In this week's episode, host Mark Ambrogio interviews GradCast alumna Amalie Hutchinson, a PhD candidate in Biology. Amalie was a GradCast host and producer, ultimately serving two terms as Chair and Managing Editor. She returns to GradCast as she prepares to enter the fourth year of her program (after a maternal leave – congratulations, by the way!). In her research, Amalie studies how hummingbirds use torpor, a state of inactivity characterized by a lowered body temperature and decreased metabolic rate, to preserve energy at night. While this phenomenon is not entirely unique to hummingbirds, the extreme temperature they lower their body to is. Amalie is currently looking at the energy demands of migration, using the wind tunnel at Western's Advanced Facility for Avian Research to study how hummingbirds consume energy over long-distance flights. In their conversation, Amalie and Mark also discuss their shared history with GradCast as well as ways of staying grounded as graduate students. Anyone interested in Amalie's research may contact her at: asaab4@uwo.ca

Recorded on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

This week on GradCast, hosts Anthony Cruz and Milan Mammen are joined by Jordan Sellers, a PhD student in Library & Information Science (LIS). Jordan researches sustainable digitization practices in community archives, challenging the traditional narrative that full digitization is the only way to accessibly and sustainably archive materials. Her long-term goal is to create an online toolkit to help community archivists figure out the best way to steward their knowledge. Tune in for a fun conversation about the way we store information!

Recorded on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Anika Bushra interview Stephanie Brocca, a master’s graduate in Health and Rehabilitation Science. Stephanie researches how current methods of communicating health information can be a barrier to health literacy, patient activation, and health competencies in individuals with specific learning disorders, a field not well studied. Outside of research, Stephanie is passionate about mental health awareness and has written a book of poetry on trauma, stigma, and mental health called The Pains of Living, taking inspiration from true stories across the GTA. Tune in to learn more about the health literacy, patient activation, and the importance of accessible communication in the health field!

Anyone interested can reach out to Stephanie via Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-brocca

Recorded on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)