The Story Collider

• Best of Story Collider: Chemistry

  This week, we present two stories about science intersecting with love -- in both fortunate and unfortunate ways. Part 1: Nothing can come between Lindzi Wessel and her new boyfriend, David -- except maybe herpes. Part 2: Marine biologist Skylar Bayer and first mate Thom Young find love on a boat. Lindzi Wessel is a science and health journalist who recently graduated from the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program. Before turning her sights on journalism, she studied the mind, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in neuroscience from UC Davis. She has covered topics ranging from wildfire management to Zika transmission for outlets including The San Jose Mercury News, Alzforum, and STAT. For the moment, she resides in DC where she is writing for Science. Lindzi is a traveler who enjoys spending time outdoors and in the presence of dogs, whenever possible. Thom and Skylar Young-Bayer live in Juneau, Alaska with their four rescue dogs, Millie, Echo, Zoey, and Atlas, and their cat Mistletoe. Thom Young-Bayer has worked in various careers including as a marine biologist, a tall ship sailor, an organic farmer, and an EMT. Skylar Young-Bayer has a Ph.D. in Marine Biology and is on the storyboard of Mudrooms, a local storytelling show in Juneau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Excluded: Stories about being left out

  Few things sting more than being on the outside looking in. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share deeply personal accounts of feeling rejected. Part 1: At school, Natalie Ayala can’t understand why she and the other dual-language kids are treated differently. Part 2: As a photographer on a research expedition in Antarctica, Marley Parker can’t seem to break into the scientist inner circle. Natalie Ayala is a third-year mechanical engineering student at Boise State University. Her goal is to pursue a career in the space industry, have hands-on involvement in human space flight missions, and advocate for minorities in STEM!  Marley Parker has been working as a professional science communicator for over a decade. At the beginning of 2018, Marley left a full-time position at a tier one research university to start her own business as a freelance photographer, videographer, and science writer. Over the past seven years, Marley has found a special niche: documenting deep sea research. She has joined 25 expedition teams on eight different vessels, highlighting projects sponsored by NOAA, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Ocean Exploration Trust, and many others. When she is not documenting ocean science in remote parts of the world, Marley loves sharing the lessons she has learned from pursuing an unconventional career path. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Adapt: Stories about adjusting to new conditions

  Being able to change to meet one’s circumstances is essential to survival. As HG Wells famously wrote: “adapt or perish.” In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers find themselves in unfamiliar territory and need to change course. Part 1: As the only American, microbiologist Chris Robinson struggles to make friends with the other researchers in Chernobyl. Part 2: In his quest to study the adaptability of stickleback fish, neuroscientist Ashwin Bhandiwad keeps needing to adjust his experiment with each new hurdle. Chris Robinson is a published writer and PAm-Costco USA Scholar in the midst of his PhD at Indiana University. His research uses the honey bee as a model to study the ecology and evolution of the gut microbiome and how evolutionary adaptations, such as antibiotic resistance, are transmitted by mobile genetic elements. Originally from the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Chris has harvested watermelon with the USDA, spent a few years as a line cook in Charleston kitchens, and was formally a Fulbright Research Fellow in Ukraine. When not staring at a computer screen, Chris can be found deep into a bicycle ride, playing in the garden, or lamenting the failure of some baking experiment. Ashwin Bhandiwad has spent a remarkable amount of time trying to understand how the brain is organized. Once called "the most handsome boy in the world" by his mom, Ashwin is now a scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science working on developing tools to create maps of the brain. Ashwin received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Washington where he investigated how loud noise causes damage in the inner ear. Simultaneously, he disregarded that research by attending many loud concerts. Ashwin also loves swimming, starting projects that he’ll never finish, and talking in silly voices to his young children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Tough Gigs: Stories about unsuitable jobs

  From bizarre job requirements to downright horrible bosses, sometimes our jobs just don’t fit. In this week’s episode, both our storytellers share stories about what happens when work doesn’t work. Part 1: When fertility research scientist Sarah Adelman gets a job at a sperm bank, she’s apparently the only one who finds it funny. Part 2: In her new job at a neuroscience lab, Anna Zhukovskaya’s boss starts to pick on her. Sarah Adelman is a born and bred New Yorker, former fertility research scientist, and stand up comedian. She performs regularly at all the top NYC comedy clubs and independent shows, can be seen on two episodes of HBO Game Theory and has over 35,000 followers across her platforms . Her content has been featured on The Today Show, NBC News, Meta, the 92nd Street Y, and more. Sarah graduated Cum Laude from Dartmouth College in 2019 and earned her Masters of Public Health from Columbia University in 2021. She trained as a research scientist in NYC where she studied fertility and ran human subjects trials at a sperm bank. Her one hour comedy solo show, EGG, brings audiences through her hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age journey to her present-day career in science, the day-to-day of studying male reproduction, why she started comedy, and culminates in an earth-shattering clash of her two worlds. EGG premires in June 2024. Anna Zhukovskaya is a neuroscientist studying the role of somatosensation in social behavior and its effects on stress. She is currently doing a postdoc in the Abdus-Sabor lab in Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute. She did her PhD at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in Ilana Witten's lab. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Unlikely Heroes: Stories about coming to the rescue

  When life throws challenges our way, sometimes the most surprising people—or even baked goods—step up to save the day. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers remind us that heroes can come in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Part 1: While on a bike ride with her daughter, Rebecca Stronger comes across an unconscious stranger on the ground. Part 2: The only thing standing between Ruby Mustill and being trampled by elephants is a tent. Rebecca Stronger was born and raised in Brooklyn, and she wants you to know that she HAS left the neighborhood a few times. She is a retired acrobat, a veterinarian, a single mother and is just about ready to start calling herself a writer. Ruby Mustill is an evolutionary biology PhD student at Texas A&M University. Before moving to Texas, she graduated from Columbia University with a BA in anthropology, studied monkeys in Puerto Rico, and managed a remote field site in Kasanka National Park, Zambia. Outside of research, Ruby spends her time knitting and talking at length about her elderly cat, Muffin. She hopes to work at a natural history museum in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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