Lab Out Loud

Lab Out Loud's exploration into distance learning takes on new meaning this week, as they discover what's next from the Perseverance rover that recently landed on Mars. To guide them in the conversation, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler welcome Brandon Rodriguez to the show. A chemist by training, Brandon teaches high school chemistry and physics while working as an Education Specialist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he provides resources and training for K-12 schools. Brandon joins Lab Out Loud to remind us of the impossible task of landing a rover on Mars, shares what we can expect to learn from the Perseverance mission, and provides a little advice for students interested in working for NASA and other STEM fields. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2021/03/episode-243-perseverance/

Igniting Science Curiosity Across Africa As the Lab Out Loud Podcast continues to explore how science education has adapted during the pandemic, a new science TV show out of Africa caught their eye. In part created to accommodate learning at home through broadcast television, N*Gen has grown into a Pan-African TV show that encourages science across borders and allows African children to see themselves as scientists. With a STEM focus, episodes include engaging animations, hands-on experiments, tips for healthy living and clips from teachers across the continent. To learn more about N*Gen and how it's made, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale welcome Irene Nyangoma (a teacher in Uganda, writer and main host), Joy Kiano (a teacher in Kenya and science writer), and Gosia Lukomska (producer) to the show. Listen now, then watch N*Gen on the Africa Channel or on YouTube! Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2021/03/episode-242-ngen/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast talks with Mallory Wills, a biology and earth science teacher at George Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In August 2020, Cedar Rapids and other parts of the Midwest were slammed by a derecho - an intense storm with straight line winds that damaged every school in the Cedar Rapids system. In the wake of the devastation, Mallory applied for a SSP (Science for Society and the Public) STEM Research Grant, hoping that the grant would provide much needed funding to help start a research club. Adapted for online learning, the award of $1000 provided take home STEM kits that helped Mallory provide hands-on learning opportunities in an online learning environment. Mallory joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to describe the damage inflicted by the derecho in her district, how she has been using the SSP award to help her students conduct research in an online learning environment, and to remind us of the resilience, unanticipated benefits and the hope that can shi

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast talks with India Carlson, a botany and environmental horticulture teacher at Ballard High School in Seattle, Washington. In a typical year, India's students spend a significant portion of time working in the school garden and greenhouse. Faced with the unique challenges of learning science at home this year, India decided to clone a plant for every one of her students to use at home for learning, experimentation, and even finding joy. India joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about the logistics of sending plants home, the unexpected benefits of the program, and how this experience has prompted her students to appreciate more of the environment around them. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2021/02/episode-240-sending-plants-home/

Lab Out Loud's guest this week is Dr. Steffania Kapsetaki, a postdoctoral research fellow at Arizona State University at the Arizona Cancer & Evolution Center. Joining Lab Out Loud from Greece where she is working remotely during the pandemic, Dr. Kapsetaki is studying chimerism across the tree of life and its potential impact in triggering cancer. Representing a relatively new field of research in life science, chimerism occurs when organisms contain cells from other organisms. Dr. Kapsetaki joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about her research, how she is able to continue her work through the pandemic, and how discoveries in chimerism might impact our health and understanding of life science. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2021/01/episode-239-dr-steffania-kapsetaki/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast explores Meet The Lab, a new educational resource from PBS Wisconsin Education designed for middle school science classrooms. Similar to their #ScientistOutLoud series, Meet the Lab introduces students to real world issues, scientific practices and concepts, and also to the people that work together to research and solve problems using science. To guide them through this new resource, co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler are joined by Megan Monday, Executive Producer at PBS Wisconsin in the Education Department and Travis Tangen, Education and Outreach Manager at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). Listen to the show to learn more about Meet the Lab, its focus on connecting students to real life researchers and why their work matters, and how the project can help students develop their own STEAM identities. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/?p=5111

