Who are the scientists behind the weekly seminars in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Memphis? Hear about the questions that keep them up at night, how they got where they are, and what advice they have for the next generation of biologists.

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Bio bios&#39; first, and possibly only, summer episode features a scientist who was very dear to me, to our colleagues at the University of Memphis, and far beyond, Dr. Judy Cole. It&#39;s rare to find someone who can speak with so much insight and curiosity on so many topics and Judy definitely showed that here. I&#39;m so grateful that Jaime Sabel suggested bringing Judy on the show and so grateful to hear another dose of her wisdom and humor. Thank you, Judy. We miss you.

2506 Dr. Judy Cole

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This week I speak with Dr. Cissy Ballen from Auburn University about her research in biology education, the importance of mentors, and &#34;the hidden curriculum.&#34; There are some really valuable nuggets (that particular word came up a surprising amount!), especially for undergrads interested in future paths in biology.

2505 Dr. Cissy Ballen

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This week I talk about forests, salt, community ecology, and way more with Dr. Natalie Clay. Oh, and we may geek out about undergraduate research and Costa Rica a little too.

2504 Dr. Natalie Clay

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Dr. Steve Nowicki of Duke University is not only a great researcher in animal behavior, cognition, and neurobiology, he&#39;s also the guy who taught me intro bio, which set me down this whole path! This week, I got to chat with him about everything from bird brains and scientific generosity to accordions and tubas--I couldn&#39;t be happier about it!

2503 Dr. Steve Nowicki

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Dr. Scott Sakaluk, Professor Emeritus at Illinois State University, joins us to talk about his varied career in evolutionary biology and animal behavior, insects, birds, and yes, pickleball.

2502 Dr. Scott Sakaluk

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It&#39;s 2025&#39;s first episode and I sat down with Kendra Wright, a graduate student in the department of Biological Sciences at the University of Memphis. Despite being about a week away from defending her dissertation (!!!), Kendra took time to talk with me about her work in biology education research, specifically about student persistence, her path in research, and gave a couple of TV recommendations to boot.

2501 Dr. Kendra Wright

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In our final interview of the Fall 2024 seminar series, I chat with Dr. Joe Opferman of St. Jude&#39;s Children&#39;s Research Hospital about his work in apoptosis, how his practice of keeping doors and options open led him to biology in general, and Memphis in particular.

2416 Dr. Joe Opferman

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This week, I chat with Dr. Liz Carlen from Washington University in St. Louis about her work in urban ecology and evolution, the intersection between biology and social sciences, and, of course, the dog park.

2415 Dr. Liz Carlen

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University of Memphis PhD Candidate, Matthew Pollard, joins me to talk about his dissertation research on the evolution of diet in carnivores, his path to graduate school (and beyond), and just a little D&amp;D.

2414 Dr. Matthew Pollard

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Join me for a great conversation with Dr. Anna Dornhaus of the University of Arizona about everything from collective behavior of ants through distributed computing and finally some great ideas about the philosophy of science and open science.

2413 Dr. Anna Dornhaus

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This week, Dr. Dustin Reichard joins us from Ohio Wesleyan University to talk about his research in animal behavior, the career path that landed him at a liberal arts school with a strong undergraduate research program, as well as songbirds and baking (those last two aren&#39;t mixed together, don&#39;t worry).

2412 Dr. Dustin Reichard

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This week, Dr. Colleen Jonsson joins us from just down the road at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. In addition to running the regional biocontainment lab, Dr. Jonsson does in-depth molecular research on viruses, including some pretty scary ones and others from remote regions of a South American rainforest. We&#39;ll hit on Eastern Equine Encephalitis, yoga, and everything in between.

2411 Dr. Colleen Jonsson

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Join us for a conversation with Dr. Jackie Lebenzon from the University of Calgary about her work on potato beetle physiology, baking, and of course, penguins!

2410 Dr. Jackie Lebenzon

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Among other topics, Clay Cressler, from the University of Nebraska, talks about blending mathematical theory and experiments, getting into a biology PhD program without ever having taken any biology classes, and backpacking.

2409 Dr. Clay Cressler

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Dr. Kate LeCroy from just down the street at Rhodes College shares insights into native bee biology and conservation, finding her people in biology, and the critical importance of Dolly Parton <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/016tltEONs9p3fuaPdxEJA?si=8564d53ca7f5471a" rel="nofollow">playlists</a> and <a href="https://x.com/BeesYall/status/1398024262087319553" rel="nofollow">impersonators</a> in science.

2408 Dr. Kate LeCroy

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It&#39;s our final episode for spring 2024 and it&#39;s on quite a delay--sorry! But worth the wait--I sat down in person with Dr. Mariel Pfeifer to talk about her work in Biology Education Research and how she got where she is today. For more information on Dr. Pfeifer, check out her webpage, here:https://www.pfeiferlab.com/

2407 Dr. Mariel Pfeifer

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This week Dr. Vanessa Ezenwa joins us from Yale University to talk about her research on wild African buffalo, their wormy and bacterial co-infections, and how taking an animal behavior class in college changed the course of her career.

2406 Dr. Vanessa Ezenwa

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This week, I sit down with Dr. Amber Smith to talk about she blends mathematical models with experimental manipulations to understand how infection with more than one pathogen at the same time (or in rapid succession) can alter immune defenses and disease outcomes. Embrace the nonlinearity!

2405 Dr. Amber Smith

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Although Dr. Cooper&#39;s talk at Memphis has already passed, we were able to sit down and chat about her path in Biology, which ended up in some really interesting realms of evolution and developmental biology (and some pretty darn charismatic study organisms--jerboas).

2404 Dr. Kim Cooper

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Dr. Christina Kwapich joins Biology Bios to talk about how her love of critters, most notably ants, turned into an adventure that&#39;s taken her all across the nation and around the world.

2403 Dr. Christina Kwapich

Who are the scientists behind the weekly seminars in Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Memphis? Hear about the research questions they're super-excited about, how they got where they are, and what advice they have for students in biology.