“Change minds, change hearts, change behavior, achieve transformation.” That’s bio-cultural anthropologist Dr. Irma McClaurin’s motto and through writing and science communication, she’s been able to achieve that. STPF alum Saira Mehmood and current STPF fellow Meryleen Mena, both anthropologists, have a conversation with Irma McClaurin, who is als…

Computing is a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives and rapid advances continue to shape the way we work and live. In the fourth episode of our “Science Helps Us…” series, Dr. Margaret Martonosi, acclaimed computer scientist and leader of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NS…

Dr. Harshini Mukundan, Program Manager and Scientist for Chemical and Biological Technologies at the Office of National and Homeland Security, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and visiting Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory sat down with host and AAAS STPF fellow Dr. Adejare (Jay) Atanda to discuss her research on pathogen agnostic d…

Hollywood chooses to portray experts in particular – sometimes peculiar – ways. Those choices have profound impacts on how audiences think about subjects as diverse as dinosaurs, robots, and climate catastrophes. But do those portrayals also change the way we think about the experts themselves and the process of expertise? Does Hollywood play some …

In the third episode in our “Science Helps Us…” series, we explore how hydrologic science can help bring people to the negotiation table. Water is a resource that defies political boundaries – managing it effectively can serve as a catalyst to international diplomacy. Our three guests highlight the important role that science plays in the shifting …

Ever heard of climate change comedy? Here’s the idea. The climate crisis dominates our news. But more and more, messages about action are ignored. Fatalism is growing. People seem frozen with the scale of the problem. It’s clear we need new ways to tackle these tough conversations. In this episode, STS’s very own Grace Tyrrell explores the growing …

Mandy dives optimistically into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on education as we know it. Think ChatGPT and all those related tools called generative AI. Along the way, we touch on some fundamental and relevant concepts from science and technology studies - including the Turing Test and technological determinism - that ca…

The assignments students do in STS modules today are nothing like what they used to be. These days, they build portfolios with all sorts of things: short writing, long writing, posters, blogs, in-class presentations. Add to these, projects like podcasts, film clips, campaign strategies, briefing papers, debates, and full-on project proposals. Resea…

In the second episode in our “Science Helps Us…” series, we explore the ways that science shapes the ways we tell stories – and how it helps make those stories a reality. Our guests, Brian Johnson and Rebekah Brubaker, put the “science” back into science fiction by convening the gold-star standard of science paneling at one of the largest comic con…

Women in the History of Science brings together primary sources that highlight women’s involvement in scientific knowledge production around the world. Drawing on texts, images and objects, each primary source is accompanied by an explanatory text, questions to prompt discussion, and a bibliography to aid further research. Arranged by time period, …

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s former Chief Medical Advisor sat down with host and AAAS STPF fellow Dr. Adejare (Jay) Atanda to discuss pandemic preparedness and response. Dr. Fauci also discusses the duality of his former role as a public facing physician…

STEM careers have historically been performed by and for populations that do not represent the complete spectrum of unique lived experiences. In recent years however, the STEM community has been experiencing a sort of renaissance for diversity, equity, and inclusion -- or DEI. Efforts to address inequities in who participates in STEM and in who ben…

When most of us think of “scientists,” we envision someone in a lab coat huddled behind a lab bench. AAAS STPF fellow Alexandra “Ali” Giese defies this stereotype – her work with glaciers has taken her all over the world, from the Himalayas to the Greenland ice sheet. It has also taught her the culture and importance of glaciers and mountains. Ali …

As the world changes, scientists and policymakers must grapple with increasingly complex, global, and interdisciplinary challenges. AAAS STPF fellow Alex Loewi sat down with host and fellow fellow Reshmina William to discuss the importance of asking the right questions to tackle these challenges, the role of government in social well-being, and how…

As science and technology progress, so do the impacts of those advances and pollution on communities. Veronica Eady, Senior Deputy Executive Officer of Policy and Equity at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and a lifetime advocate for environmental justice aptly states, “science and justice go hand in hand.” Join Eady and host Reshmina …

Chances are you’ve had something to do with “mindfulness” recently. Maybe you’ve been sent to “mindfulness” training. Or, perhaps you’ve been listening to a mindfulness podcast. Or, perhaps you’re using a “mindfulness” app, such as HeadSpace. In this episode, Franziska Link investigates the growing use of mindfulness therapies at universities, such…

