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After years of academic achievement, newly minted professor Stephanie Rowley is caught off guard when every paper she submits is rejected, and growing up, Kate Schmidt always thought of herself as the “smart kid,” but that identity is shaken when she gets to university and receives her first C.
Paralyzed but undeterred, Scott Imbrie is on a mission to regain movement, and after an accident leaves them with severe burns on over a third of their body, Emily Hespeler works to find their way back to themselves.
While running an errand, Andrea Azarian happens upon a lost horse that needs her help, and left in charge of the farm for the first time, Gwynne Hogan panics when a goat goes into labor.
While doing fieldwork in the Congo, Stella Mayerhoff must track down a local researcher to deliver devastating news, and during his second year of residency, Sam Blackman is tasked with caring for a dying child whose mother’s unwavering faith clashes with his scientific approach.
Fresh out of college and in what seems like her dream job, drug and alcohol coach Rhana Hashemi quickly realizes she has no idea how to connect with the high school students she’s supposed to help, and when Paul Davis and his wife struggle to get pregnant, they decide to foster a pregnant dog—and things escalate quickly.
When an epidemiologist dedicated to preventing violence against children is suddenly fired from the CDC, she is left grappling with both the shock of losing her job and the uncertainty of what comes next, and at a global climate conference, climate scientist Tom Di Liberto learns that Trump has been re-elected—and feels the weight of what that means for him and the fight against climate change.
As a newly minted PhD student in geology, Erik Klemetti starts to question his decisions when Aucanquilcha, a 20,000-foot volcano in Chile, proves difficult to tame, and explorer George Kourounis finds himself growing increasingly anxious as he prepares to enter a fiery sinkhole known as the “Doorway to Hell.”
At his friend’s bachelor party, Andrew McGill joins in on a mushroom trip that quickly spirals out of control, and in an attempt to calm his nerves about going on an Alaskan cruise, Will Clegg turns to marijuana.
For Hannah Hedelius, a classmate’s hiccups trigger an overwhelming reaction she can’t hold back, and as a graduate student, Rachel Hostetler begins to realize that her intrusive thoughts may be more than just regular stress.
Shawn Musgrave wants to donate blood, but runs headfirst into the FDA’s lifetime ban on gay men as donors, and while working with the condor recovery program, Molly Astell opens a freezer to find every researcher’s nightmare.
On a trip to Colombia for a research conference, biologist Stephanie Galla must rely on her fight-or-flight instincts when she is cornered by a mugger with a knife, and an ordinary day takes a shocking turn when Kim Weaver is struck by lightning.
Teaching sixth grade science becomes much more difficult when Xochitl Garcia's students start hypothesizing that fire is alive, and when journalist John Rennie is assigned to cover an entomological society event where insects are served as food, he sees an opportunity to face his fear of bugs.
As an undergraduate with no “real” science experience, Molly Magid is thrilled to join a research project studying how bats fly—until she discovers the bats refuse to cooperate, and as a child, Léa Souccar and her father explore the wreckage in the aftermath of a devastating bombing.
When anxiety starts taking over her life, Jude Treder-Wolff signs up for an improv class, and counselor Belinda Arriaga and emergency medicine doctor Nancy Ewen join forces to get scientific evidence of the power of culturally responsive mental health care.
While housesitting for her uncle, JiJi Lee’s peaceful stay takes a chaotic turn when a squirrel breaks in, and when a serious mold infestation takes over the university campus, Joshua Wilson is tasked with eliminating it.
When science journalist Katherine Wu interviews a scientist about a new facial recognition algorithm, the conversation turns more personal than she expected, and Hurricane Katrina gives Mary Annaise Heglar a new perspective on both her grandfather and home state.
While juggling climate science studies and a budding comedy career, Rollie Williams finds an unexpected niche impersonating his environmental hero, Al Gore, and Scott Acton longs to follow in Hemingway’s footsteps, but when his English teacher squashes his writing dreams, he reluctantly accepts his role as “the computer guy.”
As someone who always likes to play it safe, psychologist Kenneth Carter sets out to understand what makes thrill-seekers tick, and philosophy professor Rob Reich is frustrated that so many new Stanford students are headed straight into computer science.
With a potential cancer diagnosis looming and his health insurance about to vanish, David Crabb finds an envelope stuffed with $100 bills, and when Zakiya Whatley bonds with another student in grad school, it feels like the start of a lifelong friendship – but turns out there's more to her new friend than she expected.
When a piece of her IUD breaks off, Bailey Swilley’s spirals about her choice never to have children, and Christel Bartelse takes an unconventional approach to figure out if she wants to be a mother or not.
Computer scientist LaShana Lewis’s childhood dream of attending Space Camp starts to feel far away — until she gets the Christmas surprise of a lifetime, and when Guizella Rocabado leaves her home in Bolivia to pursue her education in the United States, her plan hits an unexpected snag.
Feeling lonely after a move to New York City, Kofi Thomas finds connection, purpose, and community through a neighborhood garden, and As he fights to stay sober, Michael Hudgins throws himself into an unusual form of therapy: pulling invasive plants from a city park.
As his Parkinson’s symptoms worsen and medications take a toll, Brandan Mehaffie faces a life-altering decision: continue down a difficult path or undergo brain surgery to implant an electrode to stimulate deep areas of his brain, and after an accident leaves Ian Burkhart with complete tetraplegia, he grapples with losing his independence — until he’s offered a chance to participate in a groundbreaking clinical trial using muscle stimulation controlled by a brain implant to help restore movement.
In fourth grade, Ro Moran is thrilled to be trusted with the class pet iguana, Iggy, for the night. But by morning, something is very wrong, and as an exchange student studying superconducting oxides, Karoline Mueller tries to save money by gold-coating a cheap crucible instead of using a solid gold one.
Science educator Charlie Cook experiments with coming out to students, and marine biologist Shayle Matsuda adapts to his new identity as a transgender man while on assignment in the Philippines.
Carlos Maza uses the plague to analyze his brutal breakup, and Panagiota Vogdou refuses to see her boyfriend as toxic until a stranger on the bus tells her to go to therapy.
After years of struggling with their gender identity, Parker Sublette finds inspiration in marine life, and bullied as a kid for the sound of his voice, Garret Glinka begins to reclaim his confidence thanks to biology class.
When Lydia Greene’s infant daughter has a troubling reaction to a routine vaccine and her concerns are dismissed by a healthcare professional, she turns to an online parenting forum for answers, and after moving to a new town and feeling isolated, Sarah Ott looks for connection through talk radio and a local church—only to find herself pulled into a world of climate denial and conspiracy thinking.
Maryam Zaringhalam's scheme to cheat her way into the smart class makes clear a huge flaw in the education system, and on the first day of grad school for her PhD, a fellow student tells Bianca Jones Marlin that she doesn't really belong there.
Stuck in a monsoon on Kauai, Belinda Fu unintentionally ruins a friendship with a classmate, and Matt Storrs blames a dinosaur scientist’s theory for the end of his marriage.