Automate Plus

A common thread between the arts and the sciences is storytelling. In both scenarios you’re building worlds, and creating an understanding of the mechanisms that make the system work (or not work), and the relationships within that bubble.
Eleonora Moratto is the Biology Ballerina. She is a freelance professional ballet dancer, and is currently completing her PhD in plant pathogen interactions. Join us as we speak about Eleonora’s work exploring electrical fields and plant immune systems, and her journey as a sciartist.
About Eleonora Moratto 
Eleonora Moratto is The Biology Ballerina. She is completing her PhD in plant pathogen interactions at Imperial College, London. She is a freelance professional ballet dancer currently working with the Ballet Dream Arts company and is involved in SciArt projects, women in STEAM activities, long hair modelling, and historical reenactment.
Show Notes (link)
[00:01:08] Eleonora's path to biology.
[00:03:30] Researching plant pathogen interactions, specifically Phytophthora palmivora.
[00:05:22] Looking for novel solutions that prevent the spread.
[00:07:33] Exploring electric fields around plants and pathogens.
[00:11:47] Looking to her future in academia and biological interactions.
[00:13:52] The wider applications of research in interactions and electrical fields.
[00:15:17] The Biology Ballerina.
[00:17:02] A SciArtist's dream.
[00:19:00] The balance of the arts and sciences for Eleonora.
[00:22:41] Freelancing as a ballerina.
[00:25:15] SciArts in the wild.
[00:28:37] Encourage the polymaths and multihyphenates.
[00:30:25] Passion is interesting.
[00:31:45] What advice would you give someone who'd like to do what you do, and what advice should they ignore?
[00:34:05] Find out more about Eleonora and her work.
Connect with STEAM Powered
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon
Hosted and produced by Michele Ong.
Music is "Gypsy Jazz in Paris 1935" by Brett Van Donsel.


This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: 

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Plant immune systems and SciArt with Eleonora Moratto

Conversations with women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) about their journeys, work, passions, and what they learned along the way.

We’re a diverse group of people with unique personal and professional journeys, and I want you to meet some of us. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

STEAM Powered

Geographic information systems. There, I've lost a few of you already, but you're missing out because GIS is more than about where things are, but why they're there, and quite a few of those reasons are around why people do people things. Helen McKenzie is a cartographer, data visualiser, and geospatial advocate who is passionate about finding meaning in complex data and making information beautiful.
We speak about Helen's love of maps and how we can use geospatial analysis to elegantly give us more meaning to the way we live in the world around us and keep our societies ticking away.
About Helen McKenzie 
Helen McKenzie is a Geospatial Advocate which means her job is to get people excited about all things geospatial! She has been working in the geospatial industry for around 10 years and has recently made the move from consultancy to technical marketing, whether that's through running live workshops or writing blogs about using GIS to choose the best venue for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Show Notes (link)
[00:01:32] How Helen found her way to geography and GIS.
[00:05:04] Helen's dissertation combining Jane Austen and GIS.
[00:08:57] What does work in geospatial sciences look like?
[00:12:04] The depth of detail in understanding our communities.
[00:15:19] Michele talks about warm data again because warm data is cool.
[00:17:06] GIS is about engagement with the data and making those connections.
[00:21:00] Becoming a geospatial advocate.
[00:27:20] Understanding from geospatial data and its value to businesses.
[00:29:25] The cost and factors involved in opening a new store branch.
[00:32:29] Michele has too many bubble tea shops nearby. Her local area could have benefitted from some geospatial data.
[00:34:14] What does a geospatial advocate do?
[00:39:55] Finding your audience.
[00:41:46] What Helen doesn't like about her work.
[00:42:48] The challenges of public speaking.
Connect with STEAM Powered
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon
Hosted and produced by Michele Ong.
Music is "Gypsy Jazz in Paris 1935" by Brett Van Donsel.


This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: 

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Geospatial analysis and making information beautiful with Helen McKenzie

Automate

Michele Ong, is the host of Steam Powered and she joins Pilar all the way from Australia.  
She started podcasting because she wanted to get a better idea of what women were doing in the STEAM fields. She knew many women doing incredible things in their work and their lives, and wanted to share their stories with others. 
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics/ medicine, but Michele talks about STEAM, as it includes “art”, which is key when interacting with technology and engineering.  
Michele asks people to guest on her show after reading their research or coming across the work. Sometimes the women don’t accept, but this doesn’t surprise her. What did surprise her were those people who replied saying they didn’t think they would make good guests because their work was boring. This kind of mindset was a surprise to Michele - and to Pilar as she heard Michele's story. 
With this example we can see the importance of podcasting in giving attention and reassurance to people who think their work is not interesting to anyone. Some people simply don’t want the attention and just want to get on with their work, but others underplay their contribution to the field. Sometimes we need someone else’s perspective to understand the impact and scale of our work.  
Apart from getting their ideas out there, there is a benefit to guests by simply creating the space for them to reflect on their work for about an hour, to talk without an agenda, with no KPIs in mind: they’re simply talking about what they love doing. 
19.00 mins
Michele has a release form for her guests making the copyright clear, after hearing from other podcasters that they’d had problems with some guests. As Michele wants to be able at some point to repurpose her content, she thinks it’s better to be prepared. You can find the Guest Intake Form, with the Release copy at the end here.
Michele is in charge of the whole production process from beginning to end, and it’s pretty much self-taught. She’s summarised everything she’s learned and shared it with the world in The Rail Yard section of her website. She has documented everything she’s learned along the way and shared her resources. Do check it out, as well as a space full of resources that might be useful, it’s a great example of how to showcase your podcast. www.micheleong.com/rail-yard/
Michele looks for ways to cover the costs of the show by setting up affiliate links, for example, she’s also set up Patreon and Ko-fi, although she hasn’t been active about promoting these links. It’s a fine balance to try to figure out how to support the project without feeling like you’re constantly asking for money for it. (Pilar also forgets, so don’t forget that you can support this show if you sign up to Buzzsprout through this link.)
Michele uses the Davinci Resolve to edit video, and she tried to fix the audio there too, but eventually she purchased Isotope RX. (Pilar uses Audacity and Auphonic.)
In the end, you need to understand the environment you’re working in and find something that works for you. It’s an iterative process. 
Michele has some advice for new podcasters: just do it. 

Three of her favourite podcasts:
You Ha
If you're thinking of starting your own podcasting adventure, I recommend Buzzsprout as host - click here for my affiliate link, which also gets you a little discount, and Riverside FM for recording, which you can access through this other affiliate link.

Episode 31 Adventures in raising the profile of women in science with Michele Ong

Podcasting is an adventure, peppered with challenges along the way, but full of unexpected rewards. Pilar has been podcasting since 2014 and is now ready to help others along the way. Join Pilar's little podcasting corner, from where she can share what's she's learned (and is still learning) about podcasting and through that, about herself. adventuresinpodcasting.com

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