The Story Collider

Ecologist Jessica Henkel finds the keys to her research truck missing, as it's parked on a remote beach with one of the biggest tides of the season about to come in. Jessica is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academy of Sciences and a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. She has a B.A. in English from Stony Brook University and a M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of New Orleans. Jessica is interested in how environmental and anthropogenic change and habitat degradation are impacting the coastal habitats of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the communities that rely on them. Her dissertation research investigates the migration ecology and physiology of near-arctic breeding shorebirds that stopover in coastal habitats on the Gulf of Mexico. When not wearing mud boots or waders, Jessica can be found advocating for coastal issues or marching in the Mardi Gras parades of her adopted city of New Orleans. Learn

Not even the truth about Santa Claus and George Washington could prepare Carter Edwards for what happened to Brontosaurus. Carter Edwards' work has appeared in Mathematics Magazine, Hobart, The New York Times, and others. His debut collection of fiction, The Aversive Clause, won the 2011 Hudson Prize and was published by Black Lawrence Press. His debut collection of poetry, From The Standard Cyclopedia of Recipes, was released last summer, also from Black Lawrence Press. He is a 2014 Poetry Fellow of the New York Foundation of the Arts, attended the graduate writing program at The New School in New York and lives in Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rose Eveleth always wanted to be fiercely independent. But sometimes being too independent has its downsides. Rose Eveleth is a writer, producer, and designer based in Brooklyn. She's dabbled in everything from research on krill to animations about beer to podcasts about fake tumbleweed farms. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, The Atlantic, BBC Future, Deadspin and more. She also produces the podcast for The Story Collider, a show you might have heard of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virendra Singh is responsible for carrying on his family's farm, but he begs his parents to be allowed to go to school. Virendra was born in a farmer's family in northern India. He experienced and learned engineering challenges while growing up on the agriculture farms. After receiving his PhD in Chemistry in 2007, he joined The Georgia Institute of Technology where he is currently working as a Material Scientist. His research focuses in the area of macromolecular nanoengineering. His latest research efforts are directed towards developing nanostructured materials with enhanced electrical and thermal transport for better performance of devices and engineering components. In his spare time, he enjoys developing new recipes (chemistry) in kitchen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Carroll gets a fabulous job offer—to work with Stephen Hawking—twice. Sean Carroll is a Research Professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in 1993 from Harvard University. His research focuses on fundamental physics and cosmology, especially issues of dark matter, dark energy, and the origin of the universe. Recently, Carroll has worked on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the arrow of time, and the emergence of complexity. His most recent book is The Particle at the End of the Universe. He has been awarded the Gemant Award by the American Institute of Physics, and the Winton Prize of the Royal Society of London. He frequently consults for film and television, and has been featured on shows such as The Colbert Report, NOVA, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. Photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When neuroscientist Carl Hart meets with his cousin he wonders about what he now knows about psychiatric medication and society, and whether his own life is a success. Carl Hart is a member of the faculty at Columbia University, jointly-appointed in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in neuroscience, psychology, and pharmacology and has been recognized for excellence in teaching with the University's highest teaching award. Dr. Hart is also a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in the Division of Substance Abuse. For High Price, his first trade book, he received the 2014 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A near-fatal accident on a mountain leads exoplanet hunter David Kipping to a new goal. David Kipping is an astronomer based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), where he researches extrasolar planets and moons. He is currently fulfilling a Donald Menzel Fellowship at the CfA with the Harvard College Observatory. He is best described as a "modeler," combining novel theoretical modeling with modern statistical data analysis techniques applied to observations. This story was produced as part of the Springer Storytellers series. Hear and read more at http://www.beforetheabstract.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Geneticist Chris Gunter worries about passing on a rare condition to her son. Chris Gunter is a human geneticist by training, and a science communicator by choice. She earned her Ph.D. at Emory University and then moved up and down the east coast, ending up as a Senior Editor at the journal Nature. Currently she serves as the Associate Director for Research for the Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and as an Associate Professor in Pediatrics for the Emory University School of Medicine. If she had any spare time, she would probably garden or bake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bradford Jordan finds there's more to the brain his dad brings to show his class than just how cool it is. Bradford Jordan is an actor, improviser, storyteller and facilitator. He is a lead teacher at the Peoples Improv Theatre in New York, where he has introduced hundreds of students to the art of improvisation. As an actor, director, and teacher with the national arts and literacy organization, The Story Pirates, Bradford teaches creative writing workshops to school kids and works with his creative team to adapt their stories into musical sketch comedy shows. Bradford is a Moth story slam winner and his stories can be heard on The Moth Radio Hour on NPR. In addition to his artistic pursuits, Bradford is a New York City Bike Ambassador with Transportation Alternatives, working to create safer streets and public places for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An offhand sexist comment enrages Renee Hlozek, and leads her to dig into how her colleagues really view people who aren't the stereotypical scientist. Dr. Renee Hlozek is the Lyman Spitzer Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics in at Princeton University; the Spitzer-Cotsen Fellow in the Princeton Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts and is currently a Senior TED Fellow. Her research focuses on theoretical cosmology; as a member of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope she measures the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation to decipher the initial conditions of the universe. When not investigating the cosmos, she loves to sing (loudly), read and bake. She makes a mean Negroni. