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COVID-19 has upended our lives in how we interact and function. As of September 2021, the Centers for Disease Control estimate over 40 million people have been sick and approximately 652,000 people have died in the United States. We see that vaccines and mask-wearing are effective in controlling the spread, but people are still getting sick. We can…

What information does the biodiversity of your area hold? Potentially, it tells a story about the mechanisms, processes, and traits of organisms that inhabit the space. In this episode, we are talking to Kyle Harms from LSU College of Science Department of Biological Sciences about biodiversity. From deep in the Panamanian rainforest to right in ou…

Has there been a time where you’ve had to push through frustration, panic, or fear? Most likely the answer is yes! And this is also true for our researchers because keeping your cool is crucial for both your research AND your own safe. In this minisode of Craziest, Weirdest, and Most Dangerous (recorded in the summer of 2020), we spotlight Prosanta…

Details are key to research, but what happens when those small details are overlooked, or worse, ignored? We are back with another mini episode of Craziest, Weirdest and Most Dangerous and this time we are exploring those particular, small details that are critical to research. That’s right we are talking about the Minute Detail and it’s a Post-it …

Sometimes our head gets the best of us, causing us to panic, hallucinate, or give us pause about what is happening. This mini episode of Craziest Weirdest, and Most Dangerous is all about those moments where our thoughts and even dreams have created a hiccup in our study process. We feature Valerie Stampley and Heidi Novokowski and when their wonde…

By now you’ve heard all about COVID-19—the insidious virus responsible for the global pandemic—from its severe symptoms to the demographics of those at risk. The statistics are frightening, but they’re not as relatable as a personal account. After contracting the virus in early March, Cindy Nguyen, a medical student at LSU Health New Orleans and gr…

What happens when you include art in science, technology, engineering and math? You create STEAM or, in this case, Meagan the Maker. Meagan Moore, a senior in biological engineering at LSU, is a creative force using her wealth of unique artistic and problem-solving talents to find solutions for everything from prototyping PPE for healthcare profess…

We’ve heard some amazing stories from our LSU researchers, but we’ve also heard stories that have tested our guests’ resolve and ability to keep their cool in order to collect that data. Over the next few months, we will look back at the different stories in this special series: Craziest, Weirdest, and Most Dangerous Things Done in the Name of Rese…

بقلم LSU Communication across the Curriculum and LSU College of Science

بقلم LSU Communication across the Curriculum and LSU College of Science

بقلم LSU Communication across the Curriculum and LSU College of Science

At this very moment, the ice sheets covering and surrounding Antarctica are dynamic, moving and receding in response to temperature and other factors. Some of the changes are abrupt and quite apparent, like calving events where large chunks of ice break off of glaciers and plunge into the ocean. Others are more subtle because the movement of the ic…

What’s it like to launch an SUV-sized rover to another planet and ensure that, on arrival, the rover will be able to complete scientific missions AND be controlled from Earth? This is exactly what Dr. Keith Comeaux, Deputy Chief Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and his team are tackling for the Mars 2020 Mission. In this episode, Dr. Com…

Who is responsible for creating a bridge between the scientists asking questions and the curious public? The answer, Outreach Specialists. In this episode we speak with Valerie Derouen, the LSU Museum of Natural Science’s very own outreach coordinator. Valerie is tasked with packaging the hardcore science and conservation efforts done by museum res…

Mosquitos can cause more than an itchy welt. They are vectors of arboviruses. But what is an arbovirus? Dr. Rebecca Christofferson, Assistant Professor of Pathobiological Sciences from the School of Veterinary Medicine, presented her research on the transmission of these harmful viruses and how we can protect ourselves from them during LSU’s Scienc…

Get ready for the weird! We’re learning all about Green-blooded lizards - not from a sci-fi movie, but straight out of nature! Papua New Guinea to be exact. We’re joined by Zack Rodriguez, PhD Candidate in the College of Science’s Museum of Natural Sciences, to learn all about green-blooded lizards, the importance of studying green blood, and how Z…

How can the problematic science stereotypes be dismantled? With selfies!It’s National Selfie Day and we’re marking the occasion with my co-author, Dr. Paige Brown Jarreau. Paige and I along with Lance Porter from the LSU Manship School, Imogene Cancellare from the University of New Hampshire, Dr. Samantha Yammine from the University of Toronto, and…

What composes a community and the cultures within? In Southern Louisiana, communities are constructed by the people and the ecosystems that surround. Michael Pasquier, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and History and the Jaak Seynaeve Professor of Christian Studies, begins our conversation with Our Lady of Prompt Succor and the prayers offe…

Did you know that over 1000 Japanese men were interned in Louisiana during WWII? Hayley Johnson and Sarah Simms, passionate librarians from LSU Libraries, explore this buried history in our own backyard. We discuss who these Japanese men and their families were, the conditions at the Louisiana internment camps, and the crucial lessons we need to re…

Happy World Penguin Day! Penguins almost exclusively live in the Southern Hemisphere, most notably in Antarctica. So how do those cute, tuxedo wearing birds survive and what is it like to study penguins in the coldest place on Earth? We’re featuring an April 2017 LSU Science Cafe talk by Dr. Mike Polito, Assistant Professor Department of Oceanograp…

Are you wondering how to get into medical school? What better than to hear from someone who was just accepted into an MD-MPH program! We are featuring LSU students at different stages in their medical career, from getting accepted to entering rotations. We begin with Cindy Nguyen, recent graduate with Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences and…

How do you discover ancient Maya artifacts buried underwater? And what do you do with the artifacts once you discover them? Heather McKillop, Thomas & Lillian Landrum Alumni Professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology, presented her research on ancient Mayan civilizations during LSU’s Science Cafe in September 2017. We later sat down …

Floodplains. The term conjures up images of iconic Louisiana swamps- cypress trees, alligators, and areas inundated with water. But what a floodplain really is, is a wetland ecosystem which periodically experiences pulses of floodwaters, bringing nutrients and sediment to the land. While these cyclic events can be beneficial to wetland communities,…

Plankton provide the single largest source of oxygen and carbon sequestration on this planet all while nourishing the largest mammal on Earth, the blue whale. With the rise in temperature and acidity in the ocean an urgent question emerges; how will the environmental changes affect the plankton’s ability to maintain these global processes and provi…

When you look in the mirror, do you see a star? Of course you do! Your body is composed of the elements of stars. We met with Dr. Catherine Deibel, Assistant Professor of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, to learn about her research in experimental nuclear astrophysics and explain how we are all made from the ashes of stars.…