STEMpod – Details, episodes & analysis

Niba Nirmal is a multimedia science communicator based in San Francisco, who explores the science in cosmetics, fashion, and skincare through YouTube and Instagram as @NotesByNiba. Prior to this, she researched the genetics of plant stem cells. As a visible and invisible minority, Niba strives to be inclusive of all minority statuses.

Learn more about her work here: https://www.notesbyniba.org/

Dr. Marina Venero Galanternik is a developmental biologist studying the membranes that encase your brain and spinal cord and protect your nervous system. Marina got her science start "taking care of" earthworms as a young kid in Russia, but really credits a few incredible mentors and 8 months of living in a nunnery for getting her to where she is today.

You can find Marina on Twitter @vg_biomarina

We wanted to do something different to wrap up this first season, so in this final (bonus) episode I'm chatting with a very special guest who got me hooked on science at a really young age. 

Although this is the end of season 1, we plan to do a second season and want to hear from you! Email us at WomenInSTEMpod@gmail.com. And, to stay up to date, follow us on Twitter @WomenInSTEMpod.

We know how lucky we are to have such an incredible community. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

See you in 2020.

Meet neuroscientist, and stellar #scicommer, Catie Profaci, a PhD candidate in the Neurosciences program at the University of California, San Diego. Catie studies the blood-brain barrier, a border between your brain and things in your blood that could be toxic to it. Catie's trying to understand its importance in diseases like multiple sclerosis. 

Check out stories of WiN: https://www.storiesofwin.org

Rakhi Voria is the Director of Global Digital Sales at IBM. We chat about her favorite tech creations, the less conventional way she got to where she is today, and the work she does to help women and less represented groups feel that they also belong in tech.

To learn more about Rakhi, find her on Twitter at @rakhivoria.

Meet Laura Abondano, an anthropology PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin. Laura’s asking some very cool questions about female agency by studying mating behaviors in woolly monkeys. Although much of her thesis work entails picking up and analyzing monkey poop, it also means days spent in the rainforest observing these monkeys, leading to unexpected encounters with some pretty large forest creatures. 

Ellesse Lunde is an engineer based in Boston. She has a BS in structural engineering from Purdue and a Master’s in civil engineering and construction management from USC. We chat about Ellesse's career aspirations and the current work she does at a large multinational construction company, how her mom and growing up as a competitive swimmer inspired her to push herself academically, and what it was like transitioning from an all-girls high school into a male-dominated field. 

Dr. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is an embryologist based in the UK whose work in early mammal development is truly remarkable. She and her lab are asking questions about how we all started out as a single cell, and their findings have important implications for fertility research.

Magdalena's book The Dance of Life: The New Science of How a Single Cell Becomes a Human Being is available for pre-order now: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dance-of-life-magdalena-zernicka-goetz/1130777524

Dr. Rebecca Goldin is a professor of mathematical sciences at George Mason University and the director of the Statistical Assessment Service, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the use of stats in journalism. I had a chance to chat with Rebecca not only about my childhood fear of math, but her personal journey, why math is more beautiful than most of us think, and why the stereotypes surrounding it are so, so wrong. 

Check out Rebecca's website here: http://math.gmu.edu/~rgoldin/

And this great interview and article with Quanta here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/videos/rebecca-goldin-why-math-is-the-best-way-to-make-sense-of-the-world/

Melissa Cristina Márquez is a shark researcher based in Australia. Last year you may have spotted her on an episode of Shark Week, where she and her team searched for a massive hammerhead off the coast of Cuba and she had a scary brush with a crocodile, which of course I asked her about. 

Check out the Fins United Initiative, which Melissa founded: https://www.finsunited.co.nz/

For more about her research and conservation efforts, head to her website: https://melissacristinamarquez.weebly.com/

Listen to Melissa's ConCiencia Azul podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/conciencia-azul/id1358880103