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ScIUConversations in Science at Indiana University

I am a PhD student in the Cognitive Science program and the Anthropology department at IU. My research interests include the evolution of language and cognition, lithic analysis, experimental archaeology, fire use in the hominin lineage, and primate studies. Every semester ScIU Blog offers a Social Media Internship Course for undergraduates. If you or someone you know is interested in gaining experience in science communication through social media outreach we encourage all to apply! To find out how or if you have any questions about the course please email me: chlodani@iu.edu

Entries by Chloe Holden

What you might not know about keeping animals: Misconceptions about zoos

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[A mother orangutan sits in the foreground eating a piece of fruit, while her young offspring swings on a branch behind her.]

Zoos, aquariums, and animal sanctuaries are really important because they support animal conservation, species survival, insightful animal research, and educational programs.  However, there’s a lot of misinformation and misconceptions about zoos and animal sanctuaries that animal activists, such as PETA, use in order to deter people from enjoying, learning from, and supporting facilities that house wild animals…

PhD Mom: A day in the life

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[A four month old infant stares at a laptop playing a video of dancing cartoon fruit while schoolwork is visible on an iMac on the other half of the desk.]

Today, we’re going to talk about the typical day of a PhD parent – mom addition – except I don’t have a “typical” day. Instead, I have a three-and-a-half month old, Percy, who is teething and going through the four month sleep regression early, so no sleep for baby and no sleep for me. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to run downstairs in the morning – normally, a little bit before 7 a.m. – to start making my breakfast. Before it’s even ready, my son will wake up from his last nighttime sleep session. Before eating my oatmeal and drinking my tea, I’ll go back upstairs and change him out of his pjs and dirty diaper. When infants don’t feel well (like when teeth are forcing their way through their gums), they tend to get clingy, so he’ll sit on my lap while I eat breakfast…

Where did all the jobs go?

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[Pictured is an empty classroom with all the chairs facing a blank white board.]

I was recently re-watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory, where the unfortunate passing of a colleague opened up a tenured position in the department that Sheldon, Raj, and Leonard were all vying for. While most people would find their various tactics to shmooze the tenure committee funny, the part that I found most hilarious was a tenure line being maintained instead of turned into cheaper, temporary adjunct positions. In reality, tenure is a dying position in academia, and it’s severely impacting the job market…

Welcome to the Weaver Lab: An interview with Dr. Lesley Weaver

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[Dr. Lesley Weaver poses for a head shot wearing a bright, cobalt blue top, smiling facing the camera, and wearing her black, curly hair down and parted on the side.]

Dr. Lesley Weaver, an alum of IU’s Department of Biology, has returned to campus as an Assistant Professor after her finishing her postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. This past September, I had the opportunity to interview her about her experience as an early career researcher, setting up her lab, navigating IU in her new role as an Assistant Professor, and how the COVID-19 pandemic shift to online has simultaneously highlighted issues with and solutions to accessibility and diversity in academia.

Science with Nemo: Ethics of Care in Animal Research

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[animated GIF of seven tropical fish of various kinds, who are all in plastic bags, floating in the ocean. The image captions one fish, speaking, who asks the group, “Now what?”]

We are all familiar with the plot of Finding Nemo: a scuba-diving dentist takes a small clownfish, Nemo, from a reef, keeps him in a fish tank in his office, and Marlin (Nemo’s father) goes on a whirlwind adventure to rescue his son. Obviously, Disney’s creative fiction is just that — fiction. However, many millions of fish are kept in tanks in the real world, for both recreation and research. Although we cannot know the fate of home-kept fish, for fish used in scientific research, there are specific rules for ethical treatment and proper care for fish of all kinds. How and why do scientists use fish in research anyways? 

What social media has taught me about science

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[This image is of a first person view of a desk with an opened lined notebook on the left, a laptop open in the center, a person's left hand is holding a cup of coffee, and the right hand is holding a phone opened with the Facebook login screen.]

Science communication on social media largely happens through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (you can find the ScIU blog on all three platforms), but in reality, it extends beyond these three primary sites into platforms such as TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and more. On any one of these platforms, people from around the world are able to form digital communities where they can talk, educate, learn, advocate, and make new friends. I have been the Social Media Chair for ScIU for over a year now, and in that time, I have learned quite a lot about science communication from social media.

Ethics in Research: What is the IACUC?

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[Picture is Kanzi, a male bonobo, participating in a touchscreen research task investigating syntax processing in great apes]

The Animal Welfare Act of 1966 was brought about by two major media publications. In Sports Illustrated, Pepper, the Dalmatian, had disappeared from her family’s front yard, only to have been found at an east coast hospital and after having been euthanized, following an experimental medical research study involving an early model of a pacemaker. Pepper had been snatched from her owner’s front yard, and then sold for use in medical research, all without their knowledge…

What’s it like to work with primates? Interviews from the Ape Initiative

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[Bonobos in an outdoor enclosure, with several platforms, ropes, and other objects to simulate a more natural environment. ]

In this post, ScIU blogger Chloe Holden interviews staff members at the Ape Initiative in Iowa. She covers topics like: What is it like working with nonhuman primates on a regular basis? What surprised you the most when you were getting to know the bonobos? What’s your favorite part about working with the bonobos? and others…

You’re not too important to pick up poop: The quirks and perks of working with primates

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Pictured are the seven bonobo residents of the Ape Initiative. Starting in the top left to right is Kanzi, Maisha, Elikya and Nyota. The bottom row from left to right is Mali, Clara, and Teco.

[Pictured are the seven bonobo residents of the Ape Initiative. Starting in the top left to right is Kanzi, Maisha, Elikya and Nyota. The bottom row from left to right is Mali, Clara, and Teco.]

For the past three and a half years, I have been volunteering at the Ape Initiative as part of my research interests in primatology and cognition research. The Ape Initiative is a non-profit research and conservation facility that is home to 7 bonobos (Pan paniscus) and counting! Bonobos are one of the closest living relatives to humans, sharing about 98-99% of their DNA…

College of Arts + Sciences

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