Now that's what I call Science!

“Engineers got us into this mess…it’s engineers who will get us out again.” This is a catchphrase of one of our guests today, Associate Professor Evan Franklin. Along with Professor Tim Finnigan, Evan joined Sarah and Olly to talk about all things climate engineering, and why it’s so important that more engineers get involved. This episode also marks a special occasion for us, as it’s Dr Sarah Lyden’s last time co-hosting at TWICS. We’re super grateful for Sarah’s time on the show, and hope the future is full of bright smiles ahead for her! Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Dr Sarah Lyden Production: Ryan Smith

Landslides can bring devastating consequences to the communities they affect. Dr Ashley Dyson, a geotechnical engineer, joins Sarah and Olly for part two of our climate engineering series to explain how we can go about mitigating the risks of landslides and why it’s so important to have as much data as we can on soils, rainfall, and slopes. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Dr Sarah Lyden Production: Dr Meredith Castles (@MeredithCastles) Media & Promotion: Emma Hamasaki (@EmmaHamasaki) 

Ever wondered what sheep and vineyards have in common? Turns out it’s agrivoltaic systems: generating solar power alongside agriculture.  Olly and Sarah are joined in today’s episode by Ganesh Pandey, who tells the two all about the implementation of solar panels in pastures and fields.  Today’s episode kicks off the first of our mini-series in climate engineering, so make sure you tap back in next week to hear about more engineering marvels!  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Dr Sarah Lyden Production: Richard Siu (Insta: richard.siu.photography) Media & Promotion: 

Welcome back to Part 2 of our CoLab 2025 double bill! In case you missed last week’s episode, CoLab pairs scientists with high schoolers, who, after workshops and lab visits, make art out of research!  This week, Ella and Anna hear from scientists Danielle Zimmerman, Millie Goddard-Dwyer, and Katya Bandow about their experiences with CoLab. We also hear from the students themselves about how they found diving into the artistic side of science.  Photo credits: Beaker Street and Oi Studios Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Ella Burgun and Anna Abela (@annaoabela) Production: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Media & Promotion: Katya Bandow (@katyabandow)

What happens when you pair research scientists with high schoolers? Incredible art, that’s what!  Through CoLab, six scientists are paired with two to three high schoolers each who, after a series of workshops, create art inspired by the scientists’ research. The results are then displayed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery during the Beaker Street Festival. This week, join Ella and Anna as they hear from scientists Esmat Sarafraz, Samantha Bramich, and Roisin Moloney about the exhibition as well as from the student artists themselves.  Make sure you come back next week to hear from the second half of this year’s cohort! Photo credits: Beaker Street and Oi Studios Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Ella Burgun and Anna Abela (@annaoabela) Production: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Media & Promotion: Emma Hamasaki (@EmmaHamasaki)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, popcorn, AND science?! What more could you want? As part of National Science Week 2025, That’s What I Call Science hosted From Fact to Fiction: a live screening of Total Recall (1990) followed by a panel of STEMM experts. Tune in to hear from Associate Professor Frederic Gilbert, Dr Soonja Yeom, and Mikaela Green about their takeaways from the film and its reflections in our modern day society.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Production: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Media & Promotion: Zi Yi Kho

Last week, you heard from two of this year’s cohort of the Inspiring Women in STEMM Fellowship. This week, we have Rose Aawulenaa and Dilini Manage on the mic to share their PhD research topics and plans for the fellowship with you! Rose is an Agricultural Science PhD candidate and Dilini is a supply chain decarbonisation PhD candidate. What do they have in common? Leading incredible projects in their home communities that can help raise up the next generation. Make sure you tune in to hear them chat with Olly about their incredible work! Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Production: Dr Simin Salarpour Media & Promotion: Georgia Stewart (@ggstew25)

