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Storytellers of STEMM

Storytellers of STEMM

By Rachel Villani

Everyone has a story, and these are the stories of the people in STEMM - their successes, career paths, research, field work, struggles, and everything in between. Each episode features a different storyteller! We're still here and meeting amazing people, and episodes will come out periodically so stay tuned!
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#25 - Amita Roy: Medicine, Travel, and Homeward Bound

Storytellers of STEMMMay 20, 2020

00:00
49:47
#144 - Louise Carroll: Meteorology
Jun 18, 202259:31
#143 - Courtney Robichaud: Freshwater Wetlands & Phragmites australis

#143 - Courtney Robichaud: Freshwater Wetlands & Phragmites australis

Today's storyteller is Dr Courtney Robichaud! Courtney is a wetlands scientist who has primarily researched Phragmites australis - which is a super tall colony forming invasive freshwater plant species. And when I say tall, it's regularly 10-15 feet tall. And Phragmites (aka phrag or roseau) is very good at invading locations and outcompeting native species. It forms these dense colonies which also doesn't really allow for a diverse suite of species to grow in the same area. I was so excited to talk to Courtney because I spend a solid portion of my wetlands scientist career working with phrag, and it was fun to nerd out about the fieldwork and logistics side of it to start. But the biggest thing I wanted to talk about is - what do we do when an invasive species such as phrag is taking over, but also simultaneously holding the wetland together? What do you do? How do you manage that scenario, or do you even manage it at all? It's partially a philosophical question and partly a feasibility question. So we discuss that in length as well, comparing Ontario (Courtney's area) vs the Mississippi River Delta (my area). This was a great conversation and I'm so excited about a wetlands episode. Enjoy!!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and Twitter @storytellers42.

You can find Courtney Robichaud on Twitter @cdrobich and her website https://crobichaud.weebly.com/.

Rachel works on the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) in Louisiana: https://www.lacoast.gov/crms/Home.aspx

Book List: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel, Fire Fall by Bethany Frenette

Recorded on 21 November 2021.

Feb 08, 202259:29
#142 - Jonathon Valente: Avian Ecology & Research

#142 - Jonathon Valente: Avian Ecology & Research

Today's storyteller is Dr Jonathon Valente! Jonathon is a longtime dear friend of mine who does all kinds of interesting bird and wildlife research and so I'm excited to share this conversation with you! We first met at Louisiana State University (LSU) back in I think like 2007, when I was finishing up my bachelor's degree and he was starting his master's degree. I then joined the same research lab to begin my master's degree right after my undergrad graduation, so we were lab mates for a few years as well. This conversation consists mainly of the questions I've always wanted to ask him and never really had the excuse to, like how did you end up in the wildlife field, how did you end up at LSU, what happened next, interspersed with conversations about wildlife, birds, research, etc. Also, there's a brief and hilarious bird interlude around 20 minutes in because what else could you possibly expect when 2 bird people chat on Zoom?!? I hope you enjoy this conversation!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and Twitter @storytellers42.

You can find Jonathon Valente on Twitter @jonathonvalente and his website https://www.jonathonvalente.com/.

Article about the 17 year cicada cycle: Brood X Cicadas are Emerging at Last

MAPS Bird Banding Project: https://www.birdpop.org/pages/maps.php

Texas A&M Wildlife Job Board: https://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/job-board/

Book List: The Overstory by Richard Powers, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat

Recorded on 11 September 2021.

Jan 16, 202201:26:03
#141 - Clay Tucker: Tree Rings and Hurricanes

#141 - Clay Tucker: Tree Rings and Hurricanes

Today's storyteller is Dr Clay Tucker! Clay is a tree ring scientist, also known as a dendrochronologist, and his specialty is related to hurricanes and climate change. I could have called this episode "Dendrochronology" but probably most people have no idea what that would mean and I didn't want to detract from this fabulous episode!! So trees grow and add rings every year, so by taking a small core of the tree you get a visual representation of that tree's life, essentially. And you can see the impact of droughts, hurricanes, and disease on the growth of that tree over time. In Clay's research, he's used tree rings from pine trees across the southeastern US to understand the impacts of hurricanes. It's fascinating research and why I asked Clay to be on the podcast! Clay and I are both in Baton Rouge, and know a lot of the same people, and so we talk about that and relationships within science, about how technology in this era allows for collaboration across continents and time zones, about what I call the "Louisiana Quicksand Conundrum", about learning to read the landscape, and of course about trees and wetlands and research. This is such a fun conversation and Clay is great and I hope everyone enjoys it!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and Twitter @storytellers42.

