Think of scientists in popular culture and what might come to mind is an evil genius who stirs chemical cocktails or grants villains superpowers. Or a crazy doctor who cooks up viruses to destroy the world. Or maybe a socially awkward nerd hiding behind impersonal objectivity and a pair of broken glasses.
Of course, real, live scientists rarely fit the fiction. They find beauty in nature, share passion and excitement about research, and obsess over finding solutions to problems in the world.
How to Science is a new podcast from the University of Michigan's College of LSA that insists on exploring beyond the beaker and past stereotypes to see how science is human, beautiful, and accessible. It’s a peek behind the curtain at how scientists are made, so any listener can see that they can science, too.
Each episode features a conversation between two scientists, revealing the people under the lab coats—not just the mad scientist movie villains we might be used to.
Be curious! Have a listen.
How to Science host Monica Dus is a professor in LSA’s Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) who studies how the brain responds to the presence and absence of sugar. She wants to figure out how neurons sense and respond to the nutrients eaten as food. Her research relates to feeding behavior, energy balance, physiology, and obesity. She loves her three dogs, whose names are Cupcake, Sprinkles, and Brioche.
