Shows
Secret Life of a Graduate StudentFaith and Science: Religion is a way of life in grad school and beyond, with Abigail, Tyler and MiriamLaure and Megan bring the mini-series guests together for a final discussion on faith and science in graduate school. The group discusses some common threads from each of their individual interviews, such as religion as a form of life balance and how they navigate preconceptions from colleagues, friends, and podcast hosts of conflict within their way of life and their careers.
2020-09-0837 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentFaith and Science: Understanding nature and its symmetry brings me closer to my faith, with distinguished professor Miriam RafailovichMegan interviews Miriam Rafailovich, a distinguished professor of material science and chemical engineering at Stony Brook University, who practices Orthodox Judaism. Miriam talks about emigrating from Romania to the United States at an early age to escape racism and religious persecution. Her family valued education and openly encouraged her to pursue her academic interests. Miriam believes that her active pursuit of knowledge and nature enables her a rich relationship with her Jewish faith.
2020-09-0128 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentFaith and Science: My faith inspires me to grow as a scientist and a person, with government scientist Tyler WestoverLaure interviews government scientist Tyler Westover, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, widely known as Mormonism. Tyler talks about growing up religious in Idaho, where he was inspired by the numerous science textbooks in his home. They discuss his very rational reason for pursuing a degree in engineering, and how he was ultimately swayed to leap into a PhD in quantum physics. Listen to hear how Tyler is moved by his faith and how it has moved him forward in his science career.
2020-08-2529 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentFaith and Science: Two big aspects of my life that can coexist easily, with current graduate student Abigail MillerLaure interviews Catholic graduate student, Abigail Miller about what it is like to actively practice faith while being a full time graduate student. Abigail talks about growing up Catholic, and how she did not always know she was going to be a scientist. Listen to hear how Abigail expresses that becoming a scientist and learning about the universe has brought her closer to her faith.
2020-08-1834 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentFaith and Science: Laure and Megan discuss whether religion and science are like oil and waterLaure and Megan open up their mini-series on faith and science with a conversation about about how religion can play a role in life and graduate school. Even though 30-40% of scientists practice a religion, faith and science are often portrayed as oil and water. Laure and Megan explore this idea, challenge their own preconceptions, and talk about their own experiences with religion and spirituality.
2020-08-1132 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentUncommon Path: My windy and bumpy road to PhD and beyond, with marketing specialist David LubertozziLaure interviews content optimization strategist David Lubertozzi about his windy and sometimes bumpy journey from pastry chef, to scientist, to marketing specialist. Dave candidly discusses some of the challenges he faced while in graduate school, and how those challenges may have been heightened as a result of uncommon path.
2020-07-2920 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentUncommon Path: Rewriting your life story, with archaeological scientist Julie DunneMegan interviews archaeological scientist Julie Dunne about her life before and after science. As a former accountant, Julie was unfulfilled in her career. She talks about how she found happiness in curiosity and science. She ultimately decided to rewrite her life, switch careers, and never look back, this is her story.
2020-07-2124 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentUncommon Paths: What's the rush? with current graduate student Brett GarabedianMegan interviews current graduate student Brett Garabedian about his life before science. Brett was an average high school student, a community college drop-out and on a path to a career in his family's business of selling gems on the home shopping network. This episode features the story of Brett's uncommon path from gemologist to scientist working in the exciting field of glycobiology.
2020-07-1426 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentUncommon Path: Why Laure and Megan want to talk about taking time before graduate schoolMegan and Laure open up their latest mini-series on taking time before graduate school, by sharing their own anecdotes. They also discuss the challenges some women face when it comes to making life-impacting decisions about professional development and time.
2020-07-0724 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentOvercoming Obstacles Panel Discussion: Forget competition, let's talk about empathy in science, with Katharine Seton, David Payne and Richard MankinLaure and Megan bring the overcoming obstacles interviewees, Katharine Seton, David Payne, and Richard Mankin, together for a panel discussion. They discuss how, while it wasn't always easy to do, making their conditions visible to their collaborators and employers has helped them feel comfortable in the competitive science environment.