You can find Clay Tucker on Twitter @climateclay and his website https://coastalab.wixsite.com/claytucker.

LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources: https://www.lsu.edu/rnr/

LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology: https://lsu.edu/ga/index.php

The documentary about Richard Proenneke that Clay describes as his favorite documentary ever is called "Alone in the Wilderness".

Episodes referenced in this episode: #61 - Ashley Booth

Book List: Rising by Elizabeth Rush, One Man's Wilderness by Sam Keith & Richard Proenneke, Voyage of the Turtle by Carl Safina

Recorded on 20 September 2021.

Nov 17, 202101:02:45
#140 - Jhénelle Williams: Nuclear Applications in Environmental Sciences

#140 - Jhénelle Williams: Nuclear Applications in Environmental Sciences

Today's storyteller is Jhénelle Williams! Jhénelle is an ocean engineer from Jamaica using nuclear technology to do ocean and environmental science research. If you're wondering how that works and what that even means, don't worry that's the very first thing we talk about! We talk about the types of research they do, how they use nuclear techniques to further their knowledge. They use this technology to research mangroves, sediment, microplastics, sargassum, and air quality research. I found this to be really cool and we've had a lot of people on to talk about stable isotopes but we never talk about HOW the stable isotopes are processed, and this is one of the ways. So that really clicked for me and felt like a missing knowledge link! Jhénelle is awesome, this was a great conversation, and y'all enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and Twitter @storytellers42.

You can find Jhénelle on Twitter @IslandGirlFHW.

National Geographic Explorer Program: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/our-explorers/?nav_click

Rachel works on the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) in Louisiana: https://www.lacoast.gov/crms/Home.aspx

Rachel's Outdoor Conservation Book Club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/741391-outdoor-conservation-book-club

Book List: Instinct by by TD Jakes, The Dune Series by Frank Herbert, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and others

Recorded on 12 September 2021.

Nov 14, 202157:07
#139 - Brittaney Spruill: Architecture

#139 - Brittaney Spruill: Architecture

Today's storyteller is Brittaney Spruill! Britt is friend and neighbor and architect and today we talk about pretty much everything! ALSO, surprise because Cedric Johnson is back to guest host this time! If you missed Cedric's episode, it's #128. So listen to that one too if you missed it. Anyway back to this episode! Britt is here today to talk about why she chose architecture (or did it choose her?), what she likes about it, about the types of projects she's worked on, what she'd be doing if not architecture, favorite albums, history and people, and a lot of in between. This episode is long because Cedric, Britt, and I have been good friends for a long time so we just had a lot of fun chatting and talking work and buildings and people and history and music. I hope you enjoy!!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and Twitter @storytellers42.

You can find Britt on Twitter @ishapespace.

The student exchange program we talk about is the Southern Regional Education Board's program called the Academic Common Market Program: https://www.sreb.org/academic-common-market

LaHouse: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/topics/family_home/home/lahouse

Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitat.org/

Book List: The Story of Britain by Roy Strong, The Lost Family by Libby Copeland, Woolly by Ben Mezrich, A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz, 1619 by James Horn, American Nations by Colin Woodard

Episodes referenced in this episode: #128 - Cedric Johnson

Recorded on 19 September 2021.

Nov 09, 202101:39:31
#138 - Jarrod McKenna: The Egyptian Spiny Mouse and Reproductive Biology
Oct 14, 202155:29
#137 - Lisa Caprelli: Unicorn Jazz and Educational Outreach

#137 - Lisa Caprelli: Unicorn Jazz and Educational Outreach

Today's storyteller is Lisa Caprelli! She is a children's book author and the creator of the Unicorn Jazz book series, which also launched an Amazon show called The Thing I Do. Today Lisa and I talk about the things that people do, social and emotional intelligence, the importance of people sharing what they do to a young audience, and how her psychology background helps her be a writer and leader. This isn't really a typical STEMM episode BUT I always have said I want to talk to anyone who has anything to share that's even remotely STEMM related, and also talking to Lisa was a lot of fun, so I hope you enjoy it!

