BioPOD

Ever wondered what it’s really like to become an independent researcher—calling the shots on what to study and navigating the highs and lows of doing science on your own terms? In this episode, Matthew Swaffer chats with Liz about starting his own lab, diving into all things cell-size related, and what the transition to leading your own research really feels like. Please fill out our survey so we can hear from you about where to take BioPOD in the future! SURVEY LINK: https://docs.google.com/...

Every person interested in biology knows that population diversity is important for ecosystems. But do we understand what diversity means? In this episode Markella interviews Dr. Alex Ball from The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland about his work on conservation genetics, which is one of the pillars of conservation biology. He goes in depth about different species conservation in Scotland and elswhere around the world. Interview by Markella. Editing by Manushri and Markella. A...

Video version: https://youtu.be/weaFSVsvyBY Anna Motýľová talks with Dr Keira Tucker, manager of ASCUS Art & Science, the first open access lab space in Scotland. They host science workshops for the general public and art exhibitions inspired by science. You will learn about Keira's personal journey as an artist/scientist, as well as 3 weird and wonderful creative projects she has facilitated between artists and scientists from the University of Edinburgh. By the end of this episode, y...

Aging, or senescence has been a topic of scientific fascination for a long time. Natural populations like the Soay Sheep in St Kilda, a remote scottish island, are ideal to study aging theories in the wild. In this summer episode, Professor Dan Nussey speaks to us about the long running Soay Sheep project and the insights they provide on the study of senescence. Interview by Markella Moraitou. Edited by Flora Caldwell, Art by Severina Marija Pociunaite, Produced by Nitara Wijayatilake....

In this first episode of a two-parter with Dr Katerina Guschanski, Neelakshi Varma finds out about the intricacies and quirks of primate evolution, specifically around guenon monkeys. We also learn about how Katerina accidentally found her way to working with primates, the difficulties and exciting aspects of field work in Madagascar and why you can’t really define a species. Edited by Frankie Swift, artwork by Liz Gaberdiel, produced by Liz Gaberdiel. Check out some more research by ...

In this episode of BioPod’s entrepreneurship series, Keshav and Dr. Wu Huang discuss the journey behind NucBarcoder, a species identification tool hoping to tackle the biodiversity crisis. Wu talks through some of the challenges and rewards of growing a start-up idea and how Edinburgh Innovations from the University of Edinburgh advised and helped throughout the process.

With many PhD students interested in alternative career pathways in science, we are keen to explore and demystify the world of scientific publishing. In this episode, Severina Marija Pociunaite talks to Dr Manuel Breuer, a deputy editor at Springer Nature, about his journey into scientific publishing. In particular, they explore the diversity of the role, how scientific publishing has changed in recent years, and advice for scientists preparing and submitting their manuscripts to improve thei...

In this episode Neelakshi talks to Dr. Sandy Hetherington about the work in plant paleobotany and evolution. They discuss what are plant fossils, how and where they are formed and what they can tell us about plant history today. Sandy focuses on plant root evolution as part of his research and introduces one of the best-preserved plant fossil deposits here in Scotland, called Rhynie chert Find out more about Dr. Hetheringtons research here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/he...