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, 94.9 FM

Produced by Scott Walters

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

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 how it optimizes sound. She also shares her favourite musical repertoires, tips on having a healthy sound and her experiences with Inspiring Minds.

You can find Charmaine on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Here is her work with Inspiring Minds and some of the musical repertoires mentioned: Tosca, La Bohème, Turandot, Madama Butterfly and Wagner's Wesendonck Liede.

Recorded on November 12, 2024

Produced by Maria Khan

Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

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).