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A simple interview about a bacon sandwich turns into a national, then international nightmare. Elin Roberts is Head of Public Engagement at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. She is a passionate science communicator producing activities and programs for visitors. She has worked with scientists, presenters and teachers helping them direct their messages. As a hands-on practitioner she still enjoys the sensation of dried PVA on her fingertips and the smell of freshly applied sticky back plastic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Jon Ronson discovers a twitter account pretending to be him, he sets off to find it's creators. Jon Ronson is a British nonfiction author, documentary maker and screenwriter. His books, Them: Adventures with Extremists, The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Psychopath Test, and Lost At Sea, have all been international bestsellers. He's a regular contributor to the PRI show This American Life, and has appeared at TED, and on The Daily Show. His new book, “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” is available now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A summer job in Yellowstone National Park isn't quite what Molly Payne Wynne had been expecting. Molly is the Monitoring Coordinator for the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, an unprecedented collaborative effort to restore 11 species of sea-run fish in New England's second largest river, the Penobscot. Molly has pursued a variety of research topics in fisheries; most recently, river herring habitat use patterns through otolith chemistry at the University of Southern Maine and otolith growth and microchemistry as a research assistant at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, NY. She loves the water and exploring Maine and awaits her next scientific adventure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the first day of grad school for her PhD, a fellow student tells Bianca Jones Marlin that she doesn't really belong there. Bianca Jones Marlin is a neuroscientist and doctoral candidate at New York University, School of Medicine. She received dual bachelor degrees in biology and adolescent education from St. John's University. Her time as a high school biology teacher led her to the laboratory, where she now studies the neurochemicals that govern communication and dictate social memories. Bianca investigates how the brain changes in the presence of the "love hormone," oxytocin. Her research aims to understand the vital bond between mother and child, and uses oxytocin as a treatment in strengthening fragile and broken parental relationships. Bianca, a native New Yorker, lives in Manhattan with her scientist husband, Joe, and their cat Santiago Ramon y Cajal, who is named after the famed neuroanatomist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hillary Rea enjoys her job as a "standard patient" helping to train medical students, until she's asked to sub in on a birth gone quite wrong. Hillary Rea is a Philadelphia dwelling comedian and storyteller, and the host of the storytelling shows Tell Me A Story and Fibber. She is a NYC Moth StorySLAM winner and was featured on The Soundtrack Series and How I Learned podcasts. She was a 2011 Artist-in-Residence for Elsewhere Artist Collaborative in Greensboro, NC. For more info, please visit: hillaryrea.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Adam Becker realizes a visiting film crew is made up of geocentrists, he has to prevent them from exploiting his adviser's work. Adam Becker is a cosmologist, a journalist, a programmer, and a science publishing troublemaker. He hails from a tiny town in northern New Jersey, and he has a PhD in physics from the University of Michigan. He strongly believes that scientific research should be open, that the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is nonsense, and that David Tennant was the best Doctor. He lives in Oakland, California, with his fiancee, Elisabeth, who is a writer, and their pet rabbit Copernicus, who is not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erin Barker's attempt to save a college relationship leads her to a plant biology class where the professor brought an ax to class. Erin Barker is senior producer of The Story Collider and a host of its live show in New York. She is the first woman to win The Moth's GrandSLAM storytelling competition twice and has appeared in its Mainstage and shows in cities across the country, as well as on its Peabody Award-winning show on PRX, The Moth Radio Hour. One of her stories was included in The Moth's New York Times-bestselling book, The Moth: 50 True Stories. She considers herself a Gryffindor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neuroscientist Indre Viskontas and her friends turn to science to find the right way to date. Indre Viskontas is a neuroscientist and opera singer. She is also the host of Inquiring Minds, an in-depth exploration of the place where science, politics, and society collide. http://www.motherjones.com/inquiringminds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sports writer David Epstein tracks down some surprising health claims circulating in the football world. David Epstein is author of the recent New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene, an exploration of the genetic basis of athleticism. He is currently an investigative reporter at the non-profit ProPublica. Up until September, he was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He has been a crime reporter at the New York Daily News, and an education reporter at Inside Higher Ed. In his past life, David was a geology grad student. He has lived in the Sonoran Desert, on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, in the Arctic in Alaska, and -- like every other writer -- in Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The joys and dangers of getting pregnant for Tara Clancy and her wife. Tara Clancy is a writer and performer. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review and The Rumpus. She is also a winner of The Moth GrandSlam storytelling competition and was recently featured on their podcast. Originally from Queens, Tara now lives in Manhattan with her wife and two sons. More at www.taraclancy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices