Gradcast

  Hosts Mark Ambrogio and Ryan Baxter welcome back Kian Esmailian, a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Western University, to discuss his research on ultrafast ultrasound imaging and Doppler applications. Kian shares his journey from Iran to Western, detailing his passion for merging engineering and medicine. He explains how ultrasound imaging plays a crucial role in diagnostics due to its affordability, safety, and real-time capabilities, making it a preferred choice over MRI and CT scans. The conversation dives into Doppler ultrasound applications, which allow for velocity estimation in blood vessels, helping doctors detect abnormalities like clogged arteries and aneurysms. Kian breaks down the trade-offs between frame rate and accuracy, highlighting how ultrafast ultrasound improves speed but requires balancing image quality. He discusses how his research focuses on optimizing transmission techniques to achieve both high-speed imaging and precise velocity estimation, ultimately improving diagnostic

This week, we engage in the third episode of our collaboration with Inspiring Minds, a campus-wide partnership between Western Research, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Writing Support Centre, Western Libraries, Student Experience and Western’s 11 faculties. Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research while enhancing transferrable skills.  Our hosts Garth Casbourn and Ryan Baxter are joined by Temitope Osifeso, a PhD Candidate at the School of Physical Therapy in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Temitope’s research explored how firefighters manage shoulder injuries and what they need to recover effectively by interviewing firefighters in North America. We chat about potential gender differences, what made Temitope engage with this research area and what can be done to minimize and treat these shoulder injuries in a high-risk occupation. Recorded on February 11, 2025 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats

Just in time for Valentine's Day, GradCast hosts Anthony Cruz, Riya Sidhu, and Liam Clifford discuss all things love in graduate school. The hosts review a series of would-you-rather questions centered around dating within academia, planning a wedding during graduate school, and balancing research-related and romantic demands. Recorded on February 4, 2025. Produced by Anthony Cruz Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

For our seventh episode of #BookCast, we discuss “The Book of Two Ways” by Jodi Picoult—a story that explores whether we make our choices—or our choices make us. Our story begins with a plane-crash, where our main character, Dawn Edelstein is faced with the choice to return home to her life as a death-doula, or continue on to Egypt to complete her doctoral studies researching the coffin-texts and “Book of Two Ways”, a map of routes souls can take to the afterlife. Join Riya Sidhu, Garth Casbourn, Scott Walters, resident Egyptologist: Maris Schneider, and Meghan Voll as we dive into the book’s main themes and quirks, such as it’s non-linear writing style, the duality of life and death, the nature of choices, and selfless versus selfish action. This podcast edit features a reveal of the next title in our ongoing series.  Aired February 6th, 2025 at 11 AM on Radio Western, 94.9 FM in London, Ontario. Recorded on January 28, 2025 Produced by Scott Walters Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by

This week, hosts Garth Casbourn and Ryan Baxter speak with GradCast's own Mohammad Zeraati, a third-year PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering about some of the real-world implications of his research into the “Instability behaviour of granular soil and tailings and particle cementation.”  Some of the topics discussed include mining regulation, computational methods, and the environmental effects of mining, through mining waste.    Recorded on January 28, 2025 Produced by Jessica Eblie, Scott Walters, Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Hosts Mark Ambrogio and Maris Schneider are joined by Sananda Sahoo, a Postdoctoral Associate at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies. In Sananda's PhD dissertation, her research extrapolated how mainstream English-language Indian newspapers represent Muslims in the context of cow violence. She discusses the tension between the Muslims and other communities, mainly Hindus from colonial India and contemporary settings. Now, in Sananda’s post-doctoral research, she is looking into the government's usage of AI and facial recognition technology in the public sector in India and how it impacts human behaviour and surveillance. She also shares her academic joinery and her work at a newspaper and radio station. Content disclaimer: This episode touches upon religious lynching and violence against Muslims in India.  Recorded on January 21, 2025 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, hosts Mark Ambrogio and Liam Clifford are joined by Jessica Eblie, a student in the professional master's program in Media, Journalism, and Communications. Jessica shares her fascinating journey from a music background to journalism and communications, discussing how her experience as a musician brings valuable skills and perspectives to her work as a journalist.     Recorded on January 14, 2025. Produced by Bruno Mesquita. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

