Shows
Plant Kingdom14 Luke Steller: Primordial soupAstrobiologist and science communicator Dr Luke Steller journeys deep into the primordial soup to discuss the enigma of Earth’s first life. In our conversation, we discuss what early life could have looked like 3 billion years ago, how scientists read the fossil and rock record, and what life might look like elsewhere in our universe.Bio:Dr. Luke Steller is a researcher in the field of astrobiology, the study of how life began on Earth and where it might exist elsewhere in the universe. His research consists of exploring the ancient hot springs of the Pi...
2024-10-2242 min
Plant Kingdom13 Eddie Game: EcoacousticsDr Eddie Game is the Lead Scientist & Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific region. In our conversation, he discusses conservation as a collaboration with community, and his pioneering works into acoustic ecology – the study of the biology of natural soundscapes. He shares his field work in Papua New Guinea and Borneo, what a healthy jungle sounds like, and what it’s like waking up to the calls of gibbons.Bio:Eddie Game is the Lead Scientist & Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific region, responsible for ensuring that the Cons...
2024-09-3046 minPlant Kingdom12 Jenny Mortimer: Plants in spaceAssociate Professor Dr Jenny Mortimer discusses plants as a technology, and how she applies genetic engineering as a tool to solve wicked problems of sustainability in agricultural and pharmaceutical production. Her lab uses synthetic biology to develop new crops in controlled growth environments – including plants for space settlement as part of the newly formed ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space.BIO:Jenny Mortimer is Associate Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide. She is also an Affiliate Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley Na...
2024-09-0248 minPlant Kingdom11 Sharon Robinson: Antarctic mossClimate change biologist Dr Sharon Robinson takes us thousands of kilometres across the Southern Ocean to Casey Station, Antarctica. She is an expert on Antarctica’s ancient moss beds, which she describes as ‘miniature old growth forests’. In our conversation, we spoke about the adaptations that enable moss to thrive in some of the harshest environments on earth, and the impact of historic ozone depletion and climate change on these fragile ecosystems.Bio:Dr Sharon Robinson is a Climate Change Biologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia. An expert on Antarctic moss, she first visited East A...
2024-08-1239 minPlant Kingdom10 Jon Pitt: Becoming botanicalTranslator, author and academic Dr Jon Pitt discusses his work in critical plant studies and the representation of plants throughout Japanese literature and media. He shares the joys of his recent translation of the work Tree Spirits Grass Spirits by acclaimed Japanese poet Hiromi Ito, and delves into what we can gain from becoming botanical – or thinking like a plant.Bio:Jon L Pitt is Assistant Professor of Japanese Environmental Humanities at the University of California, Irvine. He situates his work at the intersection of Japanese literary and media studies and critical plant studies. He is...
2024-07-021h 09Plant Kingdom09 Åsa Krüger: Gothenburg BotaniskaBotanist and curator Åsa Krüger discusses her practice in connecting audiences with plants and shares behind the scenes stories from the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Sweden. Investigating the role of botanical gardens in the modern world, she shares how the living collection is engaged in active research and conservation, and the importance of putting names to the living world around us.Bio:Dr Åsa Krüger is a curator at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Sweden. During her PhD, Åsa studied the phylogeny, biogeography and evolutionary history of plants in the coffee family (Rubiaceae), focusing on speci...
2024-06-1753 minPlant Kingdom08 Karlie Noon: The sky is full of knowledgeGamilaroi astrophysicist Karlie Noon dismantles sketchy ambitions to colonize the moon, asteroids and space. Grounded in indigenous sky sovereignty, she presents another way of knowing and caring for the solar system, Milky Way and universe. She shares her knowledge of moon formation, the growing discipline of space environmentalism, her research into the dynamics of the The Milky Way and all we can learn from Sky Country.Bio:Karlie Noon is a Gamilaroi astrophysicist and author with over a decade’s worth of experience in science communication and advocating for Indigenous astronomical knowledge systems. She is th...
2024-06-0453 minPlant Kingdom07 Grace Fleming: The enigma of seedsPlant biologist Dr Grace Fleming dissects the secret life of seeds. In a conversation covering everything from seed vaults to space seed trials, she examines the mechanisms of seed dormancy and how seeds sense and interact with their environment.Bio:Dr Grace Fleming is an Assistant Professor in Plant Biology at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Her work examines the physiological underpinning of seed dormancy and responses to varying environmental conditions, with a high priority placed on identifying and validating genetic and physiological factors contributing to seed longevity in the soil seed bank. Her...
2024-05-2057 minPlant Kingdom06 Francine McCarthy: A lake in the AnthropoceneMicropaleontologist Dr Francine McCarthy goes deep into the sediments of Crawford Lake, a small and unassuming lake in the Niagara Escarpment town of Milton, Ontario. In 2023, Dr McCarthy led a team that identified Crawford Lake as the best location on earth that captured evidence of human caused planetary change. Endorsed by the Anthropocene Working Group, It was proposed as the best ‘golden spike’ site of the Anthropocene. Dr McCarthy shares how she first encountered the lake, her research on microscopic organisms of the Great Lakes Region, and personal reflections on the Anthropocene.Bio:Dr Francine McCa...
