Science Fare

Susan Keatley
  • 5.0 (15)
  • SCIENCE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to Science Fare! In this show, scientist and writer Susan Keatley talks with scientists about their latest research and how it relates to what kids learn in the science classroom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 1D AGO

    Carla Guarraia on Integrating Research into High School Science Teaching

    Science teacher extraordinaire Carla Guarraia,who teaches at The Park School of Baltimore and is also the chair of the Upper School Science Department, tells us about her path to pursuing science and then science teaching, the way she integrates research into her teaching, and gives advice to students interested in pursuing science.  Resources mentioned in this episode: Carla’s Park School faculty page  The Shape of Wonder by Alan Lightman book  The Plastics Paradox by Chris DeArmitt book  Precious Plastics  Manor Mill  Science Friday podcast episode about plastics contamination  Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Highlights of the episode: *Opening quote by Carla on appreciating that learning should feel hard[0:01]; *Susan introduces Park School of Baltimore science teacher and upper school department chair Carla Guarraia and they thank Manor Mill for letting them record in the space [1:08];   *Carla talks about her path to studying science and becoming a science teacher [3:43]; *What Carla joins most about her job as a high school science teacher [18:30]; *How Carla integrates research into her teaching with a focus on two classes — plastics and integrative medicine [22:05]; *Deeper dive into Carla’s work on the International Student-led Arctic Monitoring and Research (ISAMR) program [35:33]; *Carla’s advice for high school students interested in science [47:48] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min

  2. MAY 18

    Plastics Research in High School with Carla Guarraia

    In this mini episode, we hear from science teacher extraordinaire Carla Guarraia who teaches at The Park School of Baltimore and is also the chair of the Upper School Science Department. Carla tells us about an innovative plastics class she teaches that challenges students’ views on plastics and gets them involved in research on plastics.  Tune in next week for the full-length interview and the last episode of Season 4!  Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4 min

  3. MAY 11

    Seán Jordan on the Search for the Origins of Life

    Astrobiologist Sean Jordan (Dublin City University) talks about his path to becoming a scientist studying the origins of life, some of big questions scientists grapple with when looking for chemical and biological signs of early life, and his advice for students interested in astrobiology. Find Sean at The Protosigns Lab and on instagram at @originssean and @protosigns  Listeners, please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Highlights of the episode: *Opening quote by Sean about the transition from chemistry to biology and the origins of life [0:01]; *Susan introduces astrobiologist Sean Jordan and guest host Sierra Revels who is an intern for the Science Fare podcast [0:52];   *Sean tells us how he decided to become a scientist and what turned him onto astrobiology and describes the magic of piecing together the origins of an environment [2:12]; *The case for deep sea vents as a place where life originated [7:08]; *When exactly did life originate? [11:15];  *Sean’s lab’s work on lipids and insights on the first cell membranes [15:20]; *How early cell membranes may have formed and how that is different from the cell membranes students are learning about in biology [18:31]; *What is the connection between understanding early, simple cells on Earth and detecting life on other planets? [21:41]; *The “leopard spot” patterns found by the Mars Perseverance Rover and what they could mean [28:23]; *Listener question on how nebulae relate to the creation of the Earth [32:20]; *Sean’s take on the panspermia hypothesis [33:30];  *A new hypothesis Sean is working on - let’s search for signs of the emergence of life in the solar system, not just signs of life . . . is life emerging somewhere right now and if so, what would that even look like? [40:23]; *Sean’s advice to high school students interested in this field [42:33] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    46 min

  4. MAY 4

    The First Cell Membranes with Sean Jordan

    In this mini episode, astrobiologist Sean Jordan (Dublin City University) talks about his lab’s work on lipids and the origins of cell membranes. While the earliest cell membranes, aka protocell membranes, were quite different from the cell membranes of today, they also share some important biochemical similarities.  Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4 min

  5. APR 27

    Ayyana Chakravartula and Catherine Sheane on Careers in Engineering

    Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Our guests today are engineers Ayyana Chakravartula and Catherine (Cat) Sheane.  Ayyana is the Failure Analysis and Strategy Lead for the Devices & Services organization at Google. She leads a team of science-y detectives who work to understand why things break and how badly they are breaking, and how our phones and other devices do when people use them in general. The team looks at phones and watches, and other hardware that Google makes, at all stages of development from prototyping to the field. Cat is the VP of Environmental, Social, Governance, and Sustainability at Parsons Corporation. Among her specialties is guiding interdisciplinary teams through climate risk assessments and third-party sustainability certifications for large, complex civil infrastructure projects.   Cat is a passionate sustainability champion with 24 years of experience leading sustainability strategy development, action planning, and execution at the corporate and project levels. In this full-length interview, Ayyana and Cat talk about what led them to become engineers, describe a day in the life as engineers, and reflect on the things that surprise them about their jobs.  Highlights of the episode: *Opening quotes by Ayyana and Cat on the things they were interested in as kids that led them to pursue careers in science [0:01]; *Susan introduces Ayyana and Cat, engineers at Google and Parsons Corporation, respectively [1:36];      *Ayyana and Cat tell us about their paths to pursuing engineering [4:53]; *How Ayyana and Cat decided to pursue graduate degrees and what that was like [11:20]; *What a day in the life as an engineer looks like [19:00]; *Ayyana and Cat give an example of a time they faced a scientific challenge and how they handled it [28:50]; *Connecting Ayyana’s and Cat’s work to what high school students are learning in science [36:00]; *Advice for high school students interested in engineering [45:14] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min