This week, hosts Mark Ambrogio and Scott Walters are joined by Aloa Alota, a PhD Candidate in Western's Faculty of Information and Media Studies. His research focuses on political journalism in Nigeria following the June 12 Crisis, the annulment of a presidential election that plunged the country into a political turmoil. Listen to learn about the guerilla journalism that ensued while Nigeria worked its way back to Democracy. Recorded on January 7, 2025. Produced by Scott Walters. Edited by Anthony Cruz. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

This week, we engage in the second episode of our collaboration with Inspiring Minds, a campus-wide partnership between Western Research, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Writing Support Centre, Western Libraries, Student Experience and Western’s 11 faculties. Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research while enhancing transferrable skills.  Hosts Mark Ambrogio and Ryan Baxter converse with Joeana Cambranis, who is pursuing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering. Joeana's research focuses on developing augmented and virtual reality tools to help surgeons practice and improve procedures related to the treatment of liver cancer. She also shares her thoughts on life as an international graduate student from Yucatán, Mexico, what Western means to her, and discusses her next steps.  Want to know more about Joeana's work? Take a look at her page on the Inspiring Minds website. Recorded on December 10, 2024 Airing at 11am on December 17, 2024 on Western Radio, 9

Hosts Mark Ambrogio and Liam Clifford are re-joined by William Laur, PhD Candidate in the Biology Department. His research focuses on exploring representations of and attitudes towards snakes in online media, through an ethnozoological approach. He was previously in the GradCast studio over the summer (Episode 470). This time around, William completed his written scoping review and qualitative analysis of the snake and bear-specific scientific literature. William chats about human perspectives and attitudes towards snakes and bears, the theological perspectives, how snakes are charismatic and the importance of snake conservation.  Recorded on December 3, 2024 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

In our sixth installment of our #BookCast mini-series, we discuss Fifth Business, by Robertson Davies. The novel builds upon childhood events and grows into a personal epic spanning decades of national and world history, centered through the perspective of an older academic looking back over his life. The story begins, and the main characters all originate from, Deptford, a fictional town based on the real community of Thamesville, Ontario.  Join us as your hosts Garth Casbourne, Meghan Voll, Mark Ambrogio, and Scott Walters dive into some of the book's main themes, including spirituality, ageing & changing perspectives, and socioeconomics. The podcast edit features an extended discussion by Mark on the concept of unreliable narrators, and Meghan reveals the next title in our ongoing series. Aired December 5th at 11 AM on Radio Western, 94.9 FM in London, Ontario. Recorded on November 27, 2024 Produced by Scott Walters Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Hosts kirstyn seanor and Maris Schneider interview our own Bruno Mesquita, a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Western and a member of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Communication and Hearing Lab. Topics discussed include how experience shapes our perception of auditory stimuli, voice familiarity, and speech intelligibility. For the discerning listener, they even discuss “selective hearing”!   Recorded on November 26, 2024. Produced by Mark Ambrogio. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

In this installment of #TheScoopOnSOGS, host Liam Clifford is joined by Andrew Grgas-Svirac, a PhD Candidate in Western's Department of Civil Engineering who currently serves as the Chair of the Academic Committee at the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS). Listen to this episode to learn about Andrew's research and all of the amazing initiatives led by the Academic Committee, including the 125th Scholarship and the Western Research Forum. The 39th annual Western Research Forum, with the theme Interdisciplinary Research in the Digital Age, will take place on March 14, 2025. Abstract submissions are due on January 6, 2025. We hope to see you there!

