People Behind The Science Podcast - Stories From Scientists About Science, Life, Research, And Science Careers

Dr. Lawrence Krauss is the Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Department of Physics and the as well as the Inaugural Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He is also an accomplished author with popular books including A Universe from Nothing, Hiding in the Mirror, and The Physics of Star Trek. Lawrence received his PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and afterward served as a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows. Lawrence was a member of the faculty at Yale University and Case Western Reserve University before joining the faculty at ASU where he is today. Lawrence is a distinguished scientist, and he has received many honors during his career for his exceptional research, writing, and teaching. I won't name them all today, but I will say that he is the first physicist to have been awarded the three most prestigious awards from the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the Ameri

Dr. Vic Arcus is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Organic Chemistry from the University of Waikato and his PhD in Molecular Biology from Cambridge. Afterward, Vic became a fellow of Trinity College, and then served on the faculty at Auckland University before returning to Waikato where he is today. Vic is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Jim is the F.M. Kirby Professor at The Rockefeller University, and he leads the Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience there. In addition, he is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Jim received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, as well as his MD and PhD, from Harvard University. Afterward, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Jim has since served on the faculty at California Institute of Technology, the University of California, San Francisco, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center before joining the faculty at Rockefeller. Jim has received the Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievements in Health and the W. Alden Spencer Award from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Additionally, he is a recipient of the Ralph W. Gerard Prize from the Society for Neuroscience, the K.S. Cole Award in membrane biophysics from the Biophysical Society, the Award of Merit from the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, and the G

Dr. Anna Frebel is the Silverman Family Career Development Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She received her PhD from the Australian National University's Mt. Stromlo Observatory for which she was awarded the Charlene Heisler Prize for the best Australian astronomy PhD thesis of 2006. Afterward, Anna was awarded the McDonald Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas, Austin and went on to receive the Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining the faculty at MIT. Anna and her research have been recognized with the Ludwig-Biermann Young Astronomer Award of the German Astronomical Society, the Annie Jump Cannon Award of the American Astronomical Society, and a National Science Foundation CAREER award. She was also named a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences. Anna is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Daniel Goldman is an Associate Professor of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of Texas, Austin and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. Dan has received many awards and honors during his career including recently being named a Georgia Power Professor of Excellence and receipt of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a DARPA Young Faculty Award, a Sigma Xi Young Faculty award, an NSF CAREER/PECASE Award, a Georgia Tech Blanchard Milliken Fellowship, the Georgia Tech Fund for Innovation in Research and Education Award, and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface. In addition, Dan is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His work has also been featured by the New York Times, NPR, BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and other media sources. Dan is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Charles is a Professor of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley and has been on the faculty at Washington University since 1970. Charles has received many awards and honors during his career, including election as Fellow of the Meteoritical Society and a Fellow of the St. Louis Academy of Science. He has been awarded the NASA Principal Investigators Award, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Award, and recently the James B. Eads Award honoring engineering or technology from the St. Louis Academy of Science. Charles is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Kate McGrath is the Vice-Provost of Research at Victoria University of Wellington and the Director of The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, a New Zealand Government funded Centre of Research Excellence. Kate is also the Chair of the Board of VicLink and also a member of the Boards of two startup companies: WETOX and iPredict. Kate received her PhD in Applied Mathematics from Australian National University in Canberra and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and at Princeton University. Afterward, she served on the faculty of the University of Otago before joining the faculty at Victoria where she is today. Kate has been recognized for her exceptional research with the Easterfield Medal from the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry and Royal Society of Chemistry, the Research Medal from the New Zealand Association of Scientists, and the Wellington Gold Award, Wellington City Council Inspire Wellington Award. Kate is with us today t

Dr. Greg Petsko is the Arthur J. Mahon Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Director of the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College, as well as the Tauber Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Emeritus, at Brandeis University. He received his PhD from the University of Oxford and worked at Wayne State University, MIT, and Brandeis University before joining the faculty at Cornell where he is today. He has received numerous awards and honors during his career, including the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry of the American Chemical Society and the Max Planck Prize. Greg is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He is the Past-President of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and is President of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has also written a column on science and societ

Dr. Abby Smith is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago. She Received her B.A. Degree in Geology and Biology from Colby College, her M.S. Degree in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her PhD in Earth Science from the University of Waikato. Abby is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Josh Drew is a Lecturer in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology and Director M.A. in Conservation Biology Program at Columbia University. He received his M.S. degree in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Public Policy from the State University of New York at Albany and his PhD from the Boston University Marine Program. Afterward, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Field Museum in Chicago and served as an Adjunct Professor at East West University in Chicago before joining the faculty at Columbia. Josh is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Jeff Iliff is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, as well as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Jeff received his PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology from Oregon Health and Science University. Afterward, he conducted postdoctoral research, and later served on faculty, at the University of Rochester Medical Center before returning to OHSU where he is today. Jeff is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Amy Mainzer is a Senior Research Scientist and the Principle Investigator for the Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is also the Principal Investigator for the Near Earth Object Camera mission proposal and the Deputy Project Scientist for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission. After earning her B.S. In Physics from Stanford University, Amy accepted a position at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center. She then returned to academia to earn her M.S. in Astronomy from the California Institute of Technology and PhD in Astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles. Amy has received many awards and honors for her work, including the Lew Allen Award for Excellence, as well as the NASA Exceptional Achievement and Scientific Achievement Medals. She has also been recognized along with NASA team members for their efforts on the Spitzer, WISE, and NEOWISE missions. Amy  is with us today to tell us all about he

