Gradcast

In this special episode, Julia Albert sits down with Elizabeth Mohler and Ariel Frame to tell us about the capsules she produced as a part of Power & Global Health Day 2020. These capsules focus on the work faculty are doing around how inequity has been amplified for marginalized community’s during COVID-19. Julia is an undergraduate student in the School for Advanced Studies in the Arts and Humanities doing the module in scholars electives with research on how COVID-19 has affected young people. To hear more from Julia, check out the ICONOCLAST podcast she hosts. http://iconoclastuwo.com/podcast-3/ Full video available on YouTube Recorded on Nov 19, 2020 Produced by Ariel Frame Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Being an international grad student is an incredibly rewarding adventure but one consisting of a unique set of challenges. In a brand-new series debuting on GradCast during UWO International Week, hosts Liam Clifford, Nikol Posnov, and Rhys Paterson speak with Brazilian Political Science MA Ricardo Moll about the international student experience and what we can all learn from it. As the subsequent conversation highlights the obstacles surrounding travel in a global pandemic, the sights and sound of Canada, and subpar Tim Hortons coffee, Ricardo provides insightful context on how international students provide Western's community and the country with greater vibrancy. If you would like to get in contact with Ricardo and learn more about his experience at Western and in Canada you can find him on FaceBook and Instagram. Full video available on YouTube Recorded on Nov 12th, 2020 Produced by Gavin Tolometti Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot  

Kendra Cotton (MSc. Nursing) joins hosts Yousuf Hasan and Elizabeth Mohler to chat about her research on technology and information flow among health care professions. Kendra tells us why health information exchange among professionals is important for effective patient care. She also chats about how social media is a great tool for caregivers to facilitate communication especially amid the pandemic..To learn more about Kendra and her clinical work as a registered nurse, visit here.   Recorded on November 10th, 2020 Produced by Laura Munoz Baena Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Do you want to know what it takes to work in the field of gold exploration in the Canadian Yukon Territory? An Arts degree, a failed calculus course, four exploration field seasons and a Masters in Geology. JUST KIDDING! It takes believing in yourself and a properly guided passion. Tune in to this week's GradCast episode with James Alexander to learn more about "best-friend" elements and minerals, instrumentation used to define gold mineralization, and if that's not for you, skip to the second half of the episode for reasons to visit the Yukon and some cheesy inspirational advice. The episode is hosted by Nikol Posnov and Viki Tellios.   If you would like to learn more about James's work, you can follow him on Instagram @jamesalexander95 To learn more about gold exploration up in the Yukon, you can visit the White Gold Corp website. Full video available on YouTube Recorded on 3rd Nov, 2020 Produced by Ariel Frame. Edited by Gavin Tolometti Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White

As humans, we often underestimate how important bipedal movement is to our lives. And according to recent Pedorthics program graduate and Kinesiology alumnus Ashley Njeru, there is much we can do to prioritize its wellbeing. And as hosts Liam Clifford and Viki Tellios learn more about lower limb health, orthotics, and orthopaedics, it becomes clear that this is something we should be taking more seriously. The conversation that follows is one that emphasizes the challenges of treating patients in a pandemic, how a graduate degree prepares one for the workforce, and why it is important to move forward figuratively and literally. Recorded on October 28th, 2020   Produced by Laura Munoz Baena Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Hanna Grover and Amara Miles are both MA candidates in Occupational Therapy. They chat with hosts Yousuf Hasan, Elizabeth Mohler, and Gavin Tolometti about how COVID-19 has impacted their fieldwork over the summer. They also share with us how they have coped with these unprecedented times and found new ways to connect with people using online platforms. We talk about friendships, family, research, health activities, and much more. If you would like to learn more about Hanna and Amara's research and the Occupational Therapy program at Western, follow @western_ot and @grassro_ots on Instagram. Full video available on YouTube Recorded on Oct 30th, 2020 Produced by Gavin Tolometti Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Anna Sui (PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) chats with us about a research project that has led to the increase of smartphone use during the pandemic. She joined hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Gavin Tolometti to discuss smartphone addiction and nomophobia (fear of not having your smartphone or not being able to use it). Yoah Sui (PhD graduate in Kinesiology, soon to be a post-doctorate fellow in Behavioural Medicine Lab at the University of Victoria) also joins the hosts to talk about his post-grad journey after the pandemic. He chats about how COVID-19 impacted his post-doc scholarship and how he had to find roommates amid the pandemic. He also shares with us some positives including new research involving digital health.  If you would like to learn more about Anna and Yoah's research, you can email them at arudkovs@uwo.ca and yoahsui@gmail.com Full video available on YouTube Recorded on Oct 30, 2020 Produced by Gavin Tolometti Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by Whi

