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Sci on the Fly

Sci on the Fly brings you experts who work at the intersection of science and public policy. Run by AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellows – scientists and engineers passionate about policy – this podcast brings current issues to a general audience through lively and illuminating discussions. Read the companion blog at www.aaaspolicyfellowships.org/blog.
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Now displaying: 2018
Oct 5, 2018

Advances in drug development and neurotechnology over the last century have noticeably increased our ability to target cognitive-behavioral networks and help those with physical disabilities. These and future advances could potentially provide a pathway by which to use drugs and/or devices to consistently enhance human cognition and behavior, rather than just treat or manage the symptoms of medical conditions. Currently, several prescription medications are being taken by the general public solely for their cognitive enhancing effects, and do-it-yourselfers are making neurostimulation devices at home in attempts to modulate the functioning of their own brains. In this Sci on the Fly episode we
discuss cognitive enhancement from a neuroethics perspective with Dr. Veljko Dubljevic, from NC State University. Dr. Dubljevic provides some valuable insight regarding the pros and cons of cognitive enhancement and the role of neuroethicists in informing the public debate on this issue.


Participants


Host: Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-18 Executive Branch Fellow, National Institute of Justice

Guest: Veljko Dubljevic, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, NC State University

Director and Executive Producer: Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience

Aug 15, 2018

Bradley Cooke, a neuroscientist and current AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation, speaks with Benjamin Munson, professor of speech and hearing science at the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts. They discuss language acquisition and speech patterns in children, and how that may differ based on gender identity, group identity and social cognition. They also discuss variations across children with respect to how their speech adheres to norms for their biological sex. For example, is the extent to which a boy’s speech sounds boy-like related to measures of their gender identity?

 

This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.
Read more at http://aaasstpf.libsyn.com/harnessing-the-data-revolution-for-food-energy-and-water-systems#VLP7eG3ALyHWdxpl.99

Aug 15, 2018

Ryan Locicero, environmental engineer and AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation, speaks with Ranveer Chandra at the Microsoft Research Lab. As a principal researcher, Chandra leads an Incubation on IoT Applications. His research has shipped as part of multiple Microsoft products, including VirtualWiFi in Windows 7 onwards, low power Wi-Fi in Windows 8, Energy Profiler in Visual Studio, Software Defined Batteries in Windows 10, and the Wireless Controller Protocol in XBOX One. He has published more than 80 papers, and has been granted more than 85 patents by the USPTO. His research has been cited by the media including The Economist, MIT Technology Review, BBC, Scientific American, New York Times, and the WSJ. He also leads the battery research project and the white space networking projects. Here he discusses Microsoft’s FarmBeats project, which is building several unique solutions to enable data-driven farming, including low-cost sensors, drones, machine vision, and machine learning algorithms.

 

This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.

Jul 16, 2018
In this episode Dr. Holly Summers, a plant biologist and current AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the US Department of Agriculture speaks further with Dr. Mónica Feliú-Mójer. Dr. Feliú-Mójer is a neurobiologist by training and Director of Communications and Science Outreach at Ciencia Puerto Rico, and associate director for diversity and communication training at iBiology. Here she will discuss key events in her life that drove her to pursue a career in science and to further seek out an opportunity with Ciencia Puerto Rico. Dr. Feliú-Mójer will also discuss how empowering people through the scientific method and the use of critical thinking skills can help to create agents of change, which can dramatically impact how communities effectively deal with local problems.
 
This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.
Jun 29, 2018

Dr. Zack Valdez, a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with a background in engineering and geoscience, interviews Ortwinn Renn. Professor Renn is scientific director at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam (Germany), and serves as the spokesperson for the Kopernikus Project for the Energy Transition Navigation System, also known as ENavi. He discusses how Germany is attempting to reduce dependence on traditional fossil fuels by developing a sustainable and renewable energy infrastructure to account for 80% of Germany’s energy needs. Within this framework, Professor Renn explores social and economic factors relating to energy security, consumer preferences, and the use of digital technologies to more effectively manage energy consumption.