The guest for the Lab Out Loud podcast this week is Dr. Rachel Hale. As a self-proclaimed invertebrate advocate, Rachel's personal interests in worms and other invertebrates have grown into a career as a marine biologist. Working for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, part of her work includes research voyages where Rachel is able to study the biodiversity of invertebrates living around the sediment at the seafloor. Dr. Hale joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about her research voyages and the challenges of conducting field research during the pandemic, describe some of her amazing invertebrate discoveries, and discuss the connection of her work to climate change research. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/12/episode-237-dr-rachel-hale/

To conclude their segment on video in science education, The Lab Out Loud podcast is joined this week by filmmakers Clayton Brown and Monica Long from 137 Films. This Chicago-based documentary production company promotes science through storytelling by exploring how its search for answers impacts our cultural, political, and personal lives. Directed by Clayton and Monica, We Believe in Dinosaurs follows the building of the Ark Encounter in Northern Kentucky to its opening day. By focusing on the human aspect of the story, the documentary allows the viewer to understand the challenge that mainstream scientists and teachers face as they try to educate America on the bedrock of the biological sciences: evolution. Clayton and Monica join co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about We Believe in Dinosaurs, what they learned about America's relationship with science while making it, and how the documentary can help science educators better understand the students coming into their classrooms. Show notes at:

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Jared Lipworth to the show. As Executive Producer and head of Outreach and Impact at HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Jared oversees the production of documentaries in addition to the outreach and impact campaigns built around them. Recent NSTA Conference attendees will recognize HHMI's "Night at the Movies" hosted at the annual Conference. Without a physical conference to attend, Lab Out Loud wanted to help share some of the media produced by the studio that harness the power of storytelling to inspire interest in science. Jared joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about the mission of Tangled Bank Studios, describes the kinds of stories they create and even shares a little advice to teachers and students making their own visual stories. Listen to the show to hear titles of shows that you can share with your students in the classroom or at home! Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/11/episode-235-hhmi-tangled-bank/

As the Lab Out Loud podcast continues to explore the use of video in science education, they turn their attention to the use and creation of short format films. To guide them through that discussion, they are joined by Douglas Dicconson from Theorem Studios and Kim Birbrower from Big Picture Educational Consulting. Theorem Studios and Big Picture Educational Consulting recently paired up to create content for Chemistry Shorts, a project sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation to communicate the breadth & depth of chemistry’s impact on humankind. Doug and Kim join co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss their work with Chemistry Shorts, the appropriate use of video in the science classroom, and the art and work of making compelling short format films. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/11/episode-234-chemistry-shorts/

Continuing their exploration into science documentaries, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes environmental photographer James Balog to the show. For almost four decades, Balog has been building a visual time capsule documenting the complicated and intimate relationship between humanity and nature. In The Human Element, Balog exposes this relationship with vivid and often uncomfortable imagery that illustrates unmistakable human impacts on the essential elements of water, air, fire and earth. Balog joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about making the documentary, shares how he delicately balances the portrayal of hope and despair in his visual stories, and discusses his upcoming book with the same name. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/10/episode-233-james-balog/

The guest for the Lab Out Loud podcast this week is director, writer and producer Scott Hamilton Kennedy. At the 2019 NSTA Conference in St. Louis, Kennedy hosted a screening of his recent documentary "Food Evolution" (2016). Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, "Food Evolution" investigates GMOs to showcase how misinformation and fear can drown out rational evidence and divide communities. Kennedy joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss the process of making science documentaries, how he works to understand and portray the science correctly, and describes an upcoming project on vaccines. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/10/episode-232-food-evolution/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast talks with Dave Bakker, co-founder and COO of PocketLab. In March, Dave and some of his colleagues were looking for a way to provide professional development to STEM teachers while #COVID-19 kept many of them at home. The result was a virtual conference called ScIC (Science is Cool) that has attracted tens of thousands of science teachers and education professionals from around the world. Dave joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss the origins of ScIC, celebrate the success of the first three conferences, and share some of their upcoming events. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/09/episode-231-scic-conference/