In this episode of GradCast, hosts Gavin Tolometti and Francesco Colosimo chat with Kristin Prentice (a PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences researching leisure activity in older adults) and Adam Debosscher (a PhD Candidate in English Literature studying popular fantasy literature), about the various struggles they have faced as students in the COVID-19 era. Together, they enlighten us about how the pandemic has affected their research, measures they undertaken to keep their projects moving forward and personal strategies they have to stay productive. If you want to learn more about Kristin Prentice's work you can email her at kprenti4@uwo.ca If you want to learn more about Adam Debosscher's work you can read his article #ForTheThrone in the journal This Years Work on Medievalism Full video available on YouTube Recorded on Oct 29, 2020 Produced by Gavin Tolometti Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

When we listen to the world around us, we can tune the brain to focus on sounds or voices. Do you remember when you were last on the train or bus and there was a certain sound that stood out to you? You could figure out what that sound was right? That is you perceiving the surrounding environment. For the human brain, this is a complex yet routine ability and is something we do not think about on how it works. Now try teaching a machine the same ability. Sounds hard right? Well, in this episode, hosts Liam Clifford and Gavin Tolometti talk with M.Sc student Haider Al-Tahan from the Department of Computer Science about his research using machine learning to train algorithms to distinguish audio from human speech. To check out more from Haider go to his website haideraltahan.com Full video available on YouTube Recorded Oct 22, 2020 Produced by Ariel Frame   Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

In this episode of GradCast, hosts (Elizabeth Mohler and Nikol Posnov) talk with Anna Sui (PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) about her research which looks at how women story their experiences of requesting and receiving tubal ligation (getting their tubes tied). Specifically, her research explores how various intersecting social identities (race, disability, gender, etc.) shape these experiences. We learn from Anna that this process is more difficult and complicated by myriad barriers than one might believe, especially in how medical professionals regard female patients. To learn more about Anna's research: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Sui Recorded on October 13, 2020 Full video available on YouTube Produced by Yousuf Hasan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Erlantz Etxeberria (PhD Candidate in Philosophy) chats about his research on scientific method and explanations in science with hosts (Yousuf Hasan and Liam Clifford). What is the scientific method? Should we trust science? Can philosophy inform science? Is there a clash between scientific evidence and politics? We talk about these issues with Erlantz. He also shares with us what he thinks about Richard Feynman’s quote on philosophy of science: “[it is] as useful to scientists as ornithology [the study of birds] is to birds.” To learn more about Erlantz' research, visit his Rotman profile at Western.  Full video available on YouTube Recorded on October 09, 2020.  Produced by Yousuf Hasan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot    

In this episode Elizabeth Mohler and Ariel Frame become informed by Francesco Colosimo on his research investigating the health information being distributed to the public on COVID-19. In his Masters of Health Information Science, Farncesco seeks to assess which information is trusted, which is correct and which channels are disseminating correct information opposed to misinformation. During a global pandemic, this information is important to get right and Francesco's research seeks to find the best way of getting there.  To hear more from Francesco, find him on Instagram @francesco.colosimo or Facebook Recorded on September 29nd, 2020 Full video available on YouTube Produced by Laura Munoz Baena Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Jaclyn Siegel (PhD Candidate in Social Psychology) joins us (Yousuf Hasan and Yimin Chen) to discuss three fascinating HRTO cases involving Western University. Jaclyn has lately been fascinated by how HRTO handles applications and appeals of harassment and discrimination. As a feminist, Jaclyn provides valuable insights on related issues as well. She also discusses some of the more pernicious forms of harassment, for instance, harassment by vexatious litigation. Disclaimer: No one in this video is a lawyer and nothing described is a legal advice; the three HRTO cases narrated are from the publicly available documents below: 1. https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhrt/doc/2017/2017hrto1536/2017hrto1536.html Appeal: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhrt/doc/2018/2018hrto477/2018hrto477.html 2.https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscdc/doc/2010/2010onsc6489/2010onsc6489.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAQAjIndlc3Rlcm4gb250YXJpbyIgZnJlZWRvbSBvZiBzcGVlY2gAAAAAAQ&resultIndex=1 3.https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscdc/doc/2012/2012onsc

The aftermath of a meteorite striking the surface of a planetary body leaves behind a circular depression in the ground and plumes of dust and rock. The energy left over in the crater can heat up the water that passes through the rocks, creating an environment that could have been responsible for the emergence of microbial life on Earth over 3 billion years ago. In this episode, hosts Gavin Tolometti and Rhys Paterson talk with Earth and Planetary Science M.Sc student Tabetha Shepphard about how she studies the composition of fluids trapped within minerals from the West Clearwater impact structure in Quebec, Canada to learn about hydrothermal systems that developed after the impact event almost 290 million years ago. Also learn how Tabetha start her path towards geology through outreach, politics and speaking primarily French.   To find more about Tabetha, find her on Twitter and Instagram as @ImpactfulRocks     Recorded on September 22nd, 2020 Full Episode available on YouTube Produced by Laura Munoz Baena

