STEMcast

STEMcast Episode 40 | “We are all made of stardust”: Learning about Early Planetary Formation with Prof. Paola Pinilla

In today’s show, we welcome Prof. Paola Pinilla, Associate Professor in exoplanets at University College London. Together, we peer into her journey from a kid in Bogotá (Columbia) dreaming about the stars to her role as a Principal Investigator studying early planetary formation in London. Her research on protoplanetary discs, formed from dust and gas around young stars, helps us understand how the planetary systems and organic molecules behind life first emerged, earning her the prestigious 2026 Blavatnik Award. From the complexity of protoplanetary discs to the importance of following your curiosity, this conversation is filled with nuggets of wisdom for scientists in every field. In this episode, we cover: (01:25) Questions that drive her research: How did the Earth form? How did our solar system form? (3:00) Prof. Pinilla’s past scientific breakthroughs: pressure bumps and planet embryos (6:55) Non-scientific stepping stones towards those scientific achievements (13:51) Fitting in a scientific community (19:19) What pushes Prof. Pinilla to dream bigger and bigger? (21:40) Diving into Prof. Pinilla’s research: What are protoplanetary discs? (25:59) How the diversity of protoplanetary discs leads to the diversity of exoplanets (28:22) What methodologies does Prof. Pinilla’s group use? (33:32) New research directions: Recreating the physical conditions of early planetary formation (36:12) Creation and delivery of organic compounds to the inner disc (40:30) We are made of the same stuff: stardust. Further reading * Read more about Prof. Paola Pinilla [https://paola-pinilla.com/] and her 2026 Blavatnik Award [https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/paola-pinilla/] * Read the paper we discussed in Nature Astronomy [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02334-4] (way to form organic matter in protoplanetary) * Her initiative on Mothers in Astromnomy [https://paola-pinilla.com/mothers.html] Episode host and producer: Sabrina Du [sabrina.du@mail.mcgill.ca] and Kenza Rtel Bennani Contact: igem@mcgill.ca [igem@mcgill.ca]

STEMcast Episode 39 | “Curiosity is Edgework”: Channeling our Curiosity in Research with Profs. Dani Basset and Perry Zurn

Welcome back to STEMCast: Beyond the Lab! In our most interdisciplinary episode to date, we invited Professors Perry Zurn (Department of Philosophy at the American University) and Dani Basset (Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania) to discuss their individual research careers and their most prominent topic of collaboration: curiosity. Join us as we learn everything from mathematical models of curiosity to social dilemmas that could benefit from them! In this episode, we cover: (01:38) Dani’s scientific curiosities (4:15) Perry’s scientific curiosities (7:24) How did you both start working together? (9:31) Defining curiosity: a type of edge work? (16:19) How does living in an information-dense age affect how we channel our curiosity? (18:49) Differences in collective curiosity and inequity in scientific research (24:00) Curiosity archetypes that will help us tackle ethical dilemmas (29:37) Mathematics of network modeling and its pitfalls (32:19) Fuzzy nodes and marbles (not) in the brain! (42:21) Questions that you guys are looking forward to working on in the future Further reading * Read more about Prof. Dani Bassett [https://live-sas-physics.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/people/standing-faculty/danielle-bassett] * Read more about Prof. Perry Zurn [https://www.perryzurn.com/] * Book: Curious Minds: The Power of Connection [https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/5376/Curious-MindsThe-Power-of-Connection] Episode host and producer: Sabrina Du [sabrina.du@mail.mcgill.ca] and Isabelle Guo [isabelle.guo@mail.mcgill.ca] Contact:igem@mcgill.ca [igem@mcgill.ca]

Episode 38 | Education, Math and Drag! Exploring How Queer Identity and STEM Intersect with Kyne Santos

This week on STEMcast, we interview Kyne Santos, renowned math communicator and drag queen, known familiarly on TikTok and Instagram as OnlineKyne. With short content math videos, Kyne explores the mathematical world at all educational levels, all while dressed fabulously in drag! In this episode, we learn more about Kyne, his introduction to both the math and drag worlds, and how he uses his platform to expand access to education. We discuss the importance of scientific communication, the overlaps of art and science, and how queerness and gender interact with the STEM world. To top it off, we throw in our own experiences with synthetic biology, education in iGEM and our own experiences navigating STEM spaces as queer individuals. Tune in for personal stories, humour and new insights into how queer identity and STEM can intersect!

STEMcast Episode 37 | Empowering Diverse Voices in STEM - a STEMcast Special

This week on STEMcast, we interview three professionals doing impressive technical and advocacy work across academia and industry, and ask them about their experiences with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in a panel-style format. You'll hear from Aflah Hanafiah, a graduate student researching epigenetics and a prominent advocate working to uplift LGBTQIA+ voices in academia; Mel Rees, an oil and gas systems operator with expertise in the energy sector, who also shares a passion for advocacy and promoting inclusivity in STEM; and Anmol Nagpal, the CEO and co-founder of a start-up specializing in therapeutics for genetic neurological disorders, and a passionate advisor in the biotech start-up sphere.Tune in for inspiring stories, insights on current DEI challenges, and discussions on how we—as students and professionals—can help shape a future where all voices are empowered in STEM spaces.

STEMcast Episode 36 | “Specialization is for Insects”: Building Neuroscience Foundation Models with Prof. Adrien Peyrache and Prof. Blake Richards

Welcome to the Beyond the Lab series of STEMcast! Today, AI is helping us understand what allowed us to create it in the first place: our brains. Although the intersection of neuroscience and AI is nothing new, tools that leverage this combination are now making their way from the lab and into consumer markets. What are these tools? Why are they better equipped to analyze neural data, and why are researchers launching entrepreneurial ventures to bring them to life? In this episode, Adrien Peyrache and Blake Richards, professors at McGill University’s Montreal Neurological Institute and pioneers in the NeuroAI space, join us to discuss their research careers and what led them to co-found Lamarck Labs, a neurotech company building foundation models for neuroscience. Note: After this episode, this series will be taking a short break. We’re excited to come back in the Fall, refreshed and ready to share more stories beyond the lab. In this episode we cover: (01:27) A rave that lead to Blake’s research origins (04:03) Adrien’s scientific beginnings (09:05) Scientific collaboration: How did they meet and start working together? (14:53) Why are AI systems better at “decoding the brain”? (19:59) Entrepreneurial collaboration: Founding Lamarck Labs (25:58) Why now? Using foundations models in neuroscience (31:35) Applications of foundation models in Lamarck Labs (37:00) What excites and worries both professors about the future of this technology. Further reading/listening * Read more about Prof. Adrien Peyrache here [https://www.mcgill.ca/neuro/adrien-peyrache-phd] * Read more about the Peyrache Lab [https://www.peyrachelab.com/home] * Read more about Prof. Blake Richards here [https://www.mcgill.ca/neuro/blake-richards-phd] * Read more about LiNC Lab [https://sites.google.com/mila.quebec/linc-lab/home] * Read more about Lamarck Labs here [https://www.lamarcklabs.com/] * Papers, essays and other media that we mentioned: * Paper: Sequential Predictive Learning is a unifying theory for hippocampal representations and replay [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.28.591528v2] * SuperDataScience Podcast with John Krohn [https://open.spotify.com/show/1n8P7ZSgfVLVJ3GegxPat1?si=7018d5780dfb4cb4] * Adrien Peyrache’s Amazing Brain Science Talk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbpidNKc5cw&t=1s] * Blake Richards’ Amazing Brain Science Talk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2-VBoqLz3w] Host and producer : Sabrina Du [sabrina.du@mail.mcgill.ca] Contact: igem@mcgill.ca [igem@mcgill.ca]