Gradcast

Consider ants. Only the queen ant reproduces and passes on her genetic sequences. The worker ants do not. This creates a great paradox of evolution: if the worker ants don't pass on their genes, then how do they keep popping up? This week, hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Connor Chato interview Vonica Flear, from the Department of Biology, who is working on a mathematical model to solve this puzzling problem. She tells us about why she's interested in eusocial animals like ants and wasps and how she uses math to model them. Plus, hear about some of the pioneers in this field and how they advanced our understanding of evolution. To find out more from Vonica you can email her at vflear@uwo.ca Hosts: Connor Chato & Nick Handfield-Jones  Produced by Ariel Frame

In this episode Cory Goldstein, PhD student at Rotman Institute of Philosophy, discusses how clinical trials of different styles need or need not obtain informed consent. Cory tells Ariel Frame and Gavin Tolometti about his work with an interdisciplinary group of professionals and patients. To contact Cory for more information you can find him on Twitter @coryegoldstein or read his most recent work: When and how should we cluster and cross over: methodological and ethical issues Accommodating quality and service improvement research within existing ethical principles   Hosts: Ariel Frame & Gavin Tolometti Produced by Chantal Lemire

Hosts Gregory Robinson and Gavin Tolometti talk with PhD candidate in the Department of Geography, Rebecca Doyle about lake sediments and how their isotopic chemistry provides us a glance on how the lake climate has changed for the last 1000 years. For more info, check out Rebecca's blog https://lakenerd.com/ or twitter account @lake_nerd. Hosts: Gregory Robinson & Gavin Tolometti Produced by Nick Handfield-Jones

Lily Yosieph is passionate about mental health issues. As an MSc student in Health Promotion, her research seeks to understand the unique challenges that African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) youth face and how service providers, educators, and families can work to dismantle systemic barriers affecting marginalized communities. Join Yimin and Connor as we learn about the ways in which social and economic issues can impact the health of individuals.  Hosts: Connor Chato & Yimin Chen    Produced by Gregory Robinson

Hosts Gavin Tolometti and Chantal Lemire dive into the world of post-1945 American literature with english literature PhD candidate Jeremy Johnston. In this episode we look at how adolescent mental health is portrayed in American literature and how it has changed to the modern day. Hosts: Chantal Lemire & Gavin Tolometti Produced by Gregory Robinson 

What did the landscape of Ontario look like over two billion years ago? The answer is hidden in the rocks. On this episode, geologist Carolyn Hill (PhD Candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences) tells hosts Yimin and Greg why the Pre-Cambrian may not be the nicest place for time travellers to visit. Plus, we learn about how oxygen once almost killed off life on Earth! Hosts: Yimin Chen & Gregory Robinson Produced by Chantal Lemire

In the depths of space, there are regions where stars don't form, despite all evidence that they should. This week, our guest Gianfranco Bino, from the Department of Applied Math, tells about how scientists are measuring magnetism in the surrounding area to figure out why the stars aren't being born. Join hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Connor Chato as they also ask Gianfranco about the intersection between math and outer space, his experiences in grad school, and what he wants to do once he graduates. To get in contact with Gianfranco, check out his instagram @gvb24 Hosts: Connor Chato & Nick Handfield-Jones Produced by Greg Robino

Bridge the gap between math and biology with Nickolas Goncharenko. This week hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Connor Chato interview Nickolas, from the Department of Applied Math, about his intriguing research on modelling the interaction between the mosquito's immune system, malaria (Plasmodium sp.), and genetically modified bacterium (Serratio sp. AS1) that could decrease the spread of disease. We also learn about differential equations, and the behaviour of spaghetti sticking out of a tomato. Plus, Nickolas shares his personal tips to become a better scientific communicator. To learn more, email Nickolas here: ngonchar@uwo.ca. Hosts: Connor Chato & Nick Handfield-Jones Produced by Gregory Robinson.