2024-05-0644 minPlant KingdomNicole Yamase: The ocean is a mirrorMicronesian marine botanist and ocean advocate Dr Nicole Yamase meditates on the Pacific with a conversation spanning Hawaiian seaweeds, snorkelling across the Federated States of Micronesia and her submersible expedition to the Mariana trench. She generously shares her cultural perspective as a Micronesian scientist and discusses what lessons she’s learned from the sea.Bio:Dr. Nicole Yamase is from the islands of Pohnpei and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Although she is from the FSM, she spent parts of her childhood in the Republic of Palau and Saipan in the Commonwealth of...
2024-04-2243 minPlant KingdomJen Sanger: View from the big tree canopyForest ecologist Jen Sanger spends more time in big trees than most. In our conversation, she takes us into another world of canopy of Australia’s tallest trees and into Tasmania’s aptly named Grove of Giants. She shares the story of the evolution of the distinctive Tasmanian flora, the ecology of these special forests and the summer she helped get 500 community members nearly 100m up into the canopy.Bio:Dr Jennifer Sanger is the co-founder for The Tree Projects, a Tasmanian based an environmental outreach organisation which educates people about the worlds most notable trees...
2024-04-0837 minPlant KingdomDeatra Cohen and Adam Siegel: Unearthing Ashkenazi herbalism practicesPartners in life and work, herbalist Deatra Cohen and reference librarian and researcher Adam Siegel are the authors of the incredible resource Ashkenazi Herbalism. Together they spent years researching little known texts, translating ethnobotanical surveys and cross-referencing cultural databases to unearth lost Ashkenazi plant practices from the pale of settlement region. They share the stories and traditions of a few of their favourite plants along with Deatra’s own journey to plant healing work.Bio:Deatra Cohen is a former reference librarian and herbalist who trained with the Berkeley Herbal Center. She also belongs to a...
2024-03-211h 00Plant KingdomRipley Whiteside: Depicting wonderTennessee-based artist Ripley Whiteside creates art as a way to explore and connect to nature, history and speculative ecological futures. In a wide-ranging conversation spanning, contemporary ecological thought, invasive species and an ancient Medieval text—the Augsburg Book of Miracles—the conversation looks at the mysterious constructs of our understanding of nature. His place-based work is inspired by time spent Montreal, North Carolina and his home in Tennessee.Bio:Ripley Whiteside was born in 1982 and grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 2012 he graduated with an MFA from SUNY-Buffalo, and he received a BFA from...
2024-03-181h 05Plant KingdomManuel Esperon-Rodriguez: Urban forest explorationsUrban ecologist Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez in conversation with Catherine Polcz. He shares his journey from researching plant physiology in the Mexican Veracruz Montane Forests to future-proofing diverse urban forests of Western Sydney. His work is driven by understanding our relationship to the urban environment where people and plants are reliant on one another.Bio:Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez is a Sydney-based, Mexican ecologist who studies the effects of climate on plant function in urban ecosystems. He completed his PhD in Eastern Mexico assessing the vulnerability of the lush Veracruz cloud forest to climate change. In 2015 he j...
2024-03-1827 min
The Skeptic ZoneThe Skeptic Zone #513 - 19.August.20180:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 0:04:30 Kate Browne Kate is an investigative journalist and leader of the news team at CHOICE. She is also known as 'The Gulty Mum' from the ABC TV show 'The Checkout' and will be the M.C. for the upcoming Skepticon in October. https://www.choice.com.au/authors/kate-browne https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcnP8uT1FzoUVv3WOpQDFNlU_YmVszNoP 0:14:33 Maynard's Spooky Action.... The launch of Science Week #2 Maynard he...
2018-08-191h 01
FavourEconomy Vol 3. 2017 - 2018Catherine PolczCatherine Polcz : Interdisciplinary Artist / Museologist / Scientist
FavourEconomy is a collection of audio recordings shared by women* for the benefit of other women* working in the arts. The project operates as a platform for contributors to voice their experience, insights and skills and share it to the archive. The archive comprises of a series of volumes that develop over a one-year period coinciding with each financial year.
The recordings shared to FavourEconomy are termed ‘favours’ because they have been produced by with the intention of being of value for other women* working in the arts to hear. The word ‘favour’ encapsulating a social...
2018-06-3004 min
The FizzicsEd PodcastEp.48 Sydney Science FestivalThe Sydney Science Festival celebrates and showcases Sydney’s diverse and multidisciplinary science and innovation community through a program of talks by world-leading researchers, hands-on workshops, exhibitions and family events exploring all areas of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM). Today we speak with the event producers, Catherine Polcz, the Program Producer (Science) from the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences and Ellie Downing, the Manager for Science Engagement and Events at the Australian Museum.Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education.About the Sydney Science FestivalThrough strengthening the ties between scientists and the co...
2018-04-0434 min