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

Dr. Michael Treadway is the Winship Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at Emory University. He is also affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory. One of the aims of Michael’s lab is to investigate how the brain makes decisions about where to invest your effort and whether something you want is worth the work it will take to get it. The second aim of Michael’s research is to examine this process in people with conditions like major depression. His goal is to understand how the relevant circuitry in the brain typically works, and how the circuitry changes in depression, leading to a different set of decisions. This work has the potential to help identify new targets for interventions. Outside of science, Michael and his wife love spending time with their two young children and playing games together, particularly card games. He also enjoys playing the piano, listening to music, and going to live music performances. Michael received his PhD in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University and completed his clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He joined the faculty at Emory in 2015. Michael has received numerous awards and honors in his career, including the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution in the area of Psychopathology from the American Psychological Association (APA), the Randolph Blake Early Career Award from Vanderbilt University, the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS), and the Rising Star Award from the APS. In this interview, he shares more about his life and science. 

Dr. Marcia Bjornerud is Professor of Geology and the Walter Schober Professor of Environmental Studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. In addition, she is a writer for “Elements”, the New Yorker’s science and technology blog, and she is the author of the textbook The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science, the popular science book Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of the Earth, and the recently released book Timefulness: How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World. Marcia is a structural geologist who studies the deeply eroded roots of mountain belts and ancient plate boundaries to better understand the long-term effects of tectonic processes and rock deformation in Earth’s deep crust. Outside of science, cross country skiing is a passion for Marcia, and she loves getting out in the winter to ski, including participating in ski marathons. Marcia is also an urban forager who enjoys making jams and preserves from wild berries and grapes that she picks. Marcia received her B.S. degree in geophysics from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis and was awarded her M.S. and Ph.D. in structural geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Marcia then conducted postdoctoral research at the Byrd Polar Research Center at The Ohio State University. Afterwards, Marcia worked as a contract geologist for the Geological Survey of Canada and the Norwegian Polar Institute. Before joining the faculty at Lawrence University, Marcia served on the faculty at Miami University in Ohio. She has received many awards and honors during her career, including being named a fellow of the Geological Society of America, receipt of two Fulbright Senior Scholarships, as well as being awarded the Outstanding Educator Award from the Association of Women Geoscientists. In our interview, Marcia speaks more about her experiences in life and science.

Dr. Renato Polimanti is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and he also has appointments in Biomedical Informatics & Data Science, as well as Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the Wu Tsai Institute. Research in Renato’s lab examines human genetics from different perspectives. His current projects aim to understand the molecular mechanisms that predispose certain individuals to develop psychiatric disorders and symptoms, and the links between co-morbid conditions like cardiovascular disease. He is particularly interested in internalizing psychiatric disorders, which include depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some of Renato’s favorite pastimes include reading, traveling to different countries, and trying various kinds of foods. He is a big fan of authentic Italian food as well as sushi, and Renato has explored many of the local restaurants in New Haven, Connecticut. Renato completed his bachelor’s degree (BSc), Master’s degree (MSc), and PhD at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Yale University School of Medicine before joining the faculty at Yale. He has received a variety of awards and honors for his work, including the One Mind Rising Star Computational Psychiatry Research Award, an Explorers Award from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the Early Career Investigator Award from the Million Veteran Program, and Young Investigator Awards from the journal Genes, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and the International Society of Applied Biological Sciences. In our interview, Renato shares 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's research is 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 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. He 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.