Also, I want to give some context to this episode. We recorded this on 28 of August 2021, which was the day before Hurricane Ida made landfall at Grand Isle, LA as a Category 4 hurricane. It devastated southeastern coastal Louisiana. Communities have been damaged, wetlands destroyed (as far as we can tell so far, but it's still early days), houses and businesses wiped out. The list goes on. If you want to help, please check out these local organizations on the ground in the bayou and river parishes regions: www.bayoufund.org, Photographs for Louisiana, and Feed The Second Line.

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and Twitter @storytellers42.

You can find Lisa on Twitter @LisaCaprelli and her website https://lisacaprelli.com/.

You can find Unicorn Jazz Presents The Thing I Do streaming on Amazon, the books wherever you buy books, and at their website https://unicornjazz.com/.

Episodes referenced in this episode: The episode where I tell my "How I Became a Field Biologist" story is remixed and expanded in Episode #100 (or in Episode 1, but the remix is better!).

Book List: Good to Great by Jim Collins, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Recorded on 28 August 2021.

Sep 28, 202150:29
#136 - Logan Kline: Drones and Nesting Seabirds

#136 - Logan Kline: Drones and Nesting Seabirds

Today's storyteller is Logan Kline! Logan is a master's student at the University of Maine studying nesting birds using drones! She is using drones to find nests of colonial nesting seabirds on islands in Maine, and training AI to interpret the images. It's really just so cool! I studied shorebirds for my master's, and have a special place in my bird loving heart for these birds, and that's how I originally started following Logan on Twitter. And add in the amazingly cool drone technology that we have now and it's just really cool the research that's possible now, and I find this transition period we're in to be fascinating (which we talk about). We also talk about using drones safely and ethically, the training one should have to use drones around wildlife and to get a drone pilot's license, birdwatching and gate keeping, and what's next for Logan. Enjoy! You can find Logan on Twitter @latlonglogan and on her website. NOAA Hollings Scholarship Info: https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/hollings-scholarship Texas A&M Wildlife & Fisheries job board: https://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/job-board/  Book List: The Man Who Touched His Own Heart by Rob Dunn, The Warriors Series by Erin Hunter Recorded on 28 August 2021.
Sep 22, 202101:00:19
#135 - Cynthia Awruch: Shark Physiology, Reproduction, and Conservation
Sep 14, 202157:32
#134 - Bharathi Boppana: Computational Modeling and a Conversation

#134 - Bharathi Boppana: Computational Modeling and a Conversation

Sep 08, 202158:60
#133 - Karen Joyce: Drones and Geospatial Science
Aug 24, 202153:57
#132 - Paula Silva: Water Resources Engineering & Management
Aug 18, 202151:20
#131 - Claire Cannon: Veterinary Oncology
Aug 03, 202158:31
#130 - Marga L Rivas: Marine Ecology
Jul 27, 202148:56
#129 - Yona Nebel-Jacobsen: Geochemistry
Jul 21, 202155:23
#128 - Cedric Johnson: Architecture

#128 - Cedric Johnson: Architecture

Today's storyteller is Cedric Johnson! Cedric is very good friend of mine, who is an architect, loves sports, and has the most contagious laughter I've ever heard. I've known Cedric for a long time but I met him because of kickball (yay sports) and our mutual good friend Brittaney Spruill, so I enlisted Britt to guest host with me in this episode!! Britt is also an architect so in this episode we ask Cedric questions about why he chose architecture, about his favorite project and his dream project, and about his career experiences along the way. We also talk all about doors (so many doors), building an airport, design, software, changing tech, and so much more. Cedric is one of my favorite people and I'm so excited and honored to share this conversation with you. Enjoy!


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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.


You can find Cedric on Twitter @cj70422.


Book List: Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong


Episodes referenced in this episode: We keep talking about Tim, and that's Tim Spruill (Episode 8).


Recorded on 22 May 2021.

