company MEMStim LLC which is dedicated to reducing the cost of cochlear implants to treat hearing loss. She is also an adjunct faculty member in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisville. She received her undergraduate training in computer engineering and mathematics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Angelique completed her MSE and PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan (NSF Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems, which is now the Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems). She has received many awards and honors for her work, including the Pryor-Hale award for Best Business at the Michigan Business Challenge, funding from the NSF Innovation Corps program, as well as NIH phase I and phase II SBIR grants. Angelique is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Chris Buddle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Associate Dean of Student Affairs at McGill University. He received his undergraduate training in Ecology at the University of Guelph and was awarded his PhD in Ecology and Environmental science from the University of Alberta. Afterwards, Chris conducted postdoctoral research at Miami University before accepting a position at McGill where he is today. He has received a number of his awards for his exceptional teaching and research, including the Entomological Society of Canada’s C. Gordon Hewitt Award for Excellence in Entomology in Canada, the MacDonald Campus Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’s Desire2Learn Teaching Innovation Award. Chris also writes great articles in his Arthropod Ecology Blog. He is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Malia Gehan is a new Assistant Member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. She received her undergraduate training in Biology from Willamette University and her PhD in Plant Biology from Michigan State University. Afterwards, Malia was awarded a National Science Foundation Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowship working at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and she subsequently worked as a Research Scientist there before accepting her new position. Malia is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Seán Barry is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Carleton University. He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Queen’s University at Kingston and was awarded his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Ottawa. Next, Seán conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Bourgogne in France, Cornell University, and Harvard University. Seán served as a Lecturer at the University of Ottawa and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University before joining the faculty at Carleton University where he is today. Seán is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Teresa Bergholz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Veterinary and Microbiological Sciences at North Dakota State University. She completed undergraduate training in Food Science and Microbiology at Michigan State University and also received her PhD in Food Science from Michigan State University. Afterwards, Teresa conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University before joining the faculty at NDSU where she is today. Teresa is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.