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.

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&D.

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.

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't mixed together, don't worry).

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'll hit on Eastern Equine Encephalitis, yoga, and everything in between.

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!

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.

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 playlists and impersonators in science.