Jul 07, 202101:07:56
#127 - Georget Oraha: Mussels and Biology Education

#127 - Georget Oraha: Mussels and Biology Education

Jun 30, 202152:13
#126 - Scott Davidson: Peatlands Research
Jun 22, 202154:19
#125 - Anna Frebel: Astronomy & Stellar Archaeology

#125 - Anna Frebel: Astronomy & Stellar Archaeology

Jun 16, 202155:41
#124 - Aedín McAleer: Marine Science & Ocean Acidification
Jun 08, 202149:58
#123 - Joanna Sumner: Herpetology & Managing Genetic Resources

#123 - Joanna Sumner: Herpetology & Managing Genetic Resources

Today's storyteller is Dr Joanna Sumner! She is the Manager of Genetic Resources at Museums Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. She's also a self described "flick falling herpetologist" and tune in because asking what that means was my very first question in this episode! Today we talk about the work she does, what that work even is, the kind of collections they have, about bio banks, and I ask too many questions about liquid nitrogen because I'm a nerd. I was really interested to hear about these genetic collections, how they're managed, what type of research they're used for, and it just seems like such a valuable resource. Also, Joanna and I are both in the 5th cohort of the Homeward Bound program (aka HB5) so we also talk a bit about that too - how she heard about it, why she was interested and applied, and what she hopes to get out of the program once we complete it! Enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Joanna on Twitter @joanna_sumner99.

Museums Victoria: https://museumsvictoria.com.au/

Atlas of Living Australia: https://www.ala.org.au/

Book List: The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson, Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, Phosphorescence by Julia Baird

You can find Homeward Bound at their website https://homewardboundprojects.com.au/, on Twitter @HomewardBound16, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/homewardboundprojects.

Recorded on 27 March 2021.

Jun 01, 202158:47
#122 - Isobel Romero-Shaw: Gravitational Waves

#122 - Isobel Romero-Shaw: Gravitational Waves

Today's storyteller is Isobel Romero-Shaw! Isobel is a PhD student at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She studies gravitational waves, which is AWESOME. I'm not even going to pretend to be smart enough to write out an explanation of what that is so just listen in and Isobel will explain it to us. What I will say is that the existence of gravitational waves was predicted by Albert Einstein, and recently confirmed just a few years ago. There's still so much to learn in this field! Today Isobel tells us how she stubbornly chose physics, and about her research with gravitational waves. And then we jump into a dive about Homeward Bound - I'm HB5 as you all know and Isobel is HB6. It was really great getting to talk to her and I'm happy to have met another person from HB6, so enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Isobel on Twitter @astrobel_rs and her HB6 fundraising website. Isobel's book is Planetymology!

LIGO is the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/. The LIGO facility in Louisiana I reference is the Livingston one.

Book List: Storm in a Teacup by Helen Czerski, The Art Instinct by Dennis Dutton, The Trial by Franz Kafka, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Episodes referenced in this episode: "my friend Tim" is Tim Spruill (Episode 8), Harriet Teare (Episode 121)

You can find Homeward Bound at their website https://homewardboundprojects.com.au/, on Twitter @HomewardBound16, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/homewardboundprojects.

Recorded on 20 March 2021.

May 25, 202101:02:12
#121 - Harriet Teare: Healthcare Technology & Accessibility

#121 - Harriet Teare: Healthcare Technology & Accessibility

Today's storyteller is Dr Harriet Teare! I got connected with Harriet because she's in the newest cohort of Homeward Bound - HB6 - and I put an all call on Twitter to invite them to come be on the podcast! So Harriet is the first of several episodes featuring HB6ers, and I feel a bit like a sophomore in high school now with the new class coming in after me. So that's how Harriet and I got connected, but she's here today to talk about her work in the healthcare space working on managing health, not disease, and focusing on ways new and upcoming technologies can make healthcare more accessible for all. It's really interesting and I learned a lot! Then we also go on tangents about our health habits and fitness interests, like the endurance activities we both do. I personally have been struggling with lack of motivation during this pandemic because my normal source of motivation is gone, and Harriet explains how she found unique ways to stay motivated during this unusual time. As usual the episode title doesn't begin to cover everything we talk about in this episode so enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Harriet on Twitter @HTeare and her HB6 fundraising page: https://chuffed.org/project/hari-to-antarctica-global-leadership-for-women-in-stemm-teamhb6

To learn more about the UK participants in the HB6 cohort, and to support if you so desire: https://uk2antarctica.com/home

Book List: Cross Everything by Henry Scowcroft

You can find Homeward Bound at their website https://homewardboundprojects.com.au/, on Twitter @HomewardBound16, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/homewardboundprojects.