  6. APR 20

    High School Chemistry in Engineering: Microstructure with Ayyana Chakravartula and Corrosion with Cat Sheane

    Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Our guests today are engineers Ayyana Chakravartula and Catherine (Cat) Sheane.  Ayyana is the Failure Analysis and Strategy Lead for the Devices & Services organization at Google. She leads a team of science-y detectives who work to understand why things break and how badly they are breaking, and how our phones and other devices do when people use them in general. The team looks at phones and watches, and other hardware that Google makes, at all stages of development from prototyping to the field. Cat is the VP of Environmental, Social, Governance, and Sustainability at Parsons Corporation. Among her specialties is guiding interdisciplinary teams through climate risk assessments and third-party sustainability certifications for large, complex civil infrastructure projects.   Cat is a passionate sustainability champion with 24 years of experience leading sustainability strategy development, action planning, and execution at the corporate and project levels. In this mini episode, Ayyana and Cat share how their work relates to what a student might learn in high school science class. Ayyana talks about the microstructure of materials, and Cat talks about corrosion.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4 min
  7. Stacey Smith on Flower Color Evolution and Life as a Botanist

    APR 13

    Stacey Smith on Flower Color Evolution and Life as a Botanist

    Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Online resources mentioned in this episode:  Stacey’s flower petal image on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biointeractive site  Stacey’s essay, With Bated Breath  Stacey’s lab website Scientific American article, “DNA Studies Uncover Unexpected Evolutionary Changes in Modern Humans” Paúl Gonzáles social media on plants  Our guest today Stacey Smith. Stacey is an associate professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Her lab studies the evolution and genetics of flowers with a focus on the tomato family. Recent work in her lab has focused on the evolution of flower color, as this trait has a relatively simple genetic basis and is ecologically important. Results of the lab’s studies suggest that flower color changes can involve a range of genetic mechanisms and may often be driven by competition for pollinators. Highlights of the episode: *Susan introduces the Science Fare podcast and opens with a quote from our guest who describes the surprising and unintuitive way flowers make the color red [0:01]; *Susan introduces guest Stacey Smith, a botanist at UC Boulder [1:31];          *Stacey tells us about her path to becoming a scientist, including how when she went to college she asked, What major is for people who like wildflowers? [3:38]; *Listener question! From Megan, age 16, a senior in high school — How do plant pigments such as chlorophyll, Anthocyanins, and carotenoids work with the visible light spectrum and absorb certain wavelengths of light and then appear as a certain color? [6:27]; *Why is flower color simple genetically? [9:31]; *Why is flower color important ecologically? [12:00]; *What would a landscape of flower colors have looked like way back when flowers first came on the scene? [15:02]; *How do you start in the search for plant fossils? [16:53]; *Yes, we need more botanists to go outside and make new discoveries in plants — AI cannot do it alone! [19:56]; *Stacey’s lab’s work on convergent evolution [21:30]; *Interesting examples of convergent evolution in the development of red pigments in flowers and other examples [26:10]; *What does Stacey’s research process look like? [30:30]; *An especially beautiful image under the microscope of petals — the image looked like a carpet of pink cells with orange globs and it was a picture of the day at Howard Hughes Medical Institute [35:30]; *Another listener question! This is from Sam, age 16, in Lafayette, CO and he asks, What evolutionary pressures are responsible for the evolution of plant pigments? [36:40]; *What does Stacey like most about her job and what surprises her? [41:33]; *The importance of writing in being a successful scientist [42:52]; *What is like having so many undergraduate and high school students in Stacey’s lab? [45:47] *Stacey’s essay “With Bated Breath” and the importance of basic science because you don’t know what incredible discoveries it can lead to [48:22]; *What path would a high school student interested in plants take? What advice do you have? [56:05]; *Stacey’s suggestions for online resources on plants [59:50] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 3m

  8. APR 6

    Why is Flower Color Important Ecologically? With Stacey Smith

    Please click below to fill out the survey for this episode: Science Fare Podcast Feedback Form Science Fare Podcast website  Our guest today Stacey Smith. Stacey is an associate professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Her lab studies the evolution and genetics of flowers with a focus on the tomato family. Recent work in her lab has focused on the evolution of flower color, as this trait has a relatively simple genetic basis and is ecologically important. Results of the lab’s studies suggest that flower color changes can involve a range of genetic mechanisms and may often be driven by competition for pollinators. In this mini episode, Stacey answers the question, “Why is flower color important ecologically?” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4 min
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About

Welcome to Science Fare! In this show, scientist and writer Susan Keatley talks with scientists about their latest research and how it relates to what kids learn in the science classroom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Susan Keatley
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Susan Keatley
  • Show Website
    Science Fare