Spotlight on People

Wakanda Forever: The chemistry of Vibranium

Posted January 14, 2023 by Jakyra Simpson

[T'Challa from the Black Panther Movie.]

Proceed with caution as there are some movie spoilers here for those who haven’t already seen the Wakanda Forever: Black Panther movie. If you have seen the movie or even read the Marvel comics, then you should be familiar with the powerful element, Vibranium. Vibranium is an element that possesses astonishing chemical and physical properties…

Using art to teach chemistry

Posted November 17, 2022 by Jakyra Simpson

[Portrait of a Mona Lisa]

When it comes to Art and Chemistry, we typically see these two subjects as lying on opposite ends of a spectrum. Chemistry is typically associated with someone in a lab coat, mixing up some chemicals in the hopes of not blowing anything up. In contrast, art is often viewed as a form of expression crafted in some type of studio, using creative juices to design a masterpiece. But there is, in fact, a notable overlap between these two subjects…

Graduating ScIU Writers 2022

Posted September 17, 2022 by ScIU Editorial Team

Our blog would be nothing without our writers. Unfortunately they can’t stay here forever; they must go on to their next great adventures in life. So, we wanted to take a moment to recognize a few of our authors who have recently left or are preparing to leave soon. We wish you all the very best in your careers!…

How climate change impacts fresh water: a SWAT modelist’s perspective

Posted March 26, 2022 by ScIU Editorial Team

[Ph.D. student sits at his desk with a virtual model of the Great Lakes Basin on his computer screen.]

When people ask me what I research as a Ph.D. student in the Indiana University Department of Geography, I respond “I model.” This is typically followed by a head-to-toe, confused glance at my worn running shoes, wrinkly shorts, and faded yellow-and-brown collared shirt. “No,” I say, “I’m not a fashion model. I make computer models. I am working on some really cool research involving the effects of climate change on rivers of the Great Lakes Basin, just north of us.” Now, you may be thinking, “climate change, that’s scary, huh?” Why, yes it is! That’s why it is so important that we learn as much as we can about climate change so that we can prepare our ecosystems and communities for its impacts…

PhD Mom: A day in the life

Posted February 26, 2022 by Chloe Holden

[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…

PhDad: A day in the life of a PhD parent

Posted February 12, 2022 by Taylor Woodward

[A father, reading a book with his daughter on the couch, is saying ‘...and so, that’s how they found out what the prefrontal cortex does…’]

Graduate school is challenging. Between navigating new coursework, new teaching responsibilities, and conducting independent research projects, it can be an overwhelming endeavor for anyone. But doing all that with a family? Is that even possible? After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, I worked for a couple of years as a technician in a research lab. My wife and I wanted to start a family sooner rather than later, so when I started grad school, I had a 1-year-old daughter and a son on the way. I never get tired of the look of surprise that people give me when they find out about my family situation…

Scientists can be creative too!

Posted January 29, 2022 by Taylor Woodward

[An illustration of a ‘left’ and ‘right’ brain, where one side is filled with math equations, and the other is filled with colorful blots. The author scribbled an ‘X’ over this.

Scientists of all disciplines have pop culture ‘pet peeves.’ I’m sure physicists cringe at the rampant misinterpretation/misuse of quantum physics in movies (I’m looking at you, Ant-Man). I can almost hear the distant facepalm of a chemist each time a commercial plays that advertises ‘chemical-free’ soaps (like, all matter is technically a chemical by definition). As a neuroscientist, one of my pet peeves is the idea that people are either ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained,’ similar to how people favor their right or left hand…

Do scientists get bad grades?

Posted August 28, 2021 by Taylor Woodward

[A cartoon drawing of a stick figure in the fetal position ruminating about a failed chemistry exam.]

I wasn’t accepted into grad school when I first applied during my final year of college. The emails beginning with “We’re sorry to inform you” trickled one by one into my inbox, and I spent time frantically trying to figure out my post-graduation plans, since they were previously just ‘grad school.’ Fortunately, most of these emails had good suggestions about actions to take over the next couple of years, but one piece of feedback stung a little more than the rest. One program noted that while I had spent time doing research, my science grades were ‘quite poor.’ Honestly, they weren’t wrong…

Finding the Right Question

Posted April 3, 2021 by Jennifer Sieben

[Portrait of Dr. Songhu Wang.]

Imagining life on other planets is usually the work of science-fiction authors, but increasingly it is becoming the work of current astronomers. Although it had been theorized that there existed other planets outside of our solar system, exoplanets were only confirmed in the late 1980s. The field exploded when the Kepler space telescope started finding hundreds of exoplanets. A rich field of study was born…