Recorded on 20 March 2021.

May 18, 202157:47
#120 - Carol Silberberg: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

#120 - Carol Silberberg: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

Today's storyteller is Dr Carol Silberberg! She's a consultation-liaison psychiatrist living in Melbourne, Australia. I met Carol through HB5 - which is the 5th cohort of Homeward Bound - and it was really great to have her on for a one on one conversation. So, today we talk about a LOT of topics, including about her career, what drew her to medicine in the first place, choosing a path in life, how one transports a cello from Canada to Australia, doctors orchestras, Homeward Bound, education in Australia, and gender balances in our respective fields. It's really hard to title these episodes sometimes because the blip of a title never fully captures the whole episode! I titled it as I did because I couldn't list everything we talk about (I never can) - so enjoy the conversation!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Carol Silberberg on Twitter @Commonloon99.

The Discomfort Zone that we both contribute to is a podcast recorded with a team of Homeward Bound 5 (Team HB5) participants: https://anchor.fm/discomfort-zone-podcast

Book List: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

Episodes referenced in this episode: Carol's friend Amita that was in Homeward Bound is Amita Roy (Episode 25).

You can find Homeward Bound at their website https://homewardboundprojects.com.au/, on Twitter @HomewardBound16, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/homewardboundprojects.

Recorded on 18 March 2021.

May 11, 202101:04:51
#119 - Auriel Fournier: Wetland Birds & Fieldwork

#119 - Auriel Fournier: Wetland Birds & Fieldwork

Today's storyteller is Dr Auriel Fournier! I found Auriel on Twitter because of her rail research, and then turns out that my friend Dr Craig Miller (Episode 27) now works with her at the Illinois Natural History Survey so he connected us. It's a small world out there y'all, and I was so happy to meet Auriel and have her on the pod. The title of the episode is a bit not descriptive enough for everything we talk about in this episode! Auriel is a wetland and waterfowl biologist and also currently the Director of the Forbes Biological Research Station with the Illinois Natural History Survey. For those that aren't in the secretive marsh bird world, rails are these often ground running elusive marsh birds, and they're really cool in my opinion. So in this episode we talk about Auriel's career, her education, advice for anyone interested in a similar type of career, her various research with rails and other birds, the romanticising of field work, Isle Royale, and what she's doing now in Illinois. Plus we take a dive into science fiction at the end. Enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Auriel on Twitter @RallidaeRule and on her website: http://aurielfournier.github.io/.

Isle Royale Long Term Wolf-Moose study: https://isleroyalewolf.org/

Book List: The City We Became by NK Jemisin, Accidentals by Susan M Gaines, The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, New York 2140 by KSR, The Expanse Series by James SA Corey

Episodes referenced in this episode: Craig Miller (Episode 27)

Recorded on 7 March 2021.

May 05, 202158:02
#118 - Richard Allen White III: All About Viruses
Apr 27, 202101:05:23
#117 - Damion Whyte: Jamaican Wildlife & Rooster's World
Apr 21, 202154:39
#116 - Bryan Fry: Venom and Toxicology

#116 - Bryan Fry: Venom and Toxicology

Today's storyteller is Dr Bryan Fry! Bryan is a toxicologist working on how toxins impact health, and working a lot with venom, hence why he also goes by the nickname Venom Doc! Which is also the title of his memoir about his experiences, which we'll talk about a few times in this episode. Bryan works with venom from a variety of species, and uses some really powerful technology to accomplish research that literally wasn't possible 20 years ago (as you'll hear in detail). I got connected with Bryan in the first place because I was curious where the snakes go in the winter round here, so we start off talking about that. Then we talk about his career and how his childhood experiences led him to an interest in toxins, and what kinds of research he's been working on. I didn't know how complicated and specific venoms and anti venoms are, and so I learned a lot and am glad to have learned from Bryan! This was a fun episode and I was kind of astounded several times, so I hope you enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Bryan on Twitter @Venom__Doc and on his website www.venomdoc.com. You can find all his research on his website, including the 2 books Bryan has written - the textbook "Venomous Reptiles & Their Toxins" and the memoir "Venom Doc".