Alex Hancock explores how research about museum collections is helping to connect British museums with more of the publics they claim to support. His emphasis is on decolonisation, engagement, and white European power. Ultimately, how do structural inequalities manifest in our museums, and how do we move to a new set of relationships? Alex undertoo…

We sampled undergraduate projects in a previous episode. Now, it time for the Master’s students. Today’s episode offers a sampler of student-made podcasts. These were created by Master’s students in our science journalism module, run by Dr Jean-Baptiste Gouyon. The assignment was straightforward: imagine you’re working for a news magazine. Create a…

It’s one of those fundamental tenets taught to every student: science is international; it’s the same everywhere, it respects no borders; the work is the same no matter where or when you are. Assessing this idea is a core task in STS. Our philosophers, historians, and sociologists work overtime on case studies to explore internationality. Our polic…

Is AI sentient? Do machines have souls? I’ve got an even better question: are these questions the most important ones we should be asking? Headlines claiming machines could be alive are definitely eye-catching. But hype does not come unaccompanied: misinformation, fear, and fake news are close friends with sensationalism. They target audiences who …

Did you know that in March 1967, the British government bombed an oil tanker stranded on rocks off Cornwall? Dan Sharpe certainly didn’t when he began to dig into the life and career of the Britain’s first Chief Scientific Adviser, Lord Solly Zuckerman. He advised prime minister Harold Wilson during this environmental catastrophe and recommended th…

Scientific knowledge has evolved over the past few centuries in various political and socio-cultural contexts. There is seen to be a substantially disproportionate legacy of European thought in scientific education. How the fingerprints of colonialism continue to shape the way academic institutions function and teach science is a question of utmost…

Most of us have heard of peer review, but how does it actually work? After more than a century, is it still fit for purpose? This episode explores the state of peer review in academic publishing. With guests from within the field, we hear what it means for researchers, publishers, and institutions like UCL. As the tide of open access publishing gai…

The assignments students do in STS modules today are nothing like what they used to be. These days, they build portfolios with all sorts of things: short writing, long writing, posters, blogs, in-class presentations. Add to these, projects like podcasts, film clips, campaign strategies, briefing papers, debates, and proposals. Research of different…

You’ve heard of Plato. He’s one of those philosophers from Ancient Greece. Think in the time range 400-350 BCE and you’re in the right range. Plato wrote core works in the Western canon: The Republic, The Timaeus, and so much more. One of his lesser known texts is The Gorgias. That’s this year’s STS1Book. It’s a work massively relevant today. At it…

According to a survey of 2000 adults, the average American hasn’t made a new friend in the last five years, and yet, 45% of people would go out of their way to make a new friend if they knew how. Former fellow and friendship expert Dr. Marisa Franco joins Dr. Stephanie Gage for a candid conversation about her NYT best-selling book “Platonic: How th…

What role can the arts play in shaping scientific expression? How can scientists and artists better work together to share their insights with the general public? We sit down with Smitha Vishveshwara, a theoretical physicist, and Benny Starr, a hip-hop artist and activist, to discuss these thorny questions. In the process, we explore their creative…

On a very special episode of Sci on the Fly, host and current STPF fellow Reshmina William sits down with four members of the STPF Class of 2021 as they reflect on the last year. Join Carly Champagne, Julie Snow, Bill O'Brien, and Leslie Brooks as they discuss their accomplishments and their advice for the incoming Class of 2022. This podcast does …

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Heather Spence, a marine biologist and sound artist. She’s currently a marine and science advisor in the Department of Energy, where she is exploring the potential for marine renewable energy to power ocean observation systems. For her graduate research, she conducted a groundbreaking sound monitoring program on th…

Will robots steal my job? Will gene editing cure my cancer? HYPE is a fundamental part of science communication, the development of new technologies, and the crucially important interface between business, investment, and new technology. How does HYPE work? Can it be used for good? In this conversation at the 2022 STS1Book celebration at University…

As someone who prides herself on being interested in women’s health and progress related to it, Sofia Sancho still had no idea what “menstrual leave” was when it suddenly was all over the news earlier this spring. Menstruation is a regular physiological phenomenon, happening to the vast majority of people with uteruses. Many people manage their per…

Natural history documentaries are hugely popular on British television. They offer great examples of science communication, and they have a long history, stretching back to the early days of broadcasting by the BBC, and more. As luck would have it, here in STS, we have an expert in these programmes and the people who create them. Dr Jean-Baptiste G…