On this episode, hosts Taniya Nagpal and Gavin Tolometti talk with Connor Chato about his MSc research locating AIDS using a computer code algorithm, which can help provide treatment and understand the origin of the AIDS virus in patients. Hosts: Taniya Nagpal & Gavin Tolometti Produced by Produced by Viki Tellios

Taniya Nagpal and Joyla Furlano interview Greg Robinson, one of the GradCast Editorial Boards' newest members, and masters' student in Phys-Pharm about his current research, his and future research, and his experience so far in graduate studies at Western.  Hosts: Joyla Furlano & Taniya Nagpal Produced by: Chantal Lemire  

On this week’s show, Joyla Furlano and Gregory Robinson interview Anisa Morava, a 2nd year Master’s student in the psychological stream of Kinesiology. Anisa is exploring how acute aerobic exercise and caffeine intake may improve memory in caffeine and non-caffeine consumers. Look out all… this may be the place to find your graduate survival kit! To learn more about Anisa’s research, e-mail her at amorava@uwo.ca. Hosts: Joyla Furlano and Gregory Robinson Produced by Nicholas Handfield-Jones   *Abstract call-out*: If you are a graduate student at Western and are interested in submitting an abstract for this coming year’s Annual Western Research Forum, please visit https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/wrf/2019/

Is the damage you inflict to your head by playing a sport like football as severe as the media makes it out to be? Tune in this week to hear Justin Smith, and your hosts Ariel Frame and Gregory Robinson, dive head first into his research his work looking at executive function changes in kids before and after a season of playing football. Justin enlightens us with some new results from his Masters in Kinesiology research showing some evidence that kids can play Canadian football without risking cognitive impairment. If you'd like to know more about work like Justin's, check out the Concussion Legacy Foundation. Hosts: Ariel Frame and Gregory Robinson Produced by Ariel Frame

Roger Hudson and Gregory Robinson speak with Marie Gueguen about how to discern between conflicting ideas in science and arrive at informed conclusions in terms of describing the observable universe. Hosts: Roger Hudson and Gregory Robinson Produced by Gavin Tolometti

Chantal Lemire and Yimin Chen interview Elena Hillman from the Masters' in Public Administration program about her research on Ontario’s Social Assistance Program, Ontario Works, and discuss how different funding models for social services might impact not only the kinds of programs available to those in need, but also the employment success rate of those who utilize said services.  Produced by: Gavin Tolometti  

How should one approach moral questions? Is Hume the best method? How do philosophers differ? These questions and more are the work of Chris Shirreff, a PhD student in the philosophy department. Chris enlightens Roger Hudson and Ariel Frame about his research on various methodologies in the study of ethics.  Hosts: Ariel Frame and Roger Hudson Produced by Gregory Robinson

Let's go behind the scenes of the Society or Graduate Students (SOGS) as Madison Bettle tells us about her time as former VPSS. On this week's episode, hosts Chantal Lemire and Nick Handfield-Jones explore Madison's tenure as Vice President - Student Services of SOGS. Madison tells us about the strides she made in representing Western graduate students. Specifically, she explains that including grad students in mental health programs was a great accomplishment, but that more work needs to be done. Finally, hear her tips on how grad students can take care of their mental health and what kind of discussions can be had to improve the grad school experience as a whole. If you would to get ahold of her, contact her by email. For more about SOGS, check out sogs.ca   Hosts: Nick Handfield-Jones and Chantal Lemire Producers: Yimin Chen and Gavin Tolometti

Let's enter the Matrix with Ethan Jackson as he explains his work on machine learning algorithms. This week hosts Yimin Chen and Nick Handfield-Jones dive into Ethan's fascinating research on artificial intelligence and how machine learning algorithms can solve complex problems in the information age. Self-driving cars, big data, and the iPhone face recognition app; all this will be discussed, and more. Plus, listen as Ethan tells us about his new project, where he trains a computer to play Ms. Pac-Man against itself! To learn more, find Ethan here. Hosted by: Yimin Chen and Nick Handfield-Jones Produced by: Gregory Robinson.

Julian Barg is a Doctoral student at Ivey. He speaks with Gregory Robinson and Ariel Frame about this research based program and how his work highlights the data on companies’ ability to act sustainably.   Hosted by: Ariel Frame & Gregory Robinson Produced by: Joyla Furlano  

Joyla Furlano and Ariel Frame speak with Aida Parvizi, Masters student in Biology, about her work on the armyworm moth and how she may be able to use spermatophores of the males to determine the natal origin of these pests. Hosted by: Ariel Frame & Joyla Furlano Produced by: Gregory Robinson

Let's all walk the plank with Abdullah Al-Jaja as he shares his research with us. This week hosts Nick Handfield-Jones and Gavin Tolometti learn about Abdullah's journey immigrating to Canada from Lebanon and is now investigating dopaminergic signaling and anxiety in Parkinson's disease, which involves patients walking on a small plank to induce stress. All the while, Abdullah walks his own plank every day balancing the rigor of graduate studies at Western and the devotion of being a father. To learn more about his research, go to www.jessicagrahn.com or www.pennymacdonald.net.  Hosted by: Nick Handfield-Jones & Gavin Tolometti Produced by: Gregory Robinson.