Book List: Devolution by Max Brooks, Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L Friedman, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Recorded on 14 February 2021.

Apr 13, 202101:02:28
#115 - Sarah Youngren: Live from Midway Atoll

#115 - Sarah Youngren: Live from Midway Atoll

Today's storyteller is Sarah Youngren! She was one of my earliest guests, and a friend of mine from when I was in grad school. In her first episode, we talk about her life as a seabird biologist, which involves "migrating" to different remote areas throughout the year. Sarah and her partner Dan Rapp regularly work out in the Pacific on islands and on Aiktak Island in the Aleutians. Sarah and Dan have been out on Midway Atoll since November, and today actually is their departure day. So they've been on Midway for months doing seabird research, primarily with Laysan Albatross and Bonin Petrels. In this episode we're going to hear some audio of the birds at Midway, my conversation with Sarah, and I'll end the episode with a longer audio clip that Dan recorded. You can also hear birds in the background of the conversation, which I love. I called this episode "live from Midway Atoll" but really it's not live, but it will sort of sound like it because of all the wonderful bird sounds. So up first in this episode is a few minutes long clip of seabirds on Midway Atoll, and you'll primarily hear the Laysan Albatross, Then stay tuned for my conversation with Sarah. Following our conversation is a longer audio segment of what it sounds like in the early morning on Midway Atoll amongst the birds. Enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Sarah Youngren on Instagram @syoungre and her website, and in Episode 7!

You can find Friends of Midway Atoll on Facebook and their website.

Recorded on 21 March 2021.

Apr 06, 202156:20
#114 - Amani Webber-Schultz: Sharks and Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS)

#114 - Amani Webber-Schultz: Sharks and Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS)

Mar 30, 202101:00:13
#113 - Antarctica Series 23: Megan McCuller
Mar 25, 202154:43
#112 - Priya Gandhi: Building Sustainability
Mar 23, 202101:07:17
#111 - Antarctica Series 22: Kirsten Carlson and Greg Neri

#111 - Antarctica Series 22: Kirsten Carlson and Greg Neri

Today's storytellers are Kirsten Carlson and Greg Neri! They are co-chairs of the Antarctic Artist and Writers Collective (AAWC), and they went to Antarctica together as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Antarctic Artist and Writers Program in 2017. The AAWC brings together all past members of the NSF program together to collaborate to inspire and educate the public about Antarctica. Right now the AAWC has an online exhibit called "Adequate Earth" and you should definitely check that out because you can also see the exhibits that Kirsten & Greg contributed! Kirsten is a visual artist, has a science background, and a diver and she combines all of these things together in her work. Greg is a writer and filmmaker, and has written a dozen books for kids about various topics. They are both awesome and it was so great to talk to them and hear about their time in Antarctica, their work with AAWC, and their exhibits in the Adequate Earth online program. Enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Kirsten Carlson on Twitter @kirstencarlson and her website http://www.kirstencarlson.net/.

You can find Greg Neri on Twitter @g_neri or on his website https://www.gregneri.com/.

You can find the Antarctic Artist and Writers Collective on Twitter @AntarcticAWC and on their website https://www.aawcollective.com/.

Adequate Earth by AAWC: https://www.aawcollective.com/adequate-earth-exhibition

Rachel's Outdoor Conservation Book Club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/741391-outdoor-conservation-book-club

Book List - The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf, The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf, Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Mar 19, 202101:25:41
#110 - Jeremy Conkle: Pollution in Wetlands and Waterways

#110 - Jeremy Conkle: Pollution in Wetlands and Waterways

Today's storyteller is Dr Jeremy Conkle! He's a professor at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and his specialty is pollution in wetlands, including pharmaceuticals and microplastics. I met Jeremy way back in the day when we were both students at LSU, and today we talk about his journey to his current job and research focus! Jeremy has always done really interesting research, starting with looking at pharmaceuticals in wetlands. I love wetlands as y'all all know but this is an aspect I would never have thought about probably without knowing Jeremy. It's really interesting learning how long things persist in the environment and I learned we're still finding the remnants of DDT out there. We have a brief chat about the DDT aspect, but if you want to learn more I definitely recommend reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson - it was the book that introduced me to what being an ecologist can achieve. This conversation is pretty wide ranging covering a lot of different aspects of wetland ecology, pollution, the impacts of oil and gas, climate change, and how all of these things interact. I am so glad Jeremy agreed to do the podcast, and I really enjoy it when close friends agree to be on this podcast with me, it was so great to catch up, and I hope y'all enjoy this episode!!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Jeremy Conkle on Twitter @C_HaWQ and his lab's website: https://www.c-hawq.org/.

