STEMpod (Sam Jones & Rubén Rodríguez Pérez)

Dr. Rebecca Goldin is a professor of mathematical sciences at George Mason University and the director of the Statistical Assessment Service, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the use of stats in journalism. I had a chance to chat with Rebecca not only about my childhood fear of math, but her personal journey, why math is more beautiful than most of us think, and why the stereotypes surrounding it are so, so wrong. 

Check out Rebecca's website here: http://math.gmu.edu/~rgoldin/

And this great interview and article with Quanta here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/videos/rebecca-goldin-why-math-is-the-best-way-to-make-sense-of-the-world/

Meet Laura Abondano, an anthropology PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin. Laura’s asking some very cool questions about female agency by studying mating behaviors in woolly monkeys. Although much of her thesis work entails picking up and analyzing monkey poop, it also means days spent in the rainforest observing these monkeys, leading to unexpected encounters with some pretty large forest creatures. 

Dr. Jenifer Smith is the Director of the Department of Forensic Sciences in Washington, DC. Before beginning her position at the DFS Dr. Smith, a PhD chemist, was an FBI Special Agent for over 20 years, and former Chief of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Intelligence Analysis Section. She also led the CIA’s Biological Technology Center and has served on advisory groups focused on microbial forensics.

You can learn more about Dr. Smith here: https://dfs.dc.gov/node/1128848

Meet Dr. Jennifer Raff. Jenny is a professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas, studying the DNA of current and ancient peoples to ask questions about how humans have traversed and populated continents over the course of history. Outside of academia, Jenny is a pseudoscience-busting science communicator in the midst of writing a book slated to come out in 2020. On top of all that, Jenny has trained and competed in mixed martial arts, so you know she’s not to be messed with.

Ellesse Lunde is an engineer based in Boston. She has a BS in structural engineering from Purdue and a Master’s in civil engineering and construction management from USC. We chat about Ellesse's career aspirations and the current work she does at a large multinational construction company, how her mom and growing up as a competitive swimmer inspired her to push herself academically, and what it was like transitioning from an all-girls high school into a male-dominated field. 

Every week, enter the lives of incredible women in STEM as they share what they do, but more so the path--however bumpy--that brought them to where they are today.

Dr. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is an embryologist based in the UK whose work in early mammal development is truly remarkable. She and her lab are asking questions about how we all started out as a single cell, and their findings have important implications for fertility research.

Magdalena's book The Dance of Life: The New Science of How a Single Cell Becomes a Human Being is available for pre-order now: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dance-of-life-magdalena-zernicka-goetz/1130777524

Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist and folklorist, completing her PhD in astronomy at Columbia University.

When she's not thinking about planet formation or working on a book, you might find Moiya building other worlds on her podcast Exolore.

Check out Exolore: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exolore-facts-based-fictional-worldbuilding/id1511097941

And for more on what Moiya's up to, check out her website: https://www.moiyamctier.com/

Melissa Cristina Márquez is a shark researcher based in Australia. Last year you may have spotted her on an episode of Shark Week, where she and her team searched for a massive hammerhead off the coast of Cuba and she had a scary brush with a crocodile, which of course I asked her about. 

Check out the Fins United Initiative, which Melissa founded: https://www.finsunited.co.nz/

For more about her research and conservation efforts, head to her website: https://melissacristinamarquez.weebly.com/

Listen to Melissa's ConCiencia Azul podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/conciencia-azul/id1358880103

Dr. Nicole Allen is a New York City-based psychiatrist who specializes in psychosomatic medicine—an interdisciplinary field of psychiatry focused on the interaction between mental and physical illness.

Dr. Allen and Sam chat about what life is like for a psychiatrist—and her patients—during a global pandemic, and how there are a few silver linings if you look hard enough.

Meet neuroscientist, and stellar #scicommer, Catie Profaci, a PhD candidate in the Neurosciences program at the University of California, San Diego. Catie studies the blood-brain barrier, a border between your brain and things in your blood that could be toxic to it. Catie's trying to understand its importance in diseases like multiple sclerosis. 

Check out stories of WiN: https://www.storiesofwin.org

We wanted to do something different to wrap up this first season, so in this final (bonus) episode I'm chatting with a very special guest who got me hooked on science at a really young age. 

Although this is the end of season 1, we plan to do a second season and want to hear from you! Email us at WomenInSTEMpod@gmail.com. And, to stay up to date, follow us on Twitter @WomenInSTEMpod.

We know how lucky we are to have such an incredible community. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

See you in 2020.

Rakhi Voria is the Director of Global Digital Sales at IBM. We chat about her favorite tech creations, the less conventional way she got to where she is today, and the work she does to help women and less represented groups feel that they also belong in tech.

To learn more about Rakhi, find her on Twitter at @rakhivoria.

Nina Gao is a PhD candidate in the Biomedical Sciences program at UC San Diego, where she studies infectious disease and how a type of bacteria interacts with its host. Spoiler alert: we’re the host, and it can get kinda gross. 

Nina is working to develop a vaccine for these bacteria before they become resistant to antibiotics. 

You can find Nina on Twitter @biologist_nina