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

Dr. Randi Martin is the Elma Schneider Professor in the Department of Psychology at Rice University and an Adjunct Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Communicative Science at Baylor College of Medicine. She received her Master's Degree and PhD in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University. Randi served as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz and an Associate Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University before joining the faculty at Rice. She has received many honors and awards during her career, including being named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as election to the Society of Experimental Psychologists. Randi is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Wendy Bohrson is a Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and Director of the Science Talent Expansion Program at Central Washington University. She received her PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Afterward, Wendy accepted a University of California Office of the President Postdoctoral Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. She was also employed in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a researcher and lecturer before joining the faculty at Central Washington University. Wendy is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Paul Vasey is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Laboratory of Comparative Sexuality at the University of Lethbridge. He received his PhD from the University of Montreal in Anthropology. He did postdoctoral fellowships at Concordia University and York University before joining the Faculty at Lethbridge. Paul’s work has been the subject of various documentaries on television (National Geographic’s Ultimate Explorer, Discovery Channel, The Nature of Things) and the radio (U.S National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Netherlands).  This work has been reported on in hundreds of newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times, The Economist, and Oprah Magazine. Paul is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Karen James is a staff scientist at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Maine.  She received her PhD in Genetics from the University of Washington and conducted postdoctoral research at the Natural History Museum in London before joining the MDI Lab. Karen is also Co-Founder and Director of UK-based charity The HMS Beagle Trust which is working to rebuild the HMS Beagle and retrace the journey of Charles Darwin with a new generation of students and scientists. Karen is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. James (JC) Cahill is a Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. He received his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. Afterward, he served briefly as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Ursinus College and then on the faculty at the University of Delaware before joining the faculty at the University of Alberta where he has been for about 15 years. JC is here with us today to share his journey through life and science.

Dr. David Clifford is the Melba and Forest Seay Professor of Clinical Neuropharmacology in Neurology and Professor of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition, he is the Principal Investigator for the Washington University AIDS Clinical Trials Unit and Principle investigator for the NeuroNext Clinical Trials Unit. David received his MD from Washington University School of Medicine and completed residency in medicine and neurology at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neurology before joining the faculty at Washington University. David has received many awards and honors during his career, including being named an Honorary Professor of Neurology at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, a Counselor of the American Neurological Association, as well as receipt of the Neville Grant Award for Clinical Excellence from Barnes Jewish Hospital, receipt of the Award for Humanism in Medicine from Washington University in

Dr. Anne Jefferson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology at Kent State University. She received her Masters Degree in Water Resources Sciences from the University of Minnesota and her PhD in Geology from Oregon State University. She completed postdoctoral research at Oregon State and served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 2007 to 2012 before joining the faculty at Kent State. Anne is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Suzanne Simard is a Professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia. She received her PhD in Forest Sciences from Oregon State University and she worked as a research scientist at the British Columbia Ministry of Forests before joining the faculty at UBC. Suzanne's research has been widely featured by media venues, including CBC TV, Black Forests Productions, PBS Nature, NPR, TED-Ed, and the New Yorker. She is also a recipient of the UBC Killam Teaching Award. Suzanne is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Herbert Geller is a Senior Investigator in the Developmental Neurobiology Section and Head of the Office of Education  at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and conducted postdoctoral research afterward at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Herbert served on the faculty at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School for over 30 years before joining the NIH. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Linda Van Dillen is an associate professor in the Program in Physical Therapy and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. She is also Associate Director of Musculoskeletal Research in the Program in Physical Therapy. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Missouri at Columbia and and afterward accepted a position at Washington University in St. Louis as a Physical Therapist. Linda went back to graduate school at Washington University to earn her Masters Degree in Health Science and PhD in Experimental Psychology. Linda is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Glenn Rall is a Professor at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. He is also the Leader of the Inflammation Working Group there and Co-Leader of the Immune Cell Development and Host Defense Program. In addition, Glenn is the Associate Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Postdoctoral Program. Glenn also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology departments at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson University, and Drexel University. He received his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute before accepting a position at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Glenn is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. John Logsdon is an Associate Professor of Biology and former Director of the Pentacrest Museums at the University of Iowa. John earned his PhD from Indiana University and completed postdoctoral research at Dalhousie University. He served on the faculty at Emory University before accepting a position at the University of Iowa where he remains today. John is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Michael Dickinson is the Esther M. and Abe M. Zarem Professor of Bioengineering  at the California institute of technology. He received his PhD in Zoology from the University of Washington and afterwards worked briefly at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany. Michael has received numerous awards and honors during his career, including the Larry Sandler Award from the Genetics Society of America, the Bartholemew Award for Comparative Physiology from the American Society of Zoologists, a Packard Foundation Fellowship in Science and Engineering, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and the Quantrell award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the University of Chicago. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Michael is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Sophia Hayes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. She received her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and worked for a few years afterward as an associate for a management consulting firm specializing in energy efficiency, environmental assessments, and energy generation. Sophia interned at the Sandia National Laboratories before entering graduate school. She received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She then completed a Directorate Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Berkeley. She also served as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Dortmund in Germany before joining the faculty at Washington University. Sophia has received a number of awards and honors during her career, including, an NSF CAREER Award, a Washington University Graduate Student Senate Excellence

Dr. Ian Baldwin is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Ecology and Founding Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. He received his PhD in Chemical Ecology in the Section of Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University. He served on the faculty at SUNY, Buffalo for about eight years before accepting a position as the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology where he remains today. Ian has received many awards and honors during his career, including the Presidential Young Investigator Award, the Silverstein-Simeone Award of the International Society of Chemical Ecology, and being named an Extraordinary member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the European Molecular Biology Organization. Ian is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Nico Dantuma  is a Professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He received his PhD in Experimental Zoology from the Utrecht University and afterward began conducting research at the Karolinska Institute, being appointed to full professor in 2011. Nico is the recipient of both the 2007 Svedberg Award and the 2009 Eric K. Fernstrom award. Nico is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Maria Womack is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Observatory Director at St. Cloud State University.  She received her PhD in physics from Arizona State University in Tempe.  Afterward, she served as postdoctoral researcher at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University at Erie before joining the faculty at St. Cloud State.  She teaches courses in a range of upper division astrophysics and observational astronomy, as well as introductory courses in physics, astronomy and astrobiology.  Maria received the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation and has supervised over 50 students in research.  For the last four years she has worked on assignment to the National Science Foundation outside Washington, D.C. as a program director, where she has led the stellar-astronomy and planetary-astronomy grant programs. Maria is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.

Dr. Judson Brewer is the Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness and Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor at Yale University School of Medicine and a Research Affiliate with the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He received his MD and PhD from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and completed his Residency, Chief Residency, and postdoctoral training at the Yale Univesity School of Medicine. Jud has received many awards and honors during his career, including the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellowship for Excellence in Research, the College on Problems of Drug Dependence Early Investigator Award, and The Seymour L. Lustman Research Award for distinction in research during residency. Jud is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Christof Koch is the Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. He received his Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Tubingen in Germany and his PhD in Nonlinear Information Processing from the Max Planck Institute. Christof worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT before joining the faculty at Caltech where he remained for about 25 years. In 2011, he accepted his current post as Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science. Christof is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Dr. Alison Fleming is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. She was also a founding member of the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development at the University of Toronto. Alison received her PhD from the Institute of Animal Behavior at Rutgers University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley. Alison has received many awards and honors during her career, including election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Daniel Lehrman Lifetime Achievement from the Society of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Toronto, Mississauga, and the University of Toronto Faculty Research Excellence Award. She was appointed as Distinguished Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto. Alison is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.