Ep 89. Tiny gardeners and environmental educators with Matthew McKenzie
Matthew McKenzie is the principal and head teacher of a public school with a difference. Thalgarrah Environmental Education Centre is located in the woodlands outside of Armidale in regional NSW. It is part of a network of environmental and zoo education centres across NSW that provide other schools with a base for excursions, camps and experiences focussed on using nature as a learning and teaching … Continue reading Ep 89. Tiny gardeners and environmental educators with Matthew McKenzie
Ep 88. Video games, dentistry and ageing basketballers with Michael Kasumovic
After a brief stint trying to become a dentist, Michael Kasumovic found his true calling studying the ecology and evolution of spiders. That was until he found another calling studying everything else from performance in professional athletes, how income can affect facial preferences, and how sex and social status can influence people’s behaviour in online videogames. Not content with simply being a prolific research scientist … Continue reading Ep 88. Video games, dentistry and ageing basketballers with Michael Kasumovic
Ep 87. Communication, education and science speed dating with Isabelle Kingsley
From school teacher, to science communicator, to events producer, and now researcher, Isabelle Kingsley has spent her career spanning widely different areas of science education and outreach. She founded the Sydney Science Festival in 2015 which has grown into an annual festival attended by over 80,000 people. While she was running the Sydney Science Festival she began to wonder what sort of educational impact public … Continue reading Ep 87. Communication, education and science speed dating with Isabelle Kingsley
Ep 86. Science puns and stand-up comedy with Benji Kessler
Benji Kessler is a man of many talents, he studies the behaviour of spiders, teaches mathematics to school kids, does stand-up comedy and looks great in a Spider-Man costume. Benji is currently visiting Australia from the USA where he is doing his PhD at the University of California. He was nice enough to sit down for a chat to talk about how a severe arachnophobe … Continue reading Ep 86. Science puns and stand-up comedy with Benji Kessler
Ep 85. Theory vs reality, and dancing in the middle with Alva Curtsdotter
Some scientists go out in to the field, collect data and conduct experiments to test their hypotheses. Other scientists conduct their experiments inside a computer. Alva Curtsdotter is a theoretical ecologist at the University of New England that studies the behaviour of animal populations across natural landscapes, but instead of spending her time surveying and measuring real world populations she runs computer simulations to see … Continue reading Ep 85. Theory vs reality, and dancing in the middle with Alva Curtsdotter
Ep 84. Barns, broilers and big things with Natalie Morgan
Chicken is big business and the science behind poultry nutrition is an incredibly precise mix of chemistry and biology. As the market for poultry continues to increase worldwide there is ongoing need to industry to improve the efficiency and sustainability of chicken feed. Natalie Morgan is a poultry nutrition expert who works to understand how the diets fed to livestock can be modified to improve … Continue reading Ep 84. Barns, broilers and big things with Natalie Morgan
Ep 83. Life Vs Science 2019
In Situ Science returned to the Django Bar to celebrate National Science Week and the Sydney Science Festival. This year we we’re joined by Cameron Webb (USyd and NSW Health), Katherina Petrou (UTS), Fonti Kar (UNSW) and Samuel Bannister (USyd) who shared stories about everything from studying marine algae in Antarctic sea ice to fishing for komodo dragons with giant genetically engineered mosquitos. https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/r4vy6z/Life_Vs_Science_2019.mp3 We … Continue reading Ep 83. Life Vs Science 2019
Ep 82. Emu farming, pregnancy tips and Bill Nye the Science Guy with Andrew Katsis
A single tweet can make all the difference, or at least it did for Andrew Katsis, who decided to get involved in the #billmeetsciencetwitter trend. Little did he know that his tweet would be seen by American television producers, who decided to fly Andrew over to LA to talk about this research on the Netflix show ‘Bill Nye Saves the World’. Andrew’s research looks at … Continue reading Ep 82. Emu farming, pregnancy tips and Bill Nye the Science Guy with Andrew Katsis
Ep 81. Harry potter, taxonomy and academic publishing with Tom Saunders
Tom Saunders experienced a burst of scientific fame after naming a newfound species of wasp Lusius malfoyi, after the beloved and maligned Harry Potter character Lucius Malfoy. Naming new species after pop culture figures has become a useful tool for enhancing public awareness taxonomy and biodiversity research. Taking this strategy though has to be handled delicately as paying homage to beloved fictional characters can upset … Continue reading Ep 81. Harry potter, taxonomy and academic publishing with Tom Saunders
Ep 80. Deception, maths and parental expectations with Amy Martin
Amy Martin is a researcher at the University of Auckland that studies the incredible private lives of orchids that trick male wasps into mating with them. By depriving these wasp populations of male sperm they can actually have long term effects on the wasp populations. Amy says that this is why deceptive orchids the world over tend to use haplodiploid insects as their pollinators as … Continue reading Ep 80. Deception, maths and parental expectations with Amy Martin
In Situ Science 