Earth News Interviews Earth News Interviews

In this episode of Earth News Interviews, we speak with grad student Erkan Gun and professor Russ Pysklywec about the mechanisms that drive continental movements!Note: This interview was recorded back June 2021.
Primary source discussed:Pre-collisional extension of microcontinental terranes by a subduction pulley

Happy International Women's Day!In this special episode of ENI, we have a roundtable style discussion on the topic of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Earth Sciences. Joining Kathryn in this episode, we have Assistant Professor Tasca Santimano and PhD students Sophia Zamaria and David Aceituno-Caicedo.
 
Primary readings discussed:
- Gender representation cues labels of hard and soft sciences
- No progress on diversity in 40 years

In this episode of ENI, we talk to the University of Toronto's new assistant professor, Andrei Swidinski about how mineral exploration is done using geophysics - magnetotellurics and passive seismic!
 
Primary readings discussed:
Application of deep-penetrating geophysical methods to mineral exploration: Examples from Western Australia

Welcome back to a new year of Earth News Interviews!
 
In this episode, Dean, Winnie, Kathryn, and Tina each discuss their favorite earth sciences paper from 2021.
Primary reading discussed:
- Using phylogenies to detect a major extinction event in the Oligocene of Africa
- Clues from soured milk reveal how gold veins form
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Tackling under-representation and recognition of talents in geochemistry and cosmochemistry
- Accidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test
Dan Gregory's episode

We typically expect physical phenomena to follow certain rules: an apple falls from a tree under the influence of gravity, a skater will eventually slow down from the friction between their skates and the ice, a star spins in a similar direction as the planets in its solar system... Here's the interesting bit, the last one doesn't always hold true. In fact, astrophysicists theorized that there are solar systems in outer space that don't follow this rule. And in 2019, scientists measured this counterintuitive phenomenon in a solar system almost 900 light-years away called K2-290. Their findings were published earlier this year and we got a chance to interview one of the co-authors of this paper, Dr J. J Zanazzi from the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto covering topics like the formation of protoplanetary disks, the effect of neighbouring stars and what we know about planet formation. 
 
Primary readings discussed: 
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/8/e2017418118

In this episode, we interview Andrew Parmenter, a geologist working for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term storage of Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come. Nuclear waste is a reality our generation has been tasked with storing in a safe way after being passed on from previous generations. We touch upon the key features of long-term nuclear waste repositories, building strong relationships with local Indigenous communities, and what the role of a geologist is in a project of this scale and importance.