Podcast Ep 36. “Yes, and…”: A Guide to Effective Science Communication Using Improvisation

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Science communication takes a lot of different forms, including improvisation. In this episode, we interview Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology graduate student Paige Kinsley and alum Liz Laudadio. The episode dives deep into the life skills you can learn from doing improv, how it can make you a better listener, and how it relates to science …

Podcast Ep 35. Photographing the Unphotographable

How do you photograph the unphotographable? In this podcast episode we interview MIT research scientist Felice Frankel, who specializes in visualizing science, using pictures to draw audiences in and help scientists more deeply examine their own work, including nanoscale materials that are smaller than wavelengths of light! We also have a mini-interview with graduate student …

Ep. 33 It Just Didn’t Feel Like Me: Belonging and Sexism in Science

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How often do college women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) experience sexism? And how do these experiences affect their likelihood of staying in scientific fields? In this episode we talk with Majel Baker, a counseling psychologist who investigated these questions in her doctoral dissertation. Spoiler alert: sexism is bad. But there are ways …

Ep. 32 An Electronic Circuit on Every Seed?

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What if every seed you planted could include a sensor to monitor moisture and nutrients? What if every tissue had nanoscale electronics to check for viruses when you blew your nose? Our fourth season of the Sustainable Nano Podcast launches with an interview about the future of nanotransistor technology with Professor Mike Filler from Georgia …

Ep 29. Green is the Color of Chemistry

Dr. Mary Kirchhoff is Executive Vice President of Scientific Advancement at the American Chemical Society and Director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute. Her career has spanned a variety of experiences related to sustainability in chemistry, including working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's green chemistry program and co-editing a book on Greener Approaches to Undergraduate …

Ep 28. Who’s Not In the Room and Why Not? Inclusivity and Bias Across Class Backgrounds in College Education

Alvin Chang, Senior Graphics Reporter for Vox, wrote and illustrated an article last year called "The subtle ways colleges discriminate against poor students, explained with a cartoon." In this episode of the podcast, we share the audio of a webinar that Chang presented for the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology about his work. He tackles challenging …

Ep 27. The Constant Loop: How Nanoparticles and the Environment Affect Each Other

Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO) is an important nanomaterial used in batteries, but little is known about what happens when it gets exposed to the environment. In this episode we interview Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology graduate student Liz Laudadio, who was the first author on a recent paper about what happens to LCO when it gets …

Ep 26. Nanomaterials and Renewable Energy: From Solar Panels to Machine Learning

How are photons like toddlers? And what does that have to do with solar energy? Dr. Jillian Buriak has been researching nanomaterials and renewable energy for over a decade, including work to improve solar panel technology. In this first episode of the Sustainable Nano Podcast's third season, we interview Dr. Buriak, who is a Professor …

Podcast Preview: Season 3

It's National Nanotechnology Day, and Season 3 of the Sustainable Nano Podcast is coming soon! Here's a quick preview of a few of our upcoming episodes, including interviews withĀ Dr. Mary Kirchhoff,Ā Alvin Chang, &Ā Dr. Jillian Buriak. To listen to this preview episode, click here. Want more podcast episodes? You can find them all on ourĀ podcast page, …