Dr. Erik Klemetti is an Assistant Professor of Geosciences at Denison University. He received his Bachelor's degree in History and Geosciences from Williams College and his PhD in Geology from Oregon State University. He worked as a Laboratory Research Supervisor at the University of Washington and then as a Consultant and Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, Davis before joining the faculty at Denison. In addition to his research and teaching, Erik writes for Wired Science in his blog called Eruptions that focuses on volcanoes and volcanism. Erik is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Olaf Andersen is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Director of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program in New York City. He was awarded his MD from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen and Rockefeller University before joining the faculty at Cornell University. Olaf has received many awards and honors including being named a Foreign Member of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, receipt of the K. S. Cole Medal from the Biophysical Society, being named an Honorary Fellow of the Cornell University Weill Medical College Alumni Association, receipt Distinguished Service Award from the Biophysical Society, and receipt the Inaugural Bruce Ballard Mentoring Award. Olaf is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Gavin Schmidt is the Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Principal Investigator of the ModelE Earth System Model there. He received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from University College London. Afterward, he went on to conduct postdoctoral research at McGill University and Columbia University. Gavin worked for several years as an Associate Research Scientist and Research Scientist at Columbia before accepting a position with NASA where he has been for the last twenty years is today. In addition to his research, Gavin is also an avid science communicator and he is co-founder of the RealClimate blog. He was named EarthSky Science Communicator of the year and was awarded the Inaugural American Geophysical Union Climate Communication Prize both in 2011. He is also the co-author, with Joshua Wolfe, of Climate Change: Picturing the Science. Gavin is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Sonya Bahar is a Professor of Biophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy as well as Director of the Center for Neurodynamics at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. She received her B.S. degree in Physics from Drexel University and her Master's and PhD degrees in Biophysics from the University of Rochester. Afterward, Sonya conducted postdoctoral research at Duke University, the University of Missouri, St. Louis, and Weill-Cornell Medical College of Cornell University before joining the faculty at the University of Missouri, St. Louis where she is today. Sonya is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the St. Louis Academy of Science Innovation Award, and the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was also named a Trailblazer by the University of Missouri, St. Louis. Sonya is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

James M. Gentile is the Dean for Natural and Applied Sciences at Hope College and the past President of Research Corporation for Science Advancement, a Tucson, AZ-based foundation dedicated to science since 1912. Jim received his Master's and PhD in Genetics from Illinois State University and conducted a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine. Jim then joined the faculty of Hope College where he remained for nearly 30 years before becoming President of Research Corporation for Science Advancement, a foundation that funds innovative scientific research. In 2013, Jim returned to Hope College where he is today. Jim has received many awards and honors during his career, including the Alexander Hollaender Research Excellence Award from the Environmental Mutagen Society, the Cancer Medallion of the Japanese National Cancer Institute, and the Science Medal of Distinction of Pisa, Italy. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a National Associate of the Natio

Dr. Jennifer Jenkins is the Atkinson Chair of Early Child Development and Education and the Interim Academic Director of the Frazer Mustard Institute of Human Development at the University of Toronto. She received her Bachelor's degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of Sussex, her Master's degree in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Nottingham, and her PhD in Psychology from the University of London. Afterwards, she worked as a Senior Clinical Psychologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and then as a Lecturer at Stirling University before joining the faculty at the University of Toronto. Jenny is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Samuel M. Young, Jr. is an Independent Max Planck Research Group Leader of Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Function at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience in Jupiter, Florida. He received his PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He went on to conduct post-doctoral research in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratories at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California and at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in the Department of Membrane Biophysics in Goettingen, Germany, where he later accepted a position as an Internal Research Group Leader. Samuel then accepted a position at the Max Planck Florida Institute where he is currently. Samuel is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Richard Jefferson is the Chief Executive Officer of an independent, non-profit institute called Cambia. He is also Professor of Science, Technology & Law at Queensland University of Technology and Director of an open, public innovation resource called The Lens. In addition, Richard is a founder of the biological open-source initiative called Biological Innovation for Open Society. He received his Bachelor's degree in Molecular Genetics from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and went on to complete his PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Richard completed postdoctoral research at the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge and then worked as a Molecular Biologist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations before founding Cambia. Richard has received many awards and honors during his career, and just to name a few, he was named an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Found