Book List: An Unreasonable Woman by Diane Wilson, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, This is Our Time By Ruby Bridges

Episodes Referenced: Lauren Land Morris (Ep 6), Sarah Youngren (Ep 7), Alex Troutman (Ep 59)

Recorded on 26 January 2021. 


Mar 17, 202101:02:57
#109 - Antarctica Series 21: Saz Reed

#109 - Antarctica Series 21: Saz Reed

Today's storyteller is Saz Reed! Saz is currently a technician for the Scottish Association for Marine Science, known as SAMS, and in this episode we talk about her time when she was based at Rothera in Antarctica for 18 months! She's done a lot of polar work in both directions, is a diver, loves adventure, and was just a treat to talk to. Saz is also the first person I've talked to who has overwintered in Antarctica, which was interesting to hear about. We talk all about her time in Antarctica, diving and carrying a seal stick, and transporting samples back to the UK by ship. She did a pretty extreme journey where she went from Antarctica, by ship to the UK, then basically straight to the Arctic! It was interesting to hear about and Saz is such a good storyteller so enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Saz Reed on Twitter @SazReed, and her blog: Tales of a Research Technician

Episodes referenced in this one: Episode 72 with Sabrina Heiser (Antarctica Series #2)

Book List - Into the Planet by Jill Heinerth, Run or Die by Kilian Jornet, Underland by Robert Macfarlane

Recorded on 16 January 2021.

Mar 11, 202151:51
#108 - Dakota Hilliard: Astrophysics, Spaceflight, and Extreme Weather

#108 - Dakota Hilliard: Astrophysics, Spaceflight, and Extreme Weather

Today's storyteller is Dakota Hilliard! He's an undergraduate at the University of North Dakota here in the US, majoring in astrophysics and minoring in space studies! I asked Dakota to be on the podcast because his enthusiasm for space is infectious (in a good way) and I enjoy following him on Twitter, so I thought it would be fun! I know next to nothing about outer space or astrophysics or anything like that, so Dakota told me all about that. He's very interested in spaceflight and from following him on Twitter I learned there's waaaaay more rocket programs going on right now than I was aware of, so I asked him to teach me all about that. We also talk about extreme weather, like hurricanes and tornadoes, and chasing the aurora borealis.

Also I've had very few undergrads on the pod so far so that was an additional reason I invited Dakota on and also to prove that there's no gates round here - if you have something STEMM related you want to share no matter where you are in your education or career, let's talk! You can find how to contact me in the show notes. Anyway enjoy the episode!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Dakota Hilliard on Twitter @ItsAstroKota and his book is Poems From a Stargazer.

Stennis Space Center in Mississippi: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/stennis/home/index.html

Book List: Poems From a Stargazer (Dakota's book), The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

Episodes referenced in this episode: "my friend Dave" is Dave Nussbaum (Episode 40)

Recorded on 17 January 2021.

Mar 10, 202101:11:54
#107 - Antarctica Series 20: Marlo Garnsworthy

#107 - Antarctica Series 20: Marlo Garnsworthy

Today's storyteller is Marlo Garnsworthy! Marlo is an artist, illustrator, author, and science communicator. She has now travelled to Antarctica twice as an education and outreach officer aboard an Antarctic cruise ship, which is a really important role aboard those ships because they educate and interpret the landscape and environment for passengers. She says in this episode that she had a hard time to put her experience into words, which further shows why art is so important! In this episode we talk about her time in Antarctica, the blue iceberg that changed her life, the importance of art, her amazing story of getting to meet Jane Goodall, and we discuss our experiences and the ways that the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) changed our lives. Enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Marlo Garnsworthy on Twitter @MarloWordyBird and on her website: www.IcebirdStudio.com.

Marlo is actively and eagerly seeking her next oceanographic or polar outreach expedition! Also if you like her art, she has prints for sale on her website (www.IcebirdStudio.com).

