Breaking Bio

We talk to Dr. Crystal Dilworth, science correspondent with Al Jazeera America, about the many ways she's helped promote science on screen.

In the very first Breaking Bio Blitz we talk to Cynthia Malone of Columbia University about her upcoming research on conflicts between wildlife and oil palm plantations in Cameroon.

Don't worry, we're not the ones dancing. Stuart Wigby from the University of Oxford sits down to talk to us about his work on fruit fly sex, how aging impacts reproduction, and why his PhD students feel as comfortable on the dance floor as they do in the lab!

This week's guest is ecologist and all-around bird nerd Dr. Alex Bond. Alex was an adjunct at the University of Saskatchewan when we talked to him, but he'll soon beginning his new position as a Conservation Scientist for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds  in the UK. Alex talked to us about the wide variety of ornithological research he's involved with, the importance of natural history to science, and why puffins are giant D-bags! Come for the feathers, stay for the fun! Follow along with Alex's research & upcoming field work in the middle of nowhere on Twitter (@thelabandfield) and his blog The Lab & Field (http://labandfield.wordpress.com/).

It’s coral reefs, it’s climate change, it’s us making connections for our next African vacation.  It’s episode 60 with Emily Darling (@emilysdarling), marine ecologist extraordinaire! And good news:  we’re not all screwed.  Well, mostly.  Probably.  Okay, look, watch the interview and decide for yourself.

  It’s dolphin time!  Join us as we talk with Justin Gregg, research associate at the Dolphin Communication Project, author of the new book Are Dolphins Really Smart, and voiceover artist.  Bonus: a brief discussion on dolphin assisted birth and why that’s a really dumb idea.

In episode 58 we’re joined by Dan Gillis, Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Guelph.  We had a great talk about his work as an ecological modeller for the Saugeen Ojibway First Nations and about an innovative project with his students that is helping to deliver fresh food to food donors and emergency food providers!

In episode 57 we’re joined by David Shiffman (@WhySharksMatter), marine biologist, shark conservationist, and scicommer extraordinaire.  It’s a great interview, ranging everywhere from shark culls in Australia to mermaids to how one can buy the shirt off your Red Lobster servers’ back.  Everyone in the pool!

I bet you didn’t know that ‘comparative lactation’ was a thing, did you?  Well, it is.  And it’s awesome.  Katie Hinde (@mammals_suck), assistant professor at Harvard, joins us to talk about milk, milk, milk!  Oh, and some biology stuff. Ever thought about milking a monkey?  Be prepared to have your mind blown.

In episode 55 we’re joined by a luminary of evolutionary biology and behavioural ecology, Professor Marlene Zuk of the University of Minnesota!  Marlene joins us to talk about her latest book Paleofantasy, crickets, the odd things that people will tell you, and more!  If you like science, this one’s chock-full of it.

In episode 54 we chat with the talented Upulie Divisekera, molecular biology PhD student at Monash University.  It's a free-wheeling interview covering everything from nanotech for cancer to science communication to Cordyceps fruiting bodies erupting out of human heads! Come on, you know you want to hear about the grey goo. All the cool kids are doing it. For bonus points, follow Real Scientists on Twitter!

In episode 53, we’re joined by the awesome and funny Jessica Light to talk lice. That’s right, lice. More generally, though, it’s host-parasite interaction and it’s pretty fascinating stuff. You’ll learn things. Interesting things. Dark things. Ever wondered how to collect lice from a dead rat? We guarantee that you’ll never look at a Home Depot the same way.

Epsiode 52: ants and careers!  We chat with Magdalena Sorger on cool trapjaw ants, unusual career paths in academia, and getting into field work when you’re not prepared for it.

In episode 51, we chat with the inspiring Karen James:  geneticist, innovator in citizen science, co-founder and director of the Beagle project, and she nearly went into space.  Frankly, after we post this episode, we’re all heading out to make something of ourselves.

Episode 50!  For this episode, we had the chance to chat with amazing author and National Geographic contributor David Quammen (Spillover, Song of the Dodo).  This episode was so packed full of awesome that we recorded for double the length and split it into two parts (this is part 2).  No word of a lie, this is one of the best episodes we’ve recorded.

Episode 50!  For this episode, we had the chance to chat with amazing author and National Geographic contributor David Quammen (Spillover, Song of the Dodo).  This episode was so packed full of awesome that we recorded for double the length and split it into two parts (this is part 1).  No word of a lie, this is one of the best episodes we’ve recorded.

In episode 49, we talk with William Gunn (@mrgunn), Head of Academic Outreach at Mendeley!  We chat with him about Mendeley, replicating studies, open access, and Elsevier.  Did you #mendelete?  One of the hosts did! Come see us dish out the hardhitting journalistic questions for which our podcast is not at all famous.

In episode 48, we talk with academic poster design guru (and all-around science guy) Zen Faulkes, also known as @doctorzen.  Come for the Captain Canuck, stay for the design tips!

In episode 47, we chat with Andrew Jackson of The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, or Trinity College Dublin, for short.  This time, we're talking evolution of cooperation, we're talking self-deception and creationism, we're talking visual processing (why do flies live in the Matrix?), and we're talking math.  Feel the modelling.  Live the modelling.  Love the (mathematical) modelling.

Episode 46 finds us chatting with Emily McTavish, postdoc at the University of Kansas, about the Open Tree of Life project!  No idea what that is (http://opentreeoflife.org)?  Hear about the project, data collection, and why *you too* should be a programmer in biology!