Sustainable Nano

It's the 7th season of the Sustainable Nano Podcast! Here's a quick preview of the three episodes of this final mini-season, including interviews with Dr. Della Mosley, Maureen Ryan, and Dr. Bob Hamers & Dr. Christy Haynes.

Early in the COVID pandemic, then-graduate student Safia Jilani became Twitter buddies with the Chief Editor of the prestigious journal Nature Chemistry, Dr. Stuart Cantrill. Dr. Jilani is now a Postdoctoral Fellow with the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, and Dr. Cantrill is now the Editorial Director for all of Nature's physics and chemistry journals... and they finally got the chance to meet in person last month! In this episode we bring you a conversation between these two chemists about the power and challenges of social media, the importance of mentorship, and being open to unforeseen career paths.

Mental Health Awareness Month was back in May, but it's never too late to talk about mental health and strategies for taking care of ourselves during difficult times. In this episode we share a discussion with psychiatrist Dr. Kaz Nelson called "Why we all feel so terrible and what to do about it."

What do nanotechnology, blacksmithing, and Star Wars have in common? In this episode, we talk with Dr. Suveen Mathaudhu about a range of topics from medical applications of materials science to metallurgy in The Mandalorian.

How do you explain sustainable nanotechnology using art? Last fall the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology collaborated with Lifeology, an online platform that connects scientists and artists, to create a public-friendly "mini-course" called "What happens to nanoparticles in the environment?". On this episode of the podcast, CSN graduate students and course co-authors Stephanie Mitchell and Paige Kinsley talk with artist Elfy Chiang about her journey as an artist, working with scientists, and the excitement that can happen when collaborators surprise each other.

Zack Jones, a graduate student in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, gives diamonds to his study organism. But they're nanodiamonds, not jewelry, and after the tiny worms eat them, Zack uses their fluorescent and magnetic properties to see where the material accumulates within the worm's body. This episode talks about worms, defective diamonds, and how the combination of the two can provide information on environmental contamination.

How do you photograph the unphotographable? In this episode we interview MIT research scientist Felice Frankel, who specializes in visualizing science, using pictures to draw audiences in and help scientists more deeply examine their own work, including nanoscale materials that are smaller than wavelengths of light! We also have a mini-interview with graduate student Paige Kinsley about how COVID-19 is affecting chemistry labs in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology.

How often do college women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) experience sexism? And how do these experiences affect their likelihood of staying in scientific fields? In this episode we talk with Majel Baker, a counseling psychologist who investigated these questions in her doctoral dissertation. Spoiler alert: sexism is bad. But there are ways we can work to improve the situation.

Sustainable Nano Season 4 is coming soon!

What could be cooler than a technology that uses nanomaterials? How about one with two nanomaterials working together? Nanocomposites bring together two or more nanoscale materials to take advantage of their combined features to get what Dr. Klaus Müllen calls "the best out of two worlds." Dr. Müllen is an emeritus director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, where his work ranges from the chemistry and physics of small molecules to nanocomposites and biosynthetic hybrids. In this interview he talks about how a fascination with color got him into chemistry, some of the many technological applications for nanocomposites, and some candid advice for young scientists.

Alvin Chang, Senior Graphics Reporter for Vox, wrote and illustrated an article last year called "The subtle ways colleges discriminate against poor students, explained with a cartoon." In this episode of the podcast, we share the audio of a webinar that Chang presented about his work for the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. He tackles challenging issues of class, bias, and educational attainment using clear illustrations (verbal as well as visual!) and simple analogies that are relevant far beyond the world of academic science.

How are photons like toddlers? And what does that have to do with solar energy? Dr. Jillian Buriak has been researching nanomaterials and renewable energy for over a decade, including work to improve solar panel technology. In this first episode of the Sustainable Nano Podcast's third season, we interview Dr. Buriak, who is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair of Nanomaterials for Energy, about her research, career path, and even some advice for junior scientists.

In the second interview from our visit to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, graduate students Natalie Hudson-Smith and Jaya Borgatta interview Dr. Wade Elmer, Chief Scientist for the Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology. They discuss everything from everyday garden fertilizers to cutting-edge nanoparticle experiments on watermelon.