2020-06-3028 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentOvercoming Obstacles: I wanted to do field science, so I had to get creative, with government scientist Richard MankinLaure interviews USDA field ecologist Richard Mankin who has a rare muscle disorder that impacted his mobility. Tested by his own will to do science in the field, Richard learned to find creative, out of the box solutions to enable his active and mobile career.
2020-06-2318 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentOvercoming Obstacles: I didn't know everyone else had these superpowers with government scientist, David PayneMegan interviews newly minted government scientist David Payne about his undocumented condition called aphantasia. David didn't know until after graduating from his PhD that he didn't have a mind's eye. It was like discovering that everyone else had superpowers. He talks about how he found ways to subconsciously cope with his differences, and how post-PhD the effort to cope is much more mindful.
2020-06-1622 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentOvercoming Obstacles: I know I have my limits, and they don't limit me with current grad student, Katharine SetonContinuing the mini-series on overcoming obstacles, Laure interviews current graduate student, Katharine Seton who suffers from myelitis encephalitis, or chronic fatigue. Katharine talks about how she started to understand her condition better in graduate school. As she learned to define and ultimately embrace her limitations for herself and among her peers, her life and success as a student improved.
2020-06-0919 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentOvercoming Obstacles: Laure and Megan share their own obstaclesMegan and Laure introduce the series on overcoming obstacles by sharing their own experiences. Megan talks about her visual muscle disorder which caused a life-long challenge with reading, and Laure discusses how she was only aware of her dyslexia late in life. Their stories open up the broader conversation on how obstacles should not discourage people from pursuing their passions.
2020-05-2627 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentImposter Panel Discussion: Imposter syndrome is ubiquitous in science!Laure and Megan bring the series interviewees, Audrey Bascoul, Jamie Meadows, and Timothée Poisot, together for a discussion and debate about imposter syndrome. One thing they can agree on... imposter syndrome is universal and ubiquitous in science.
2020-05-1925 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentImposter: Me? I think you should find a better scientist! with professor Timothée PoisotA culture of elitism in academia wrote his imposter into being. Before graduate school he did not consider how other's might see him. Now, he struggles with the idea that up and coming students will follow his ideas. Ecologist and professor Timothée Poisot talks with Megan about his imposter syndrome.
2020-05-1222 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentImposter: Am I supposed to be here? with AAAS fellow, Jamie MeadowsLaure interviews current AAAS fellow, Jamie Meadows, about how imposter syndrome played a role throughout her scientific career.
2020-05-0522 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentImposter: Milestone after milestone, it follows me, with civil engineer Audrey BascoulCivil engineer Audrey Bascoul, double MS and PhD, talks about her imposter and how it continues to affect her even after completing her PhD. Milestone after milestone, accomplishment after accomplishment, she can't seem to shake the feeling that she doesn't belong.
2020-04-2428 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentImposter: Laure and Megan open up about their own imposter syndromeLaure and Megan have an honest discussion about their own experiences with imposter syndrome and why they want to dedicate an entire series to the subject.
2020-04-1525 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentLife Balance (Bonus Episode): Combatting your PhD with graduate student and mixed martial artist, Marina GardasevicMegan interviews Marina Gardasevic, a graduate student in the UK, about how she finds balance in life as PhD through mixed martial arts.
2020-04-0729 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentLife Balance: Not losing sight of the important things with academic scientist, Aindrila MukhopadhyayMegan interviews academic researcher Aindrila Mukhopadhyay about rediscovering art after a car accident nearly took her sight away. Aindrila reflects about how water color painting, and now drawing, bring her peace-of-mind during her most stressful days.
2020-04-0734 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentLife Balance: A way to escape everything that is grad school with current industry scientist, Sergey BoyarskiyCurrent industry scientist Sergey Boyarskiy talks about how he found life balance in grad school through cycling and gaming. While cycling had a universally positive impact on his life as a grad, gaming had a problematic affect on his sleep schedule and productivity. Despite the negative impacts of his outside hobby, gaming ultimately became an escape from all that is grad school.
