This is the third episode of the Thinking with the Earth miniseries. In this episode, hosts Chrishma Perera and Ryan Baxter interview Javier Ponce de Leon Eyl, a PhD student in Hispanic Studies. Javier also serves as the Sustainability coordinator for the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) sustainability committee and shared a lot of insights into how the Western student community can engage in sustainability activities on campus.

This is the second episode of the Thinking with the Earth miniseries. In this episode, hosts Chrishma Perera and Spencer Schmitz speak with Dharma Raj Dhakal, a second-year PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Dharma shares insights from his research on how landfills can contaminate groundwater, the water we rely on but rarely see. Beyond his research, Dharma also reflects on his journey as an international student in Canada and invites listeners to take part in Earth Day activities on April 22.

Recorded on Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 Produced by Kuljeet Chohan Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Bruno Mesquita and Zoe Kallenekos are joined by Samantha Hopkins, a PhD candidate from the department of biology who is investigating the exciting and complex world of carbon fluxes in dryland ecosystems. Outside of her studies, she is also a student athlete for the Team Canada Football team and is one of the top 24 scouted players in Canada. Listen to learn more about carbon flux towers, peak productivity days, and what it's like in the competitive world of national level football.

Samantha Hopkins Instagram: sam.hopkins_

Recorded on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 Produced by Anika Bushra and Bruno Mesquita Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week’s episode, hosts Maris Schneider and Kelly Wang are talking with Yuhan Zhao, a MA student in the department of Education. Yuhan looks at how adults who learned English as their second language use derivatives when they are writing. For those who need an English refresher, a derivative is a word formed from another word (like actor, which is derived from the word act). Yuhan hopes that her research will help in classrooms where ESL speakers are struggling to learn the complex aspects of English grammar.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuhan-zhao-5225aa367/

Recorded on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 Produced by Milan Mammen Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Rafaela Platkin are joined by Alex Muth, an MSc student in the Psychology department at Western University. Alex shares an in-depth look at his research on the communication systems of two chickadee species, like did you know birds have accents just like humans?!

He also reflects on his experience at the intersection of psychology and biology, explaining how his curiosity about human behaviour leads him to study animals as a way of exploring those questions from a different perspective.

Click on the link to learn about the Centre for Animals on the Move (the research centre that Alex is a part of) and to watch their recent movie titled Making Peace with Canada Geese.

Recorded on Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 Produced by Ella Siciliano Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

This is the first episode of the Thinking with the Earth miniseries. In this episode, hosts Chrishma Perera and Garth Casbourn interview Madison Robinson, an MSc student in Biological Sciences, about her research on butterflies and her involvement in collaborative specialization of environment and sustainability at Western University.

From studying the ecology of butterfly populations to contributing to the interdisciplinary program and helping organize the Climate Hope Conference 2026, she shared insights into her research and experiences working at the intersection of ecology and environmental engagement.

Recorded on Tuesday, February 24th, 2026 Produced by Milan Mammen Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

This week, Purvaja Karthikeyan, a PhD candidate from Electrical and Computer Engineering is joined by hosts Mark Ambrogio and Victor Lau. Purvaja is supervised by Dr. Jayshri Sabarinathan, and is focusing on improving optical chip function for eventual deployment into space.. within ultra-small satellites known as CubeSats!

Listen to hear more about Purvaja’s work, and how it contributes to a bigger ecosystem (referencing the ‘nature’ of things and the Western Skylark project).

Here are some links accompanying’s Purvaja’s project, alongside hobbies outside of her research work!

https://space.uwo.ca/research/Missions%20and%20Instruments/Skylark.html

https://www.instagram.com/root_cycle?igsh=cTMxY2J3aHF1eHE0

Recorded on Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 Produced by Milan Mammen Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week’s episode, hosts Kuljeet Chohan and Rafaela Platkin interview Jake Daigle, a MSc student in bioinformatics, about his research on modelling mutation accumulation (buildup of genetic mistakes) in viruses.

From a bachelor's degree in math to starting a masters in bioinformatics, he discusses insights on his day-to-day life researching mathematical models that can hopefully be applied to the real world. Listen to find out the importance of asking "who cares" when formulating research questions and if you can ever know when you get something "right"?

Recorded on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 Produced by Scott Walters and Milan Mammen Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)