Conversations with scientists

Dec 15 2024 50 ep. 34 mins 4
Conversations with scientists Podcast artwork

Scientists talk about what they do and why they do what they do. Their motivations, their trajectory, their setbacks, their achievements. They offer their personal take on science, mentoring and the many aspects that have shaped their work and their lives. Hosted by journalist Vivien Marx. Her work has appeared in Nature journals, Science, The Economist, The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal Europe and New Scientist among others. (Art: Justin Jackson)

  Science  Society & Culture
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Sneak-peek of the 2024 ISSCR annual meeting

Dec 15 2024 45 mins  
This podcast was uploaded earlier this year but somehow it was deleted, sorry. So it's not quite a sneak-peek anymore...Whether or not you attended the 2024 annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) or not, you might enjoy this conversation. It's with Dr. Amander Clark from the University of California at Los Angeles, she is also the current preside

Sneak-peek of ASHG 2024

Oct 25 2024 53 mins  
The annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) is about to start. Here's a sneak-peek of the meeting with Dr. Bruce Gelb who is the current president of ASHG, he is also a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City. My co-host --Dr. Mike Fletcher senior editor at Nature Genetics-- and I, asked Bruce Gelb about the meeting but also about some tr

Sneak-peek of the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience

Sep 22 2024 37 mins  
Hear about some of the presentations at the upcoming 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. This sneak-peek that also is about some of the latest trends in neuroscience is with Yale University researcher Dr. Marina Picciotto, who is also the president of the Society for Neuroscience and Dr Damien Fair from the University of Minnesota. He is the chair of the Public Edu

A chat with NSF director Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan

May 14 2024 28 mins  
This podcast is with Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan who directs the US National Science Foundation. He talks about his nickname, about AI and data science, about training AI models, about transparency, about the language of collaboration, competitiveness, about talent. He says: "I think what we need as a nation is not only to unleash every ounce of talent in our country, the domestic t

Science while parenting, part 1

Apr 06 2024 21 mins  
Can you be a scientist and parent? Of course. But it's not always easy. Dr. Ying Diao is at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in the chemical and biomolecular engineering department. She has a stack of awards, a lab and two children. She talks about her research, for instance a project focused on wearable electronics for plants with which one can track their growth and we

Here’s some dirt

Mar 06 2024 51 mins  
This episode is about dirt or, phrased more scientifically, soil. It’s about soil health, soil biodiversity and ecology. It’s a conversation with Dr. Ciska Veen, soil and ecosystems researcher at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and Dr. Wim van der Putten, who heads terrestrial ecology at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. (Art: J. Jackson; Music: Jungle Jam by Evert Z,

Persistence and success in science

Jan 02 2024 33 mins  
Jean King, who is the dean of arts and sciences at WPI-Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, talks about what Nobel Laureate Katalin Karikó means to her and about persistence and success in science. (Art: J. Jackson; Music: Towers by sero, licensed from artlist.io)

How to get big projects to soar: Anna Barker, Ellison Institute and former principal deputy director of the US National Cancer Institute

Nov 21 2023 50 mins  
What good does it do to start a big research project? How do you get it to soar? Dr. Anna Barker has some answers about that from the past, the present and the future. She is chief strategy officer at the Ellison Institute, a think tank and research institute. Before that, she was the principal deputy director of the US National Cancer Institute and deputy director for strategic sc

Sneak-peek of SfN 2023

Nov 08 2023 33 mins  
The Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, a big conference in neuroscience, is about to start. This year, it's in Washington. And here is a sneak peek of the meeting for you. Along with editors at Springer Nature, I got the chance to ask a bit about the meeting before it starts shortly. It was a mash up of a press conference of sorts and a wider discussion with colleagues from S

When housing insecurity gets in the way

Oct 30 2023 47 mins  
Science and academia need diversity. Easier said than done because, for example, many students face housing insecurity, which keeps them from a focus on their studies. But that's something students are trying to change. I spoke with current and former students at UC Santa Cruz about this. In this episode you will hear from Abbi Cundall, Natalie Clifford, Emerald Waters, Zennon Ulya