2020-03-2436 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentLife Balance: Is rushing your PhD worth it? Playing catch-up and trying to have it all with current industry scientist, Tom EylesLaure interviews current industry scientist Tom Eyles who started his PhD right out of undergrad. At first he felt he needed to rush the experience thinking that finishing early would help his career. Listen to find out how and why he decided to slow down to focus on his life-balance.
2020-03-1725 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentLife Balance: Why work-life-balance in grad school matters according to Megan and LaureTo open their series on life balance in grad school, Megan and Laure discuss the pressures of grad school in the context of work-life-balance. If the goal in grad school is to get a PhD, why focus on anything else? The short answer, because self-care is a critical component of success in grad school. In this episode, Megan and Laure piece together their approach to life balance in grad school and preview the series to come.
2020-03-0627 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentConference and Travel (Bonus Episode): The personal history of life in Iran as told by scientist Mina BissellThis episode is a bit special. We decided to share more of Mina Bissell's fascinating interview. In a previous episode, we focused our discussion around Mina's reasons for doing science, her personal influences, and her graduate school experience. However, Mina had so much more to say. In this episode Mina talks to us about Iran before the revolution, her family's situation during the Shah occupancy. She then tells us about how she fell in love with English literature and finally how she was able to integrate into a prestigious lab at UC Berkeley during her post-doc.
2020-03-0329 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentConference and Travel panel discussion: There is no silver liningLaure and Megan bring the group of series interviewee's, Maren, Pablo, and Mina, back together for a discussion on the broader implications of traveling during a scientific career.
2020-02-2541 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentConference and Travel: an interview with renowned scientist, Mina Bissell, on leaving home for study in the USMina Bissell, distinguished Scientist in the Biological Systems and Engineering Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, talks about growing up and being educated in Iran. She discusses being exposed to science at an early age and how that influenced her career. She moved to the US for higher education, listen to hear her travel story.
2020-02-1824 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentConference and Travel: Pablo Cruz-Morales on the ups and downs of leaving your comfort zoneMegan interviews Pablo Cruz-Morales about growing up and doing a PhD in Mexico. They discuss participating in long-term internships abroad and feeling out of one's comfort zone.
2020-02-1132 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentConference and Travel in grad school with current industry scientist Maren WehrsLaure interviews recent grad Maren Wehrs about leaving Germany to do her PhD across the globe in California. They also discuss opportunities to attend conferences abroad.
2020-02-0423 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentConference and Travel: Why Laure and Megan want to talk about leaving home for career development?Megan and Laure discuss why they chose the subject of conference and travel for this series. They talk about the importance of having experiences outside of the comfort zone and the benefits of going abroad. Through conversation, they preview what to expect in the rest of this series.
2020-01-2820 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentEat, Pray, Qual: Panel discussion about qualifying exams with Luis, Ezinne, and BlakeLaure and Megan bring the group of series interviewees (Luis, Ezinne, and Blake) back together for a group discussion on the qual exam in the broader context.
2020-01-1421 min
Secret Life of a Graduate StudentEat, Pray, Qual: Blake Simmons on his most relaxed qualMegan interviews Blake Simmons, current director of the Biological Systems and Engineering Division at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, about grad school in New Orleans. Blake talks about his time in the military prior to school and how he let the good times roll in NoLa, even during his qual.
2020-01-0736 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentEat, Pray, Qual: Post-doc Ezinne Achinivu reflects on her uncommon qualMegan interviews former NC State grad student, Ezinne Achinivu, about her life in Nigeria and the US before her scientific career in chemistry. They discuss the ups and downs of taking the qual in exam after Ezinne's first year as a PhD student.
2019-12-3124 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentEat, Pray, Qual: Current grad student Luis Valencia is amped for his upcoming qualification examLaure interviews Luis Valencia, current graduate student at UC Berkeley, about his upcoming qualification exam. They discuss how Luis became interested in science and how he's feeling about taking the qual.
2019-12-2419 minSecret Life of a Graduate StudentEat, Pray, Qual: Why Laure and Megan think the qualification exam is a rite of passage?Laure and Megan explain why they chose the qualification exam for their first ever series and discuss their own qual experiences.
2019-12-2426 min