This week, the Lab Out Loud podcast features GIS Specialist and author Tyler Danielson. As part of his work with civil engineering firm Bolton & Menk, Tyler has recently written a book geared towards children to help them understand GIS in the world around them. In "Lindsey the GIS Specialist - A GIS Mapping Story," the title character Lindsey helps to explain what GIS is, describe what data she might collect, and how she could use that data to create digital maps. Listen to the show to hear more about the free eBook, how it might be used in STEAM learning, and how to access other free STEAM books in the series from Bolton & Menk. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/09/episode-230-gis-specialist/

As some schools are returning to in-person learning this fall, science teachers will need to address virus mitigation both in the traditional classroom and in lab environments. To discuss safety considerations while teaching science in the pandemic, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Dr. Ken Roy back to the show. With health and safety always as the priority, Ken joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss important safety aspects such as checking for clean water pipes and functioning gas lines, using and cleaning safety goggles, when to use classroom and lab ventilation, and addressing safety for at-home investigations. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/08/episode-229-pandemic-lab-safety/

To wrap up season 13, the Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Ainissa Ramirez back to the show. As science teachers are building their reading lists for the summer, they may want to check out Ainissa's new book - The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another. In this collection of stories about eight inventions (from clocks to silicon chips), Ramirez unearths vivid stories that showcase how humans have created inventions, and in turn, how those inventions have shaped us. Ainissa joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss her new book, share some insights into her research and writing style, and challenge all of us to question if new inventions are pointing us in the direction we want the world to be heading. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/06/episode-228-ainissa-ramirez/

Lab Out Loud's guest this week is Kris Brown from the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA. As a NASA engineer, Kris used to work with critical hardware used on numerous shuttle missions. Now, as Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, Kris works towards creating unique opportunities for students and the public to contribute to NASA’s work in exploration and discovery, and to building a diverse future STEM workforce by engaging students in authentic learning experiences with NASA’s people, content and facilities. Kris joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about these opportunities and resources, the importance of the upcoming partner launch with SpaceX on May 27, and shares specific activities NASA has to engage students and their families around that mission. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/05/episode-226-nasa-stem-engagement/

The Lab Out Loud podcast welcomes Dr. Alex Evans to the show. From a young age, Alex developed a love for science that eventually led to a career as a research scientist in animal physiology, focusing on measuring the energetics of animals in flight. Changing gears to science communication, Alex now works as a science educator, presenter, and writer. Joining co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler, Alex discusses his love of parrot Twitter accounts, describes what we can learn from bird energetics that can be applied to real world problems (and mythical creatures), and encourages young scientists to get out and find new information about the world around them. #ScientistOutLoud Lab Out Loud found Alex (and many other scientists) on #sciencetwitter. Throughout season 13, the podcast will be showcasing some of these scientists and their work. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/05/episode-226-alex-evans/

The Lab Out Loud podcast guest this week is Dawn Fallik, reporter and associate professor at the University of Delaware. As a medical reporter, Dawn writes about loneliness and the medical consequences of loneliness in Millennials and Gen Z. At SXSWedu, Dawn recently presented as part of a panel about Generation Lonely: 10,000 Followers and No Friends, discussing what's behind increasing feelings of social isolation and loneliness. Dawn joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to talk about the difference between loneliness and social isolation, how Millennials and Gen Z might be better equipped to communicate and function during the COVID-19 stay at home orders, and how teachers might look out for and help students combat loneliness. Show notes at: https://laboutloud.com/2020/04/episode-225-loneliness/

Lab Out Loud's guest this week is Joanne O'Meara, a physics professor from the University of Guelph. In an effort to help educators right now, the Guelph physics department is creating videos to answer user generated science questions. Called AMASE (Ask Me Anything: Science Edition), these videos have been tackling concepts such as the speed of light, rainbows, and Schrodinger's Cat. Joanne joins the Lab Out Loud podcast to discuss the AMASE project, how she (and her daughters) made the first video on the speed of light, and share her experiences in teaching and parenting during the pandemic. Show notes: https://laboutloud.com/2020/04/episode-224-joanne-omeara/