Propelling Women in Power

In this episode, we sit down with Kaiping Chen, Assistant Professor in Life Sciences Communication at UW–Madison. She leads us down the path to what she does now, from exploring political science to diving into the computational methods that drive her communications research. Through her community engagement work, she seeks to connect data science, democratic theory, and human-computer interactions to find out how to empower people, especially those who are underserved, to participate in environmental policymaking. She explains how she’s finding out who says what in deliberation processes and highlights her invaluable experiences collaborating with community members and listening to community NGOs. Lastly, she delves into the essential support required for young STEM faculty, emphasizing the significance of holistic success criteria, promotions, and diverse mentorship opportunities in the field.

In this short recap of Propelling Women In Power Season 1, we unite the highlights from our conversations with ten amazing women in energy science, who range from nuclear scientists to science communication leaders to microbiological problem-solvers and beyond. Here, we take a look back at their challenges, solutions, and advice to young women in science.

What happens when we get comfortable with uncertainty? Today, we talked to Audrey Gasch, professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center scientist, about all the factors that propelled her from an undergraduate studying biochemistry at UW-Madison to the leader of the Center for Genomic Science Innovation. She shares key lessons she learned from her own mentors, her philosophy of growth mindset, and her advice on getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

What decisions will you make today? How do you decide what to do and not do? This week, Natalia de Leon, professor of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center researcher, talks about her decision-making process to find balance everyday as a scientist, mother, and mentor. De Leon shares how she fostered her love for plants, people, and field and lab work through her collaborative research in plant breeding and genetics. Finally, De Leon gives us insights on how she creates the space for herself and others to be the best scientists they can.

If you've spent a minute with Carolina Córdova, you've potentially made a friend for life. That's how it is with some people - you just click. Córdova, assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and former Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center postdoctoral researcher, shares her adventures in academic research dealing with the friendly and, occasionally, not-so-friendly on her path to becoming a leader in the soil sciences. She also discusses her hands-on approach to mentorship, both on and off the field.

Hosts: Michelle Chung, Mary Riker
Producers: Mark E. Griffin, Michelle Chung, Mary Riker
Editors: Mark E. Griffin, Michelle Chung, Mary Riker

Music composed and performed by Mark E. Griffin

What happens when the thing you thought you wanted turns out to be different than what you expected? This week, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Research Coordinator Adrianna Trusiak talks about the pressures of grad school and the tough choices she made to shift her career path. Trusiak also gives us some insight on how following her passions led towards a job that accentuates a value she comes back to several times in the course of our talk with her: the importance of building meaningful relationships in work and play.

Hosts: Mary Riker and Michelle Chung
Editors and Producers: Mary Riker, Michelle Chung, Mark Griffin
Music written and performed by Mark Griffin

How do we choose our path when the tree of life bears more fruit than we can feast on? How can we live without fear that our unchosen, yet still desired, fruits will not wither as we can only harvest a few? Today, Stephanie McFarlane, graduate student in Ellen Damschen's lab at the University of Wisconsin Madison's Department of Integrative Biology, mother of three, and mentor to multiple undergraduate students, shares how her perspective on choosing the fruits on her own personal tree of life has changed with each choice and subsequent branch. As a first generation college student fueled by a passion for plants, she shares her journey of restarting her PhD and finding balance as a researcher, mentor, and mother

She gives us her insights on the changes that can be made to build a more diverse community of scientists and how in doing so we can make our science stronger and better. McFarlane speaks to us from an extra special perspective as the research mentor of co-host Michelle Chung.

Today's episode was hosted by Michelle Chung, assistant editor and former Wisconsin Energy Institute communications intern, and Mary Riker, Wisconsin Energy Institute communications intern.

Editors: Michelle Chung, Mary Riker, Mark E. Griffin, Wisconsin Energy Institute Communications Specialist
Producers: Michelle Chung, Mary Riker, and Mark E. Griffin
Music written and performed by Mark E. Griffin

How do we have conversations about the things that matter to us with people with whom we disagree? Where do we find common ground? And how do we make decisions about our future that reflects on those difficult challenges while moving society forward? Today, Dominique Brossard, professor and chair of the department of life sciences communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, gives us a glimpse into the science behind finding common ground with a perfect analogy: chocolate cake.

Brossard talks about how her own journey inspired her to look into how we can understand different worldviews and offers advice on how to build a diverse community of scientists from her own perspective as a woman in STEM at the top of her field.

Hosts: Michelle Chung and Mary Riker
Edited and produced by: Michelle Chung, Mary Riker, Mark E. Griffin
Music written and performed by: Mark E. Griffin

What does it mean to foster an environment that truly feels welcoming? For Yiying Xiong, associate director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, it all comes down to treating a team of coworkers like they are part of a family. Xiong spoke with us about her experiences nurturing communities in the hydropower industry and now academic research. She also reveals two factors she thinks make a successful leader: self-confidence and mentorship. 

Today's episode was hosted by Michelle Chung, assistant editor and former Wisconsin Energy Institute communications intern, and Mary Riker, Wisconsin Energy Institute communications intern.

Editors: Mary Riker, Michelle Chung and Mark E. Griffin

Producers: Michelle Chung, Mark E. Griffin, and Mary Riker

Music written and performed by Mark E. Griffin

If you take an atom that’s just floating through space, spin it around at a really high temperature, and – pow! – smash it together with another atom to make a big nucleus, you end up with a bigger, more powerful, and stronger atom. In the meantime, there's a big release of energy that we can theoretically capture and turn into electricity. The problem is, it's really hard to keep the reactions going while capturing the energy that this powerful punch produces.

This is the essence of fusion power, the elusive carbon-neutral energy source that researchers have been trying to harness for almost a century. Today's guest, Stephanie Diem, assistant professor of engineering physics, is at the forefront of this research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While she uncovers the clues to turning this technology into a viable supply for society’s energy needs, she’s working on ways people like her - women in the nuclear energy research – can sustain themselves, and grow to constitute more than just the current 10% of the field.

Today's episode was hosted by Michelle Chung, assistant editor and former Wisconsin Energy Institute communications intern, and Mary Riker, Wisconsin Energy Institute communications intern.

Editors: Mary Riker, Mark E. Griffin, Wisconsin Energy Institute Communications Specialist
Producers: Michelle Chung, Mark E. Griffin, and Mary Riker
Music written and performed by Mark E. Griffin

Why do a podcast about women in energy sciences? University of Wisconsin–Madison students Michelle Chung and Mary Riker introduce themselves, talk about why they started this podcast, and explain why decided to interview women in energy sciences. Finally, they reveal what you – the listener – can take away from these inspiring conversations.