May 21, 2018

In this episode Richard Lewis, news officer at the University of Iowa, speaks with Dr. Ted Abel, Professor at the University of Iowa and Director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. As a trained biochemist and molecular biologist, the work in Dr. Abel’s lab focuses on using mouse models to understand the molecular mechanisms of memory storage and the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Here, you’ll hear Ted discuss how memories are formed through complex pathways involving the interactions of neurochemicals, genes, and neurons themselves, as well as how these pathways interact during periods of wakefulness and sleep to affect memory consolidation. He also discusses how his family’s experience with autism and work through the Iowa Neuroscience Institute, which he founded, is helping him and other researchers to understand various aspects of autism, including that which endows some autistic individuals with exceptional abilities.

This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.

Apr 30, 2018

In this episode Carlos Faraco, a neuroscientist and current AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow (STPF) at the National Institute of Justice, speaks with Frances Colón, CEO of Jasperi Consulting, former Deputy Science Advisor at the Department of State under Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and 2006-08 STPF fellow at the State Department. Broadly, they’ll discuss how Dr. Colón’s training as a developmental neurobiologist prepared her for a career in science policy, along with the issues which motivated her to make that leap. Specifically, she will discuss her work on climate change in the Americas while at the Department of State, how that work has helped inform her perspective on climate change and other issues she is working to address in South Florida, as well as how scientists and individuals from all walks of life can become more civically engaged. The discussion also delves into how local politics may differ from the national perspective, and how local leaders and scientists can step in to make impactful and necessary change at the local level.

Participants

Host: Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

Frances Colón, Ph.D., Neuroscience

CEO, Jasperi Consulting

Former Deputy Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State (2012-2017)

Twitter: @fcoloninfl

Executive Producer

Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.

Apr 12, 2018

In this episode Dr. Allyson Kennedy, a developmental biologist and current AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation, speaks with Monica Feliu-Mojer. Dr. Feliu-Mojer is a neurobiologist and director of communications and science outreach at Ciencia Puerto Rico, and associate director for diversity and communication training at iBiology. They discuss how scientists can transition from careers behind the bench to science communication and how that can allow them to impact local communities through outreach and education. Feliu-Mojer hopes to make people realize that science is truly a part of their everyday lives, and that diverse communities can effectively contribute to an enhanced understanding of various issues by bringing their unique perspectives.

This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.

Apr 2, 2018
In this episode Dr. Holly Summers, a plant biologist and current AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the US Department of Agriculture, speaks with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, an ecologist at the University of Utah. Dr. Nadkarni begins with the story of how she
became interested in the forest canopy, and the delicate nature and importance of the canopy to a healthy tropical forest. They then discuss how her work has helped to inspire and develop non-traditional community outreach programs working with prison inmates, allowing inmates to contribute to the scientific process through meticulous restoration work involving plant and animal life. Last and probably most unexpectedly, Dr. Nadkarni describes
how she got inspired to launch a line of clothing that features botanically correct images of nature.
 
 
Participants
 
Host: Holly Summers, Ph.D., Plant Biology
2017-18 Executive Branch Fellow at USDA
 
Nalini Nadkarni, Ph.D., Ecology
Professor of Biology, University of Utah 
 
Executive Producer
 
Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-18 Executive Branch Fellow at National Institutes of Justice
 
This podcast does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.
Mar 23, 2018

In this episode Dr. Carlos Faraco speaks with Dr. Don Cleveland of
the University of California San Diego regarding his work on drug-based gene silencing therapies. Cleveland and the members of his lab use these therapies, also known as designer DNA drugs, to silence genes involved in the development of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s
and Lou Gehrig’s disease. In addition to these familiar diseases, they also discuss how designer DNA drugs may help those suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease affecting individuals with a history of repeated head injury,
including athletes, military personnel, and domestic abuse victims. While the concept of chronic traumatic encephalopathy was first introduced in the early 1900s due to its prevalence in boxers, the cause of the disease has recently come under significant public scrutiny in the US due to several high-profile stories involving football players.

Participants

Host: Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

Don Cleveland, Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences
Chair, Departmental of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UCSD
Professor of Medicine, Neurosciences, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UCSD
Member, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Executive Producer: Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

This blog does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.

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