Madison Science Mystery Tour Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/madisonsciencemysterytour On Madison Science Mystery Tour, host Nalina Cherr invites researchers into her spaceship and asks them about what they’d most like to talk about. From the history of animal testing to the riveting details of life as a lab technician, this show offers an insider perspective on campus research, the context needed to understand it, and a dash of good-natured humor and nerdy curiosity. © 2026 WSUM 9e0dab87-1df8-5825-95bc-980ac16d05f3 yes en Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:00:21 -0700 Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:01:45 -0700 https://img.transistorcdn.com/ZVuy1jjP9-WhwbkeGT1SHTaUlPK4UgN9Rv6inJYNzcY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82ZWZi/MDI4YjRiNzg0NDYz/NDhkYjMzNzEyYTAz/NTg1OC5wbmc.jpg Madison Science Mystery Tour episodic WSUM On Madison Science Mystery Tour, host Nalina Cherr invites researchers into her spaceship and asks them about what they’d most like to talk about. From the history of animal testing to the riveting details of life as a lab technician, this show offers an insider perspective on campus research, the context needed to understand it, and a dash of good-natured humor and nerdy curiosity. On Madison Science Mystery Tour, host Nalina Cherr invites researchers into her spaceship and asks them about what they’d most like to talk about. science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr WSUM No No Dinosaurs and Forensic Storytelling with David M. Lovelace 14 14 Dinosaurs and Forensic Storytelling with David M. Lovelace full cd9ca525-d4c4-4cce-b75e-6397985b90a0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f805d888 Geologic detective and vertebrate paleontologist David M. Lovelace takes us on tour… to the early Triassic. In 2013 his team, “CSI Triassic,” found a tiny little hip bone… a pelvis that looked very much like a dinosaur. The twist? The rock it was found in was estimated to be about fifteen million years older than any dinosaur found in North America. 


Sources used for this episode can be found here.

]]> Geologic detective and vertebrate paleontologist David M. Lovelace takes us on tour… to the early Triassic. In 2013 his team, “CSI Triassic,” found a tiny little hip bone… a pelvis that looked very much like a dinosaur. The twist? The rock it was found in was estimated to be about fifteen million years older than any dinosaur found in North America. 


Sources used for this episode can be found here.

]]> Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0700 WSUM WSUM 2660 Geologic detective and vertebrate paleontologist David M. Lovelace takes us on tour… to the early Triassic. In 2013 his team, “CSI Triassic,” found a tiny little hip bone… a pelvis that looked very much like a dinosaur. The twist? The rock it was found in was estimated to be about fifteen million years older than any dinosaur found in North America. 


Sources used for this episode can be found here.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Little “L” limnology with Ray Allen 13 13 Little “L” limnology with Ray Allen full 4125f866-ea97-48d2-99e2-21f379a88ef1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/754642fc Ray Allen is a postdoctoral fellow at Trout Lake Station. He’s academically trained in Developmental Biology, and currently studies limnology. He recently released a paper, “A 100-Year Bloom of Indigenous Limnology and Reconnection to Land through Field Stations.” We talk about that paper, as well as Western Science and the differences between limnology, Limnology, and Developmental Biology. 


To read the papers we discuss, visit this list of sources.

]]> Ray Allen is a postdoctoral fellow at Trout Lake Station. He’s academically trained in Developmental Biology, and currently studies limnology. He recently released a paper, “A 100-Year Bloom of Indigenous Limnology and Reconnection to Land through Field Stations.” We talk about that paper, as well as Western Science and the differences between limnology, Limnology, and Developmental Biology. 


To read the papers we discuss, visit this list of sources.

]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2026 14:49:54 -0700 WSUM WSUM 3025 Ray Allen is a postdoctoral fellow at Trout Lake Station. He’s academically trained in Developmental Biology, and currently studies limnology. He recently released a paper, “A 100-Year Bloom of Indigenous Limnology and Reconnection to Land through Field Stations.” We talk about that paper, as well as Western Science and the differences between limnology, Limnology, and Developmental Biology. 


To read the papers we discuss, visit this list of sources.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Trout Lake Station with Gretchen Gerrish and Carol Warden 12 12 Trout Lake Station with Gretchen Gerrish and Carol Warden full fd4842d2-1ae9-4f55-8e3f-75db99127011 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f7c9fc87 Trout Lake Station is a lake ecology research station in the Northwoods of Wisconsin operated by the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Center for Limnology. Limnology is the study of lakes and inland waters. I’m working up here this summer as a science communications intern and am surrounded by scientists, so what better place to do an episode than under my bed?! 