Marlo's books -

- National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS): https://www.nols.edu/en/

- Check out #HowMuchHowFast on Twitter

- Web of Life Children's Books: http://weboflifebooks.com/

Recorded on 8 November 2020.

Mar 04, 202157:19
#106 - S. Yoshi Maezumi: Paleoecology
Mar 02, 202155:04
#105 - Antarctica Series 19: Michael Schrimpf

#105 - Antarctica Series 19: Michael Schrimpf

Today's storyteller is Dr Michael Schrimpf! He's currently doing a postdoc position at the University of Manitoba, and his research interests are species distributions, bird conservation, and species interactions. Today though he's here to talk about his PhD research at Stony Brook University, where he was in the same lab at Alex Borowicz (Episode 75) which you'll hear us reference. So his PhD research focused on the distribution and community ecology of breeding birds in Antarctica! I know we all think about penguins in Antarctica, but there's also a variety of seabirds including a species of cormorant, plus a few petrels. So we talk all about birds, field work, doing their study from and utilizing tourist cruise ships, and more. Enjoy!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Michael Schrimpf on Twitter @MBS_Science and on his website: https://michaelschrimpf.weebly.com/.

The paper about Antarctic vessel traffic is "Patterns of tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region; a 20-year analysis" by Nicole A Bender, Kim Crosbie, and Heather J Lynch, Antarctic Science, 2016.

Episodes referenced in this one: Episode 75 - Antarctica Series 03: Alex Borowicz, my friend the seabird biologist is Episode 7 - Sarah Youngren: Being a Seabird Biologist.

Recorded on 25 October 2020.

Feb 26, 202157:36
#104 - Pat Lennard: Tasmanian Devils, OneHealth, and Immunotherapy
Feb 24, 202157:51
#103 - Antarctica Series 18: Mike Gooseff
Feb 19, 202101:06:11
#102 - Rebecca Atkins: Salt Marsh Snails & Experiences in STEMM

#102 - Rebecca Atkins: Salt Marsh Snails & Experiences in STEMM

Today's storyteller is Rebecca Atkins! She's a PhD student at the University of Georgia studying marsh periwinkles in salt marshes. Marsh periwinkles are an adorable little purplish snail found in coastal salt marshes around the coastal United States. I've always seen them when I do field work but got to learn so much about them from Rebecca. We also talk about how she got into the wetlands / snail research field, and about the course on STEM and feminist theory she just helped teach with other graduate students. The course sounded really good (that's the "Experiences in STEMM part of this episode because I'm not very good at creatively naming episodes) and I am looking forward to learning more about those topics. Also, Rebecca, like many people I've talked to in STEMM is also an artist & she does illustrations! One of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is learning about all the different aspects of people in STEMM outside of their careers/fields and it's really fun. I enjoyed talking to Rebecca so I hope you enjoy this episode! And Happy Mardi Gras!

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You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress or www.rachelvillani.com, and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook and on the shiny new Twitter account @storytellers42.

You can find Rebecca Atkins on Twitter @RL_Atkins or her website http://www.rebeccaatkins.com/.

Student Conservation Association: https://www.thesca.org/

Knauss Fellowship: https://seagrant.noaa.gov/Knauss-Fellowship-Program

Rachel's Outdoor Conservation Book Club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/741391-outdoor-conservation-book-club

Book List from this episode:

- On Being Included by Sara Ahmed

- Ghost Stories for Darwin by Banu Subramaniam

- Data Feminism by Catherine D'Ignazio & Lauren F Klein

- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

- All About Penguins by Dyan deNapoli (the kids penguin book I referenced)

- The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Recorded on 9 January 2021.

Feb 16, 202150:52
#101 - Antarctica Series 17: Pacifica Sommers
Feb 11, 202158:14
#100 - Rachel Villani: How I Became a Field Biologist (REMIX)
Feb 09, 202157:24
#99 - Antarctica Series 16: Schuyler Borges
Feb 05, 202155:17
#98 - Emlyn Resetarits: Aquatic Snails and Parasites
Feb 02, 202154:29
#97 - One Year Anniversary
Jan 29, 202112:04
#96 - Antarctica Series 15: Alicia Purcell
Jan 28, 202159:02
#95 - Anna Colucci: Marine Biology to Corporate Sustainability
Jan 26, 202151:30