Double Shelix

Award-winning engineering lecturer Dr. LeAnn Dourte joins Kayla and Sally to discuss active learning in engineering classrooms. LeAnn is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, and has pioneered their biomechanics curricula - students build robo-arms to move PlayDough? Yes please! She shares her tips for setting classroom expectations in undergraduate vs. graduate courses, and doing academic research about engineering education! We also discuss LeAnn's experiences as a new mom in a dual-career family, and her Better Talk Next Time moment - spoiler alert: don't bully your professors to get better grades... This episode is a collaboration between Double Shelix and the University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering! Thanks to UPenn BioE for funding this episode, and we are honored to share LeAnn's awesome work with you all! If there's someone else at UPenn BioE (or elsewhere!) that you think we should feature, give us a shout! Thanks for listening!!Resour

We're back for Season 2, and this episode is inspired by what our listeners want to hear! Kayla and Sally are huge fans of listener-recommended science crush, the late MIT Prof. Millie Dresselhaus: Queen of Carbon Science, tireless advocate for women in STEM, and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science in Engineering. A recent GE commercial asks, "What if we treated female scientists like they were stars? What if Millie Dresselhaus was as famous as any celebrity?" Kayla and Sally are 100% behind this mission, and plot meet-cutes with the sci-lebrities in their lives. Also, in the first-ever listener-submitted Better Talk Next Time stories, listeners tackle biased perceptions of women in engineering, how to deal when your significant other believes damaging STEM stereotypes, and other *fun* themes. Don't worry, listeners - you do belong in science!Please rate us on the Apple Podcast app/iTunes store! Stay tuned to the end of the episode for overly detailed step-by-step ins

Megan interviews Molly Sheehan, a bioengineering post-doc who is running for US Congress in 2018. Molly grew up in Pennsylvania, studied biology at Haverford College, and received her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania. She is now a post-doc in bioengineering developing new molecular imaging techniques. Today, we talk about what is motivating her to run for Congress, the issues she is most passionate about, and how she is getting her campaign up and running. Email us - doubleshelixpodcast@gmail.comTwitter - @doubleshelixpodInstagram - @doubleshelixpodcastMore: doubleshelix.com & betapleatedchic.comHelp spread the love - review us on iTunes!

How do you balance the fact that your happiness shouldn't be totally dependent on the outcome of your research with the fact that of course it is? Kayla and Sally tackle this listener question, and things get real. Conclusion: getting great results feels great, but if this is your only source of warm fuzzies, you're in trouble. But good friends and experience will get you through (probably). Also, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub is applying major Silicon Valley thinking - and money - to solve real problems. Yay! But is curing all diseases an excessively lofty goal, or is just the kind of attention that science funding needs? We discuss...Email us - doubleshelixpodcast@gmail.com. Listener Better Talk Next time stories coming soon, so submit yours anonymously today!Twitter - @doubleshelixpodInstagram - @doubleshelixpodcastMore: doubleshelix.com & betapleatedchic.comHelp spread the love - review us on iTunes!

Qualifying exams: who doesn't love months of preparation for a 3 hour oral exam that (potentially) covers everything you've ever learned? Sally and Kayla try to find the bright side, and are moderately successful, but quals are still rough you guys. They also argue that departments where passing quals is defined as being in the top X percentile really should reconsider, and set their students up for success! Also in this episode, conferences are exhausting, but Kayla has some strategies for pushing through. Finally, Kayla and Sally discuss soliciting effective feedback on your presentations. Spoiler alert: tell the audience what you want.Email us: doubleshelixpodcast@gmail.comFollow us: Twitter @doubleshelixpod, Instagram @doubleshelixpodcastMore: www.doubleshelix.com, www.betapleatedchic.com

Imposter syndrome sucks, especially when it keeps you from doing your best work. In this episode, Kayla and Sally discuss their own experiences overcoming three types of imposter syndrome: feeling like you were invited by mistake, comparing yourself to a superstar, and realizing that everyone else's research is WAY cooler than yours. In Better Talk Next Time, a man says he would have won a major fellowship if he was a woman - greaaat. Finally, if you want money to be at the lab bench, you need to be able to write. How can you sell yourself and your work to reviewers and get meaningful feedback on your writing from peers?

Megan interviews scientist and entrepreneur, Katy Lassahn. Katy is a co-founder of BioIgnite, a non-profit focused on bringing STEM research and discovery to young students. Megan and Katy chat about BioIgnite's experience with the NSF Innovation Corps for Learning grant, building a business, and STEM education in the US. And, listen for a sneak peek into BioIgnite's summer camps!Find us and share your thoughts!Twitter - @doubleshelixpodInstagram - @doubleshelixpodcastEmail - doubleshelixpodcast AT gmail DOT comWeb - doubleshelix.com

What was your first job? The first thing you were paid to do? Your first position in your field? Kayla and Sally discuss first jobs and how to find your next first job. We argue that it’s silly that in academia your “first job” isn’t until you’re a tenure-track faculty, and that this undermines the hard work of students and trainees. Also on this episode, Kayla shares an Oh Shoot moment from the lab bench, and things get v. real in our Better Talk Next time segment. Finally, we learn about crosslinking gels in the Tech Talk, and on Stuff We Love, we love the Nikon Small World microscopy image competition and this awesome article by Sue Bird about the shameful lack of analytics in women’s sports. Find us and share your thoughts!Twitter - @doubleshelixpodInstagram - @doubleshelixpodcastEmail – doubleshelixpodcast AT gmail DOT comWeb – doubleshelix.com