As a graduate student, we face academic rejection in various forms. From a journal declining your manuscript, being told you were not good enough to join a research lab or postgraduate institution, to rejection from peers because of your choices in course work. In this #GradLife episode, hosts Viki Tellios, Gavin Tolometti, and Monica Molinaro open the floor to GradCast committee members Ariel Frame, Rhys Patterson, Laura Beana, Elizabeth Mohler, Danica Martina, and Liam Clifford to share their academic rejection experiences and how graduate students can learn from them and cope with rejection in their lives. To hear previous #GradLife episodes, follow us at @GradCastRadio on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website gradcast.ca Full episode available on YouTube Recorded on Sept. 16th, 2020 Produced by Gavin Tolometti Theme song Upbeat Party produced by Scott Holmes  

For university students, the question “what are you going to do after you graduate?” often proves to be the bane of their existence. This stems from not only its repetitiveness from friends and family members alike, but more so from the existential dread that it causes. They may have an idea of what they want to do, but nobody truly knows for certain what will transpire, especially in the era of COVID-19. However, fear not as PhD student Shannon McKechnie from the Faculty of Education reassures hosts Yousuf Hasan and Liam Clifford that there is in fact hope. Her focus with the Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership research arc seeks to ask how student employability post-graduation is represented in policy, and what change might be possible to better support students. The conversation that ensues covers what students can do to help themselves succeed, how universities can complement that, and how we as a society can rethink the value of recent graduates. To learn more about Shannon's research, follow her on

The amazing varsity cross-country runner, Jenna Schulz, discusses medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) and the effect of high tibial osteotomy (HTO) surgical intervention on changes in loading and inflammation. "Exercise is medicine" is a common phrase used by our guest which quickly became a hot topic discussed between Jenna and hosts Viki and Nikol. This episode is packed with lots of tips and tricks that Jenna encountered during graduate school, in particular related to the MPT/PhD program, time management and how to protect your knees, all of which have overall made her experience as rewarding as possible. To get in touch with Jenna and her research, you can find her @the.rungry.researcher on Instagram. You can also learn more about Jenna's research by reading this article: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/13/771 Full Video Available on YouTube Recorded on Sep. 08, 2020 Produced by Gavin Tolometti Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

When Italian leader Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler became cozier and more acquainted with one another, Europe found itself embroiled in a new wave of fascism that would spark a second World War. But in order to understand how a country revered for its art, culture, and gastronomy would be attracted to such a reprehensible ideology, the focus needs to shift to Italy’s position vis-à-vis the British Empire within the imperial system and interwar global order. As hosts Yousuf Hasan and Liam Clifford learn from recent History MA graduate Jessi Gilchrist, Anglo-Italian relations in the 1920s and 1930s must be scrutinized for their mutually shared imperial ambitions. The insightful conversation that ensues opens up discourse on how twentieth-century notions of empire world blurred the line between fascism and “democracy,” leading Italy to become an Axis power. Full video available on YouTube Recorded on Sep. 02, 2020 Produced by Yousuf Hasan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io (Produced by White

Denny Chin (PhD Student in Microbiology and Immunology) joins us (Elizabeth Mohler and Yousuf Hasan) to chat about his research on combating bacterial infections. Denny is especially interested in a particular kind of pathogen known as Staphlococcus aureus (S. aureus) since it can cause many well-known infections including skin infections, pneumonia, and sepsis. Some strains of S. aureus have become resistant to the available antibiotics. For his research, Denny is finding ways to come up with new antibiotics that can fight against the more resilient strains of the bacteria. Full video on YouTube Recorded on September 1st, 2020 Produced by Laura Munoz Baena (video by Yousuf Hasan) Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot

Hosts Elizabeth Mohler and Viki Tellios welcome back fellow Gradcast host Monica Molinaro, PhD candidate in the Health Promotion stream of the Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Graduate Program. Monica brings us up to date on the progress of her research regarding the caregiving stories of nurses in pediatric oncology, as well as her motivations in studying this field and how this passion developed. Also, Monica describes the importance of using narrative methodologies, and how narratives and storytelling unite all of us. If you would like to learn more about Monica's research, you can visit her website https://monicalmolinaro.wixsite.com/home and find her on Twitter @MonicaLMolinaro Full video available on YouTube   Recorded Aug 25, 2020 Produced by Ariel Frame   Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io Produced by White Hot