Big Biology

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com How do animals use medication and can humans learn from them? What are the evolutionary consequences of animal self-medication? In...

What impact has the Trump administration had on biology and the scientific community? How do scientists study genomic adaptation and vulnerability? On this episode we talk with Dr. Katie Lotterhos, Associate Professor...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What’s the value of risk-taking in research? How is studying the mechanisms of transgenerational inheritance in C. elegans unorthodox...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com How do non-adaptive processes shape biological diversity and complexity? What is effective population size and what important role...

Where, when, and how did Homo sapiens appear? What do we know about the complex set of ancestral hominins that preceded us? How recently did other hominin lineages live and what happened to them? On this episode, we...

What can we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how do we apply that knowledge moving forward? On this special episode of Big Biology, we’re bringing you the highlights from a conference called “Covid Conversations,”...

How can grad students advocate for science policy? How can science communication make research more accessible and inclusive? On this episode of Big Biology, we bring back our “Student Spotlight” segment. We talk with...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What role does media play in conservation efforts and inspiring future generations of scientists? How can science communication make...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What biological "superpowers" do marine invertebrates possess? What challenges do they face and will their resilience protect them...

Why is the National Science Foundation important? What is the potential impact of the proposed budget cut to the NSF? How can we stand up for federally-funded science in the US? In this episode, we talk with Bill Zamer...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What are microplastics and why are they an issue for the environment? How can global policy address plastic pollution? On this...

Watch how our amazing artist Keating Shahmehri created the cover art for our last episode "Feel the heat”. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes...

How do scientists measure thermal tolerance and predict organismal responses in the wild? What kind of other data is needed to make predictive models better at helping us understand species responses to high...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com How are new technologies allowing biologists to look beyond simple genetic variation to whole genome structure? What is a pangenome?...

In this post-match chat, Marty and Cam discuss our most recent episode “A direct hit”, with guest Holden Thorp. This is a quickly evolving situation, and on Friday last week, a federal judge continued to block the cut...

Will a change in policy at the National Institutes of Health derail science in the US? How does the “indirect cost rate” for federal research grants fuel research? In this episode, we talk with Holden Thorp, a chemist...

Here’s a little sneak peek into what goes on behind the scenes when we choose a title for an episode. In this snippet, Cam and Marty discuss the title of our most recent episode: “Beaks on (fitness) peaks.” This is a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com Which factors lead to the evolution of reproductive isolation? What role does hybridization play in speciation? Why are there so many...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com How does human behavior contribute to disease transmission? What can our history with infectious disease teach us about modern...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What role does development play in evolution? How can biology incorporate a broader, more complex definition of what it means to be...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com How have organisms changed the Earth and what can humans learn from its deep past? On this episode, we talk with Stephen Porder, a...

How do natural selection and sexual selection interact? What can observing adaptive radiation in the wild teach us about evolution? On this episode, we talk with Dale Broder, an Assistant Professor at American...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What are spiny mice and why are they so social? What about their brains makes them gregarious? Might network neuroscience be a useful...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com What was life like in wartime England for a young female scientist? What about living and doing research for months each year with...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.com How do biologists study the influence of heat on organisms and how can this be applied to the study of climate change? What impacts...