From the sea to how we see! Barbara Labbe and Isabelly de Lima may have very different research fields, but what they do have in common is that they are both in the 2025 cohort of Inspiring Women in STEMM Fellows!  Tune in to today’s episode for Part 1 about this year’s fellows. You’ll hear about Barbara’s work with seaweed and her outreach in Chile, as well as about Isabelly’s work in paediatric cataract and her outreach in Brazil.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahCMoore) Production: Dr Simin Salarpour Media & Promotion: Katya Bandow (@katyabandow)

We’re proud to share That’s What I Call Science’s 300th episode! This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come since our café planning sessions in 2018 and first live broadcast in 2019. TWICS is a volunteer-led radio and podcast show created to provide a platform for people from under-represented backgrounds to share their work in STEMM. What began as a small team in Hobart is now broadcast Australia-wide and downloaded in over 60 countries. Our team of 16 volunteers bring together skills in science communication, media production, and community engagement, and it truly takes a village to make each episode possible. We are grateful to our team, our community, and our listeners for helping us highlight the diversity of people in STEMM. Here’s to the next 300 episodes. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Production: Dr Olly Dove, Richard Siu (Insta: richard.siu.photography) Media & Promotion: Ella Burgun

It’s that time of year again! Beaker Street Festival 2025 came to Hobart in August and, with other 100 events going on, the TWICS team wanted to pop in to say hi to the scientists sharing their work. Last year, we recorded at the Roving Scientist Bar and, this year, we’re back again! From fear of sharks to rocks to brains, we’ve got a little bit of a lot of STEMM in today’s episode for you! Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@volcanohannah) Media & Promotion: Zi Yi Kho. 

Ever had a burning question you’d hoped to ask a scientist? Dr Olly Dove and Katya Bandow answer your burning science questions in a candid conversation covering everything from sci-fi favourites to very old plants, and the not-so-glamorous reality of being early-career scientists living on a below-minimum wage. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Katya Bandow Production: Ryan Smith  Media & Promotion: Katya Bandow (@katyabandow)

Join us as we dive into the icy waters of the Southern Ocean aboard the Denman Voyage to Antarctica. In this episode, we chat with marine biologist Dr Haiting Zhang (IMAS & AAPP), who studies the physiology, biochemistry, and ecology of Antarctic krill. Haiting shares her experience leading a research team on board, investigating how krill respond to climate change using biochemical indicators and field sampling methods. We explore why these tiny creatures are so vital to Southern Ocean ecosystems, what the voyage could reveal about their future, and what life is really like on an Antarctic research expedition. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Elise Tuuri (@elisetuuri_) Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahCMoore) & Richard Siu (@richard.siu.photography) Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri (@elisetuuri_)

In the final episode of our plastics series, we head to the world’s most remote continent, Antarctica. PhD candidate Vaibhavi Dwivedi (University of Tasmania) joins us to explore how plastic pollution, including micro- and nanoplastics, is reaching the Southern Ocean. With a background in law and environmental management, Vaibhavi examines how plastics are governed across international treaties, national policies, and global agreements. We discuss the challenges of managing this pollutant in a global commons, the politics and dynamics shaping action, and what the Antarctic case can teach us about tackling plastic pollution. This episode weaves together science and governance to close our series looking at solutions and responsibility. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Elise Tuuri (Insta: @elisetuuri_) Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahClareMoore) Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri

This episode continues our microplastics mini-series with a focus on engineering solutions.  Dr Anna Wróbel an environmental engineer from the School of Engineering at the University of Tasmania joins us to talk all things microplastics and the key role that engineers can play in reducing future microplastics and removing existing microplastics from the environment.  We’ll explore a range of questions including if stopping using plastics tomorrow would solve the problem, and how engineers contribute to solving the challenges of microplastics. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Elise Tuuri (insta: @elisetuuri_) Co-Host: Dr. Sarah Lyden Production: Ryan Smith Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri

In this episode we continue our microplastics mini-series, this time considering the intersection between agricultural systems and engineering.  Our two guests, Sadique Bawa Anyame and Carmel Towns are PhD students studying different aspects of agricultural systems and microplastics.  Both come from industry backgrounds, and share their extensive experience in their fields as well as the innovative work they are doing in their PhDs in this episode.  Anyame is investigating microplastics in biosolids while Carmel is investigating how microplastics end up in farm systems with a focus on poultry, both are also considering how to engineer a solution.  Tune in to learn more about how microplastics end up in the food chain and the innovative work these PhD students are doing to combat this.   Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Elise Tuuri (Insta: @elisetuuri_) Co-Host: Sarah Lyden Production: Richard Siu (Insta: @richard.siu.photography) Media & Promotion:  Elise Tuuri

Microplastics are everywhere, in the ocean, our food, and even the air we breathe. But what exactly are they, where do they come from, and why should we care? In this episode, we chat with Elise Tuuri, a marine scientist who has just submitted her PhD on microplastic pollution. Elise shares her journey into marine science, what sparked her interest in studying tiny plastics, and what she discovered about microplastics in Australian waters. We also discuss how these plastics affect marine life, what it’s like working in this field, and her hopes for the future of microplastics research. Tune in to learn more about these tiny plastics with big impacts, and what we can all do to make a difference. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Dr. Sarah Lyden Production: Ryan Smith Media & Promotion: Elise Tuuri (@elisetuuri_)

In this episode, we’re exploring the fascinating world of oscillating chemical reactions — those rare reactions that don’t just proceed in one direction, but actually cycle, changing colours as they go. Our guest is mathematical chemistry PhD candidate Heath Dimsey, who helps us unpack how these mesmerizing reactions work, why they defy what we think we know about chemical processes, and how they even help explain the patterns on animal coats — like the stripes of a zebra or the spots of a leopard.  Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Georgia Stewart Production: Dr Hannah Moore (@HannahCMoore) Media & Promotion: Georgia Stewart 

Returning guest Priya Kitchener joins us to unpack Australia’s PISA study results and what they say about how well our students are performing in mathematics. With experience in both public and private school systems and now working as an engineer at a scientific software company, Priya shares her insights on how teachers, schools, and communities can use data to make meaningful change. From maths anxiety to student confidence, Priya dives into the complexity of maths education and the cultural shift that needs to happen for Tasmania to thrive. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week! Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Zi Yi Kho. (‪@ziyikho.bsky.social‬) Production: Richard Siu (Insta: richard.siu.photography) Media & Promotion: Zi Yi Kho. 

Nearly 50% of Tasmanians struggle with literacy. Kaitlyn shares her lived experience with literacy and the changes she decided to make for herself by joining 26Ten as an adult learner. She shares her past struggles, and we celebrate her newfound love of reading and writing. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Anna Abela  Production: Ryan Smith Media & Promotion: Georgia Stewart (@ggstew25)

Ever wondered why librarians tell you to only use sources from the last 5 years? Or what makes research "powerful"? Join us as we chat with a 25-year veteran librarian from the University of Tasmania who's been helping students crack the code of academic research for decades. Our guest describes themselves as a "jack of all trades and a master of none," but don't be fooled - they're experts at turning confused students into research detectives! We dive into the fascinating world of information literacy, exploring everything from why research might have an expiration date to the mysterious differences between grey and black literature. But here's where it gets really interesting - as AI tools like ChatGPT become everyday helpers for students, how do we use them ethically? Our librarian guest is at the forefront of figuring this out, and they share their honest thoughts about whether AI is friend or foe in academic research. We also explore the dark side of research - fraudulent studies that can damage entire fields - and discover why librarians might be more important than ever in our AI-powered future. Show theme music: Kevin MacLeod Thank you to the whole TWICS team for the incredible behind-the-scenes volunteering every week!  Host: Dr Olly Dove (Insta: ols_dove) Co-Host: Emma Hamasaki (@EmmaHamasaki) Production:  Ryan Smith Media & Promotion: Emma Hamasaki (@EmmaHamasaki)