Gretchen Gerrish is the director of Trout Lake Station. She also researches Zooplankton, tiny ocean floaters, among many other projects. 


Carol Warden is a scientist who works on the Long Term Ecological Research project (LTER). This program has been monitoring various ecosystems around the world for more than forty years, including lakes in Wisconsin. 


For more information on the LTER project, visit their website here.


For more on Trout Lake Station, visit their homepage.

]]> Trout Lake Station is a lake ecology research station in the Northwoods of Wisconsin operated by the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Center for Limnology. Limnology is the study of lakes and inland waters. I’m working up here this summer as a science communications intern and am surrounded by scientists, so what better place to do an episode than under my bed?! 


Gretchen Gerrish is the director of Trout Lake Station. She also researches Zooplankton, tiny ocean floaters, among many other projects. 


Carol Warden is a scientist who works on the Long Term Ecological Research project (LTER). This program has been monitoring various ecosystems around the world for more than forty years, including lakes in Wisconsin. 


For more information on the LTER project, visit their website here.


For more on Trout Lake Station, visit their homepage.

]]> Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:24:47 -0700 WSUM WSUM 2417 Trout Lake Station is a lake ecology research station in the Northwoods of Wisconsin operated by the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Center for Limnology. Limnology is the study of lakes and inland waters. I’m working up here this summer as a science communications intern and am surrounded by scientists, so what better place to do an episode than under my bed?! 


Gretchen Gerrish is the director of Trout Lake Station. She also researches Zooplankton, tiny ocean floaters, among many other projects. 


Carol Warden is a scientist who works on the Long Term Ecological Research project (LTER). This program has been monitoring various ecosystems around the world for more than forty years, including lakes in Wisconsin. 


For more information on the LTER project, visit their website here.


For more on Trout Lake Station, visit their homepage.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Cement and Decarbonization with Rob Anex 11 11 Cement and Decarbonization with Rob Anex full f40ca7e6-dea1-4332-8502-24169562e8e2 https://share.transistor.fm/s/642d399a Rob Anex is an environmental engineer and the co-founder of a startup that traps carbon into cement, a major source of global CO2 emissions. The resulting product not only captures carbon, but also is stronger than regular cement. Rob’s curiosity didn’t start or end with saving the planet; he’s built bombs, written pieces on recycling, and currently teaches a rotating carousel of classes at UW Madison.


To see Rob's startup website and other sources that were used to research the episode, click here.

]]> Rob Anex is an environmental engineer and the co-founder of a startup that traps carbon into cement, a major source of global CO2 emissions. The resulting product not only captures carbon, but also is stronger than regular cement. Rob’s curiosity didn’t start or end with saving the planet; he’s built bombs, written pieces on recycling, and currently teaches a rotating carousel of classes at UW Madison.


To see Rob's startup website and other sources that were used to research the episode, click here.

]]> Mon, 22 Jun 2026 10:12:02 -0700 WSUM WSUM 2534 Rob Anex is an environmental engineer and the co-founder of a startup that traps carbon into cement, a major source of global CO2 emissions. The resulting product not only captures carbon, but also is stronger than regular cement. Rob’s curiosity didn’t start or end with saving the planet; he’s built bombs, written pieces on recycling, and currently teaches a rotating carousel of classes at UW Madison.


To see Rob's startup website and other sources that were used to research the episode, click here.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Wastewater and Microbes with Trina McMahon 10 10 Wastewater and Microbes with Trina McMahon full a6ae3e1c-24bc-4f32-bd34-4bbf0fc99093 https://share.transistor.fm/s/e4b7807c Trina McMahon is a civic engineer and microbiologist. She studies microbial communities in lake water and wastewater treatment plants and tends to approach problems from an engineering perspective. 


There is some discussion in this episode about the “Super Bowl Halftime Flush,” the phenomenon of thousands of Americans flushing the toilet during halftime, with the potential to damage municipal water pipes with the sheer volume of sudden water consumption. Though the halftime does incur significant peaks of water usage, the damage is unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) an urban legend. Water treatment plants generally have bigger fish to fry than the Super Flush. Like morning showers and flooding. 