Hosts Meghan Voll and Liam Clifford are joined by kirstyn seanor, as she talks about her research on how the design and navigation systems of pornography websites influence users' exposure to content. Along the way we will also discuss how to define pornography, and how access and availability of this content has changed over time. Check out Kirstyn's s research Instagram Here!   Recorded on November 19, 2024. Produced by Bruno Mesquita. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

Here is our first-ever collaboration with Inspiring Minds, a campus-wide partnership between Western Research, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Writing Support Centre, Western Libraries, Student Experience and Western’s 11 faculties. Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research while enhancing transferrable skills. GradCast will feature selected students to discuss their research every third Tuesday of the month! Hosts Meghan Voll and Maris Schneider chat with Charmaine Iormetti, who recently completed her Masters of Music (MMus) in Literature and Performance (Voice) degree in the Don Wright Faculty of Music and is currently a Music Instructor at Riverbend Academy and Sound in Motion Studio. Charmaine’s research looks at how the larynx and vocal tract produce and filter vocal qualities so singers can ensure emotionally compelling performances. Charmaine shares her interest in vocal pedagogy, the discipline of understanding the singing instrument and ho

Katie McCoy, a PhD candidate in political science, joins Liam Clifford and Garth Casbourn. She tells us about her research on why people vote how they do, especially in rural communities. She also discusses how MPs from rural areas may differ in behaviour compared to urban MPs. Recorded on November 6, 2024 Produced by Riya Sidhu Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

Host Mark Ambrogio welcomes John Hutchenreuther, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Environment, to discuss the transformative potential of the "15-minute city" in urban planning. John’s research envisions a shift towards walkable cities, where essential amenities are accessible within a short walk or bike ride, making cars a choice rather than a necessity. He delves into the challenges in cities like London, Ontario, and explains how North American urban development, particularly after World War II, heavily favored car infrastructure. This, he notes, often left residential neighborhoods without local stores and services, compelling residents to drive for daily needs. John also discusses the inefficiencies of car-dominated roads, advocating for safer, more pedestrian-friendly environments that prioritize people over vehicles, ultimately fostering more sustainable and inclusive urban spaces.   Recorded on October 29, 2024 Produced by Mohammad Zeraati Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/

This week, hosts Garth Casbourn and kirstyn seanor are joined by Eric Scarfone, a Master of Media in Journalism and Communication (MMJC) student in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies. Eric talks about his transition from undergraduate to graduate studies and delves deeper into what the MMJC program entails. He shares his goals in broadcasting and what is a part of good journalistic storytelling. He also talks about his involvement in student government and at Radio Western, hosting “On the Eric” and newscasts. To keep up to date, follow Eric on Instagram @escarf12 Recorded on October 22, 2024. Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

For our fifth installment of our book club series, the #BookCast team read Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.  Join us for a discussion led by Garth Casbourn with co-hosts Meghan Voll, Riya Sidhu, and Scott Walters.  We dive into the complex narrative of Gifty, a young scientist getting her PhD at Stanford, attempting to discover secrets behind addictive behavior. This story is one of grief, hope, childhood trauma, conflicts between faith and science, and racism and immigration in North America. We'll cover many of the books themes and writing devices, its approach at describing science and graduate student life, and talk about the challenges faced by the protagonist both in the lab and her difficult past. ADVISORY: This book has themes of addiction and overdose that are central to the story. In the second part of our conversation, we dive into these topics. Some listeners may wish to either avoid or prepare for this portion of our episode. Airing October 31th at 11 AM on Radio Western. Recorded on October 2

This week, hosts Mark Ambrogio and Ryan Baxter are joined by Lauren Jarman, a Masters of Music Education Candidate in the Don Wright Faculty of Music. Her research is focused on the impact of policy, globalization and neoliberalism and how it affects students with disabilities through a windband pedagogy. Lauren explores how AI and technology enable learning for musicians and how it can improve student and teacher experience. She also talks about her involvement in student government and her own experiences with disability as a student. Recorded on October 15, 2024 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot)