Science, Y'all!

Professor Fred Beach | S3E3 | Science, Y'all!

Professor Fred Beach is the Director of the Earth and Energy Resources graduate program within the Jackson School of Geosciences. Hear how taking things apart and putting them back together as a child matured into a lifelong curiosity and passion for science. Dr. Beach discusses his childhood growing up on a farm, his first career serving in the Navy, and his second career in academia. Tune in to hear all this and more!

Casey Vigilia & Medha Prakash | S3E2 | Science, Y'all!

Third-year PhD candidates Casey Vigilia and Medha Prakash research glaciology and planetary geology, respectively. Casey is advised by Dr. Benjamin Keisling, and Medha is advised by Drs. Sean Gulick and Cyril Grima. Hear why they chose to pursue their PhDs at the JSG, what field adventures took them to France, the Bahamas, and Greenland, and how they’ve built community through exercise, trivia nights, and a fiber arts club. Casey and Medha also reflect on their PhD qualifying exams and alternative careers—including photojournalism and running a bakery.

Professor Dan Breecker | S3E1 | Science, Y'all!

Professor Dan Breecker is an isotope geochemist who researches carbon cycling processes in soils and carbonate bedrock. Hear how a whitewater rafting trip guide sparked Dan’s interest in academia, what fieldwork mishaps (including a pack rat and a chewed-up tape measure) shaped his PhD experience in New Mexico, and why he’s excited about carbon sequestration. Dan also talks best practices for balancing teaching, research, and family—like playing pickup soccer to keep up with his kids.

Jake Gearon | S2E5 | Science, Y'all!

This special episode was recorded in Medellín, Colombia, during an NSF-funded international field course. JSG graduate and current Indiana University Bloomington PhD candidate Jake Gearon is a sedimentologist and geoinformaticist who is advised by Dr. Douglas Edmonds. Jake received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geological sciences from the JSG, along with a creative writing certificate from the College of Liberal Arts. Hear how History Channel documentaries on paleontology and volcanology sparked Jake’s interest in earth sciences as a kid, how his current research uses remote sensing to answer classical questions in sedimentology, and his perspective on the creative opportunities and psychological challenges of the PhD degree.

Tony Edgington | S2E4 | Science, Y'all!

This special episode was recorded at Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia, during an NSF-funded international field course. JSG graduate and current Boston College PhD student Tony Edgington is a geomorphologist who is advised by Drs. Noah Snyder and Kat Wilson—another JSG alum. Tony received two bachelor’s degrees from JSG, one in geological sciences and another in geosystems engineering and hydrogeology, before going on to earn a master’s degree from University of Connecticut. Hear how Tony’s interest in environmental science started with a kid’s microscope, how his research has taken him all over South America and now back to the South, and what he misses most about Austin, TX—breakfast tacos.