Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “podcast”

LSS 100: How Humans Perceive the Risk of Contracting COVID-19; Feline Coronaviruses

November 24, 2020

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

MTA Deploys PPE Vending Machines Across Subway System
(photo courtesy of Creative Commons; MTA Photos; CC by 2.0)

In today’s episode, we explore how people perceive the risk of contracting COVID-19. We also discuss how humans can avoid passing COVID-19 to their beloved cat companions.

First off, you’ll hear Candice Limper’s interview of Cornell Professor Dr. Katherine McComas. She is a Professor of Communications in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and studies how people communicate about health, science, and environmental risks.

Dr. Alison Stout (photo courtesy of Dr. Stout)

In the second half of today’s show, you’ll hear Candice Limper’s interview of Dr Alison Stout, a veterinarian who is pursuing her Ph.D. in Virology. She is a student in Dr. Gary Whittaker’s lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. In the interview, Dr. Stout talks about her research on feline coronaviruses and how humans can avoid passing SARS CoV-2 to their pets.

Producer: Liz Mahood

Associate Producer: Esther Racoosin

Interviews of Dr. McComas and Dr. Stout: Candice Limper

Music: Blue Dot Sessions

Comment on this post

LSS 99: Lowering the Carbon Footprint of Mining Rare Earth Metals; Learning about and Finding Solutions to Climate Change

November 10, 2020

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

  • Post-Doc Alexa Schmitz (left) and MEng. student Don Flood (right) of the Barstow lab (photo courtesy of Dr. Barstow)

In today’s episode, we hear about a new technology that can lower the carbon footprint of an energy-intensive mining procedure. We also learn about the causes of climate change, and why the development of new technologies that keep carbon in the earth are so important.

To start off, Janani Hariharan interviews Dr. Buz Barstow from the Cornell Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering. Barstow talks about his research project that uses bacteria to extract rare earth elements in a clean, sustainable way. In this segment, you’ll hear about what rare earth elements are, why they’re important to us, what the current problems are in mining these minerals, and how Dr. Barstow’s team is working to solve some of these problems.

Hurricane Damage (left) and Signs of Drought (right). Images courtesy of Creative Commons (hurricane damage at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Tracking Drought by U.S. Geological Survey. Both marked with CC PDM 1.0)

In our second interview, Esther Racoosin speaks with Dr. Ingrid Zabel, Climate Change Education Manager at the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca. Dr. Zabel discusses the new exhibit at the Museum of the Earth (MOE) in Ithaca, “Changing Climate: Our Future, Our Choices”. A virtual version of the exhibit is currently on display at the MOE website, https://www.museumoftheearth.org/exhibit/changing-climate. The live version of the exhibit will open at the museum in late November. To make a reservation to visit the museum, go to this link: https://www.museumoftheearth.org/visit/plan-your-visit.

Producer: Liz Mahood

Interview of Dr. Buz Barstow: Janani Harihanan

Interview of Dr. Ingrid Zabel: Esther Racoosin

Music: Joe Lewis; Blue Dot Sessions

Comment on this post

LSS98: Effect of Urbanization on Evolution of Squirrel Coat Color; Science Communication Workshops

October 27, 2020

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Gray (left) and Melanic (right) Morphs of the Eastern Gray Squirrel
(photos courtesy of Creative Commons “eastern gray squirrel eating acorns” by Andrew Reding is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 and “Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis” by The Forest Vixen’s CC Photo Stream is licensed under CC BY 2.0)

—————

In today’s show, we speak with Dr. Brad Cosentino, Associate Professor of Biology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

He is the lead researcher on a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how urbanization may affect the evolution of coat color in the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

Listeners can learn more about the grant by visiting this link: https://www2.hws.edu/hws-awarded-nsf-grant-on-evolution-in-cities/.

Citizen scientists (yes, that’s you) can take part in the study by visiting http://www.squirrelmapper.org

——-

Jason Chang and attendees of ComSciCon-SciWri2019
(photo courtesy of Jason Chang)

In the second part of the show, Candice Limper covers a recent virtual science writing conference held specifically for graduate students and post doctoral fellows who would like to learn more about science communication. She spoke with Jason Chang, a graduate student in the Cornell Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, about the event, called ComSciCon-SciWri2020.

To learn more about the Com Sci Con, the Communicating Science workshop for Graduate Students, visit: https://comscicon.com/comscicon-sciwri-2020

——-

Show Producer: Esther Racoosin

Host: Jeff Pea

Interview of Dr. Brad Cosentino: Esther Racoosin

Interview of Jason Chang: Candice Limper

Music: Joe Lewis; Blue Dot Sessions

Comment on this post

LSS 97: Plant Responses to Water Deficits; Harmful Algal Blooms

October 13, 2020

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Sampling root exudates in the field (left); x-ray CT scan of poplar tree roots (right).
Both photos courtesy of Dr. Taryn Bauerle.

In this episode of Locally Sourced Science, we explore two phenomena related to climate change that may have significant effects on our local environment.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/) Tompkins County and much of the Finger Lakes have been experiencing moderate drought conditions. Our first segment focuses on the ways that plants respond to drought. Esther Racoosin speaks with Dr. Taryn Bauerle, Associate Professor in the Cornell School of Integrative Plant Science, about her studies on how plants respond to stresses from water deficits.

Water body with algal bloom (photo courtesy of Dr. Katie Fiorella)

In our second segment, we hear about the environmental implications of climate-related increases of harmful algal blooms in different ecosystems. Janani Hariharan talks to Dr. Katie Fiorella from Cornell University. Dr. Fiorella was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study the economic and health effects of algal blooms on human communities in Kenya. We also hear about local algal blooms in the Finger Lakes area, and what they mean for our ecosystem. 

In our last segment of the show, Candice Limper provides a short history of the Nobel Prize (https://www.nobelprize.org/) and a quick glimpse into this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared for the first time by two female scientists, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna.

————-

Show Producer: Liz Mahood

Associate Producer and interview of Dr. Taryn Bauerle: Esther Racoosin

Interview of Dr. Katie Fiorella: Janani Harihanan

History of Nobel Prize: Candice Limper

Music: Joe Lewis; Blue Dot Sessions

Comment on this post