Click here to read more about Trina’s work.

]]> Trina McMahon is a civic engineer and microbiologist. She studies microbial communities in lake water and wastewater treatment plants and tends to approach problems from an engineering perspective. 


There is some discussion in this episode about the “Super Bowl Halftime Flush,” the phenomenon of thousands of Americans flushing the toilet during halftime, with the potential to damage municipal water pipes with the sheer volume of sudden water consumption. Though the halftime does incur significant peaks of water usage, the damage is unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) an urban legend. Water treatment plants generally have bigger fish to fry than the Super Flush. Like morning showers and flooding. 


Click here to read more about Trina’s work.

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 11:33:06 -0700 WSUM WSUM 2319 Trina McMahon is a civic engineer and microbiologist. She studies microbial communities in lake water and wastewater treatment plants and tends to approach problems from an engineering perspective. 


There is some discussion in this episode about the “Super Bowl Halftime Flush,” the phenomenon of thousands of Americans flushing the toilet during halftime, with the potential to damage municipal water pipes with the sheer volume of sudden water consumption. Though the halftime does incur significant peaks of water usage, the damage is unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) an urban legend. Water treatment plants generally have bigger fish to fry than the Super Flush. Like morning showers and flooding. 


Click here to read more about Trina’s work.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Bees with Celeste Mezera 9 9 Bees with Celeste Mezera full 9c4d1e98-1231-4743-b8fd-d0a6715f5013 https://share.transistor.fm/s/bd05a870 Research specialist Celeste Mezera wears many hats. Like a beekeeping hat. Or a cute crocheted strawberry. She’s also worked in outreach, and currently works at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, where she keeps a lab running day to day.


The paper and graphics discussed in this episode are linked here.

]]> Research specialist Celeste Mezera wears many hats. Like a beekeeping hat. Or a cute crocheted strawberry. She’s also worked in outreach, and currently works at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, where she keeps a lab running day to day.


The paper and graphics discussed in this episode are linked here.

]]> Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:53:23 -0700 WSUM WSUM 2252 Research specialist Celeste Mezera wears many hats. Like a beekeeping hat. Or a cute crocheted strawberry. She’s also worked in outreach, and currently works at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, where she keeps a lab running day to day.


The paper and graphics discussed in this episode are linked here.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Isobutanol and Biofuel with Sam Davison 8 8 Isobutanol and Biofuel with Sam Davison full f5a46272-c450-42bb-8392-5b8b8ab66aca https://share.transistor.fm/s/eee1e8f2 Third year PhD student Sam Davison studies isobutanol, a jet-grade fuel fermented by the same yeast that puts the bubbles in bread and the ethanol in wine. This episode is perfectly on topic as we discuss brewing, gorillas, ocean acidification, and Pokémon.


To read more about Sam Davison’s work, and the work of other researchers at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, visit the WEI website. His gorilla paper is linked here. 


P.S.: There’s some confusion in this episode about the term “bird focal.” Turns out it probably refers to the practice of choosing bird species representative of the overall ecosystem. Read more about it here.

]]> Third year PhD student Sam Davison studies isobutanol, a jet-grade fuel fermented by the same yeast that puts the bubbles in bread and the ethanol in wine. This episode is perfectly on topic as we discuss brewing, gorillas, ocean acidification, and Pokémon.


To read more about Sam Davison’s work, and the work of other researchers at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, visit the WEI website. His gorilla paper is linked here. 


P.S.: There’s some confusion in this episode about the term “bird focal.” Turns out it probably refers to the practice of choosing bird species representative of the overall ecosystem. Read more about it here.

]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2026 08:53:57 -0700 WSUM WSUM 1847 Third year PhD student Sam Davison studies isobutanol, a jet-grade fuel fermented by the same yeast that puts the bubbles in bread and the ethanol in wine. This episode is perfectly on topic as we discuss brewing, gorillas, ocean acidification, and Pokémon.


To read more about Sam Davison’s work, and the work of other researchers at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, visit the WEI website. His gorilla paper is linked here. 


