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Richard French: Long Live T21

December 27, 2019

Richard French gets the call to work for NASA, fulfilling a dream that started with his professor Carl Sagan.

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In Astronomy Tags Richard French, NASA, astronomy, Carl Sagan, career, space, Season 9

Xavier Jordan: Stupid and Arbitrary

December 13, 2019

Xavier Jordan discovers the party side of science at his first scientific conference.

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In Biology Tags Xavier Jordan, career, conference, Season 9

C. Brandon Ogbunu: The Liberation of RNA

December 6, 2019

Geneticist C. Brandon Ogbunu contemplates the role race has played in his academic career after he is confronted by the police.

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In Genetics Tags C. Brandon Ogbunu, academia, career, Black in STEM, Black lives matter, police shootings, mentor, Season 9

Joshua Adams-Miller: I Expect More of Myself

November 29, 2019

Joshua Adams-Miller has never seen college in his future, until he receives encouragement from an unexpected source.

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In Engineering Tags Joshua Adams-Miller, scientist origin story, education, college, love, career, engineering, Boise State, Season 9

Melanie Knight: A Lost Keepsake

November 29, 2019

A chance meeting with a stranger on an airplane has a huge impact on Melanie Knight's life.

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In Marine Biology Tags Melanie Knight, mentor, marine biology, ecology, career, college, friendship, Season 9

Rodrigo Solis: Desperate Measures

July 26, 2019

Veterinarian Rodrigo Solis thinks he's found the perfect job -- taking care of horses in the Mexican Army -- until a new commander takes over.

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In Biology Tags Rodrigo Solis, veterinarian, military, animals, career, Mexico, Season 9

Heather Williams: An Emotional Business

May 10, 2019

Heather Williams trades in her physicist labcoat for motherhood, and wonders if she can return.

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In Physics Tags Heather Williams, motherhood, physics, pregnancy, family, career, Season 9

Monica Dunford: A Love for the Vast and Infinite

February 8, 2019

Monica Dunford finds physics cold and boring until she gets a summer job in a lab that changes everything.

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In Physics Tags Monica Dunford, physics, Springer Nature, collider, Large Hadron Collider, Season 9, career

Parmvir Bahia: Warrior Princess

February 8, 2019

Parmvir Bahia struggles to appease her parents’ desires for an Indian son-in-law while also satisfying her own desires to be a scientist.

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In Neuroscience Tags Parmvir Bahia, neuroscience, family, career, mothers, culture, immigration, moving, love, dating, Season 9, India, Florida

Margaret Rubega: Tell Them Who You Are

January 25, 2019

The lessons that Margaret Rubega learns from her dad about fighting back are put to the test when he becomes the one she must stand up to.

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In Biology Tags Margaret Rubega, fathers, childhood, biology, women in STEM, career, sexual harassment, Season 9, UCONN

Michelle McCrackin: I Could Have Been Her

January 4, 2019

Miserable at her corporate job, Michelle McCrackin begins to dream of a career in wildlife biology.

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Tags Michelle McCrackin, scientist origin story, career, biology, Season 9, education

Kevin Burgio: My Good Will Hunting Moment

December 28, 2018

On the eve of his first big talk at a major international conference, ecologist Kevin Burgio discovers there’s something seriously wrong with the clothes he’d planned to wear.

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In Science Communication Tags Kevin Burgio, cats, graduate school, ecology, conference, career, scientist origin story, impostor syndrome, Season 8

Erik Klemetti: Just Here for the Rocks

October 26, 2018

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.

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In Earth Science, Geology Tags Season 8, Erik Klemetti, geology, career, Chile, volcano

Shane Hanlon: Doing All the Things

September 28, 2018

After graduating with his PhD, Shane Hanlon struggles to find balance in his science career.

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In Biology Tags Shane Hanlon, Story Collider producer, career

Fiona Calvert: Crying in Public

September 28, 2018

Fiona Calvert is a crier — but when she starts her PhD, she promises herself she’ll never cry in front of her colleagues.

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In Genetics Tags Fiona Calvert, career, genetics, women in STEM

Rose DF: Dreaming of Science

September 21, 2018

In the midst of homelessness and abuse, Rose DF dreams of a life in science.

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Tags Rose DF, career, diversity in STEM, scientist origin story

Cailin Gallinger: The Work That Carried Me Through

September 21, 2018

When Cailin Gallinger struggles with her gender identity in college, her volunteer position in a plant lab becomes a lifeline.

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In Biology, Earth Science Tags Cailin Gallinger, plants, career, education, transgender, gender

Elisa Schaum: The black sheep

May 18, 2018

An aspiring scientist brought up in a family of artists, Elisa Schaum feels like a black sheep.

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In Biology Tags Elisa Schaum, family, college, art+science, career, scientist origin story, Season 8

Sara Mazrouei: Putting a New Face to Scientists

April 20, 2018

Planetary geologist Sara Mazrouei misses out on a dream opportunity -- because of where she was born.

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In Astronomy, Earth Science, Geology Tags Sara Mazrouei, diversity in STEM, astronomy, planetary geology, career, immigration, internship

Amber Hewitt: My Time to Take Up the Torch

March 30, 2018

Three years into a great faculty position, psychologist Amber Hewitt realizes her passion lies elsewhere.

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In Psychology Tags Amber Hewitt, psychology, career, academia
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