science – Spark Science

Conservation in Zambia

For our Season 6 Finale, we speak with conservationist, storyteller, filmmaker, and fellow pop-culture enthusiast, Luwi Nguluka. She shares her path from medicine to wildlife activism. Luwi is the co-founder of “Women For Conservation”, Zambia’s first network for women working on wildlife initiatives and is involved in the “This is not Game” bushmeat campaign which tackles the illegal trade.

To learn more about Luwi’s work, check out her TEDx Talk titled What conservation can cook like for an African.

The Past & the Periodic Table

The year 2019 was hailed the International Year of the Periodic Table. Western Washington University professors staged a reenactment at the Spark Museum featuring the scientists credited with the creation of the Table of Elements in 1869.

Spark Science was lucky enough to get a few of them into the studio late 2019 to talk about why we are celebrating this scientific tool 150 years later.

Thank you to our guests Dr. Serge Smirnov a biochemist, Dr. Tim Kowalczyk a physical chemist, and Dr. Dietmar Schwarz a biologist.

The Road to the Red Planet

For our 100th episode, our first and most frequent guest is back, Dr. Melissa Rice. Right before quarantine, we entertained a live audience at WWU with stories of missions past and details about the future Mars Rover launching this July.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Rice’s work you can visit https://wp.wwu.edu/mars/

You can follow her on Instagram @westernmartians & Twitter @martian_mel

Student’s Stories S6- Part 2

Who shapes the lives of science students? Here at WWU, two students edited and produced podcasts for their final project in a spring science communication course. They decided to feature people they admire.

This episode features physics major Chase Boggio interviewing WWU physics professor Dr. Takele Seda about his education in Ethiopia. The second segment features engineering student Maria Watters speaking with her mother, a doctoral candidate in Public Health Sciences, about when she ran a free clinic in Nepal.

Bugs, Bytes and Books – Geek Girl Con

What do all of these things have in common? GeekGirlCon. This annual fall convention in Seattle celebrates the various identities of geekdom and in this episode, we showcase how bugs can help kids through adolescents, how easy it is for children to connect science to the everyday world and the fun world of forensics.

This is our first episode covering 2019 GeekGirlCon.

To find out more about The Bug Chicks, Mmmmonsters and/or Geek Girl Con follow them on twitter.

@TheBugChicks, @mmm_monsters, @GeekGirlCon

Viruses & Vaccines with Dr. Vijai Bhola

During this global pandemic, do you want to hear directly from a medical doctor who specializes in infectious diseases? We did.

While stuck at home inundated with COVID-19 news, we thought it would be nice to learn from and get to know one of the people on the front lines.

Join us for an interview with Dr. Vijai Bhola where we talk about the history of vaccines, the current response to this outbreak and some positive words to help our anxious minds.

Image credit: CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM

Student’s Stories S6- Part 1

How different are people’s paths into science and what are students going through right now?

Each spring Dr. Barber DeGraaff teaches a science communication course where students create podcasts for a final project. This episode features WWU student Khleo Isaguirre interviewing Biology professor, Dr. Adrienne Wang. This episode also features WWU student Kassidy Haluska speaking to other College of Science and Engineering majors about their choices.