I Came For Science

Mar 08 2025 15 ep. 35 mins 1

I Came For Science Podcast artwork

Welcome to I Came For Science: a show that explores all things sex, reproduction, and inclusion in STEM! Your host is Laura Sirot, a professor of Biology who has been studying animal sex for over 30 years. Join us as we normalize talking about the intersections of sex and science, as well as hearing about the lived experiences of the scientists that study it. To get in touch, email us at [email protected] or message us on X or Instagram @icameforscience. Visit our website at: https://www.icameforscience.org/

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Episode 16: The Science of Female Arousal, Part 1: The WISH Lab

Mar 08 2025 31 mins

We are now embarking on an exploration of the science of female arousal. In the first episode of this series, Laura interviews her former student and current colleague, Harper Jones. Harper is pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology in the Women's Integrative Sexual Health (WISH) Lab. In this episode, she explains the methods that the WISH lab uses to measure arousal and what res

Episode 15: The Science of Sex Education: Debunking Misconceptions

Feb 19 2025 33 mins

Welcome back to Season 3 of I Came For Science. If you are just joining us as a listener, we encourage you to listen back to Seasons 1 and 2 to hear our episodes on a range of topics including pubic hair, polyamory, spider sex, reproductive losses, and queer family building. Whether you like it or not, your children are going to learn about sex. Wouldn't it be good if they lear

Episode 14: The Science of Sperm Storage

Dec 24 2024 46 mins

In our final episode of Season 2, we explore the science of sperm storage. Sperm storage occurs when sperm viability is maintained outside of the male reproductive tract. This process happens, at least for some time period, naturally in all internally-conceiving animals. Sperm storage is also used by humans for assisted reproduction and fertility preservation. We learn about both p

Episode 13: Reproductive Losses Part 2: Non-human Animals

Dec 04 2024 29 mins

This episode follows up on Episode 12 which explored reproductive losses in humans. In this episode, Laura interviews primatologist and endocrinologist Dr. Jacinta Beehner about reproductive losses in non-human animals. Jacinta explores this topic through the lens of female reproductive strategies, using non-invasive techniques to track the reproductive physiology of wild primates.

Episode 12: Reproductive Losses, Part 1: Humans

Nov 20 2024 32 mins

This episode follows up on our last episode about family building. In this episode, Laura talks with Dr. Christa Craven about reproductive losses, especially as they are experienced by people who are LGBTQ+. These losses come in a variety of forms and times during the family building process and can be impacted by environmental and social stresses. Laura and Christa also discuss ho

Episode 11: Queer Family Building

Oct 30 2024 35 mins

In this episode, Laura interviews Liam Kali a licensed midwife who is a pioneer in extending the practice of midwifery to queer families. Liam literally wrote the book about queer family building through conception. Liam describes their professional and personal journey becoming a parent, a doula, and a midwife, as well as the successes and challenges they faced along the way. Lia

Episode 10: Polyamory 101

Oct 13 2024 42 mins

Are you curious about polyamory? If so, you’ve come to the right place. In this episode, Laura discusses scientific and personal aspects of polyamory with Amanda Anastasia Paniagua. Amanda is a graduate student in higher education administration, with an interest in the science of polyamory. Amanda shares definitions and corrects common misconceptions about polyamory. Laura and A

Episode 9: From politics to the Olympics: what people don't understand about the biology of sex

Sep 25 2024 34 mins

There has been a lot of talk this year about sex and gender. In this episode, Laura interviews Dr. Gita Kolluru who studies variation in sexual morphology and behavior across non-human animals. Dr. Kolluru explains the difference between sex and gender. Then, she explains the tremendous variation that occurs in sexual traits in humans and how this variation comes about.

Episode 8: What to expect from a sexual assault evidence collection

Sep 11 2024 36 mins

Welcome back to Season 2 of I Came For Science. This episode is a follow-up to Episode 6 from Season 1 about the clearing of Ohio's backlog of sexual assault testing kits. In this episode, Laura interviews forensic nurse, Joey Compton, of Aultman Serenity Program about what survivors of sexual assault and their supporters need to know about sexual assault evidence collection.

Episode 7: How I Came For Science

May 07 2024 33 mins

In this last episode of Season 1, Laura is interviewed by her former student and current co-host, Natalia, about her winding journey of studying the science of sex and reproduction. They discuss Laura’s lows as she struggled with not feeling like she belonged as well as her highs as she realized her “outsider” status often made her ask questions that no one had thought to ask