P.S.: There’s some confusion in this episode about the term “bird focal.” Turns out it probably refers to the practice of choosing bird species representative of the overall ecosystem. Read more about it here.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Mind, Brain, and Education with Edward Hubbard 7 7 Mind, Brain, and Education with Edward Hubbard full e6d519a2-668d-4e3d-ac3a-c01990e764ad https://share.transistor.fm/s/92d96f40 Greetings from the past! This interview with professor and researcher Edward Hubbard was recorded last year, but busting neuromyths is always relevant. Edward works at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and educational policy. He came into the studio with plenty of stories about phonics and hamburgers and even taught me fraction division off the cuff.


More reading on the topics discussed and information on Professor Hubbard’s labs can be found here.

]]> Greetings from the past! This interview with professor and researcher Edward Hubbard was recorded last year, but busting neuromyths is always relevant. Edward works at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and educational policy. He came into the studio with plenty of stories about phonics and hamburgers and even taught me fraction division off the cuff.


More reading on the topics discussed and information on Professor Hubbard’s labs can be found here.

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 11:03:32 -0800 WSUM WSUM 2201 Greetings from the past! This interview with professor and researcher Edward Hubbard was recorded last year, but busting neuromyths is always relevant. Edward works at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and educational policy. He came into the studio with plenty of stories about phonics and hamburgers and even taught me fraction division off the cuff.


More reading on the topics discussed and information on Professor Hubbard’s labs can be found here.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Urban Ecological Futurism with Devin Guthrie 6 6 Urban Ecological Futurism with Devin Guthrie full 7d3741de-e1c1-4414-9d8d-6a09bc8b9091 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ab9cbf6b Welcome to 2026! We’re ringing in the new year with an episode featuring environmental science undergraduate Devin Guthrie. Devin’s full of ideas about collaborative world building and scientific solutions designed with and for the communities they’re implemented in. His passion for urban ecology and environmental science has led him to watch pollinators amongst the hydrangeas of Chicago, operate telescopes, start a science fiction club, and do much, much, MUCH more.

]]> Welcome to 2026! We’re ringing in the new year with an episode featuring environmental science undergraduate Devin Guthrie. Devin’s full of ideas about collaborative world building and scientific solutions designed with and for the communities they’re implemented in. His passion for urban ecology and environmental science has led him to watch pollinators amongst the hydrangeas of Chicago, operate telescopes, start a science fiction club, and do much, much, MUCH more.

]]> Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:28:06 -0800 WSUM WSUM 2433 Welcome to 2026! We’re ringing in the new year with an episode featuring environmental science undergraduate Devin Guthrie. Devin’s full of ideas about collaborative world building and scientific solutions designed with and for the communities they’re implemented in. His passion for urban ecology and environmental science has led him to watch pollinators amongst the hydrangeas of Chicago, operate telescopes, start a science fiction club, and do much, much, MUCH more.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr Opioids with Nick Burgraff 5 5 Opioids with Nick Burgraff full 1d1515b9-6967-4700-89e1-550b08ddfefa https://share.transistor.fm/s/40eeafdd Researcher, assistant professor, and host of the Neuro Network podcast Nick Burgraff studies opioid overdoses and how to prevent them. He’s here to answer all our host’s questions about naloxone (brand name: Narcan), the autonomic nervous system, and goat treats. He might even walk away with the prize for best science name mentioned before the year is over (hint: it’s a region of the brain a bunch of scientists named over a bottle of wine).


If you want to know what things were used to research this episode, a list of sources can be found here.

]]> Researcher, assistant professor, and host of the Neuro Network podcast Nick Burgraff studies opioid overdoses and how to prevent them. He’s here to answer all our host’s questions about naloxone (brand name: Narcan), the autonomic nervous system, and goat treats. He might even walk away with the prize for best science name mentioned before the year is over (hint: it’s a region of the brain a bunch of scientists named over a bottle of wine).


If you want to know what things were used to research this episode, a list of sources can be found here.

]]> Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:20:18 -0800 WSUM WSUM 1964 Researcher, assistant professor, and host of the Neuro Network podcast Nick Burgraff studies opioid overdoses and how to prevent them. He’s here to answer all our host’s questions about naloxone (brand name: Narcan), the autonomic nervous system, and goat treats. He might even walk away with the prize for best science name mentioned before the year is over (hint: it’s a region of the brain a bunch of scientists named over a bottle of wine).


If you want to know what things were used to research this episode, a list of sources can be found here.

]]> science, wsum, wisconsin, nalina cherr No Nalina Cherr