My Fave Queer Chemist

This week on the show Bec and Geraldo talk with Dr. Christian Malapit (he/him), an Assistant Professor in Chemistry at Northwestern University. We chatted about navigating graduate school as an international student, landing a job in academia and starting a lab from the ground up, mentoring the next generation of scientists and so much more! We'll see y'all next week! Follow Christian on Twitter @CAMalapit and us @MFQCPod!

This week on the pod we took a little virtual trip over to Germany to chat with the lovely with Dr. Lisa Pecher (she/her) who currently serves as an Editor at Angewandte Chemie. We discuss her process coming out as transgender, finding her way to the editing and publishing field, and her current DEI initiatives within the journal community (and much more!). You can follow Lisa on Twitter @LisaPecher and us @MFQCPod. We'll see y'all next time and remember that Black Lives Matter today and everyday. CORRECTION: At 26:32, the following was said: "And then they just called me. They didn't even put out a job ad because I had already applied a couple of months before." This was incorrect and misremembered. Wiley-VCH did put out a job ad for this position, which was not seen by Lisa because she was approached directly by the company. Lisa clarified this point after the interview had been recorded.

After a brief summer hiatus, we're back! And we've got some great stories lined up for y'all!! This week on the pod, we chat with Dr. Laura Haynes (she/her) a postdoctoral fellow in the Ginsburg lab at the University of Michigan. Laura shares with us her personal journey through academia so far, which has largely been influenced by family and location, which is often not talked about. She also shares with us her experience getting pregnant in a queer relationship and being pregnant as a postdoc. You don't want to miss this one! You can follow Laura on Twitter @LMHaynes and us @MFQCPod. We'll see y'all next time and remember that Black Lives Matter today and everyday.

Welcome back to My Fave Queer Chemist, y'all! This week, Bec & Geraldo share the recording of our third Pride Summer event, a Live Panel discussion about LGBTQ+ in Academia. We featured four incredible scientists doing great work in the fields of biology, chemistry, and neuroscience: Dr. Kaela Singleton (postdoctoral fellow at Emory University School of Medicine), Dr. Jennifer Nemhauser (Professor of Biology at University of Washington), Dr. Kelly Chacón (Associate Professor of Chemistry at Reed College), and Dr. Tehshik Yoon (Professor of Chemistry at University of Wisconsin). We also raised $400 for the Trans Lifeline, an organization that is working to advocate for and save the lives of transgender people of color in this country. Our Pride Summer FINALE will be Next Wednesday, July 14 which will feature the incredible Carolyn Bertozzi as our guest! This event will be benefitting Gender Spectrum so stay tuned, we’ll be tweeting more information about this in the next couple of days. Stay up to date on all of our Pride events on our Twitter @MFQCPod!

Welcome back to My Fave Queer Chemist, y'all! This week, Bec & Geraldo share the recording of our second Pride Summer event, a Live Panel discussion about LGBTQ+ in Industry. We featured four incredible scientists doing great work in the chemical industries: Dr. Kyle McDonald (Research Scientist, Dow), Dr. Sue Zultanski (Associate Principle Chemist, Merck), Dr. Liz Feinberg (Research Scientist, Dow), Dr. Tay Rosenthal (Research Investigator, Corteva Agriscience). AND we raised $700 for the Trans Women of Color Collective, an organization that is working to advocate for and save the lives of transgender people of color in this country. All pride summer, we’ll be hosting other great events that highlight LGBTQ+ scientists in a variety of fields. Each episode will raise funds for a different organization in the United States that is working to save the lives of transgender adults and youth, which feels especially necessary given the huge number of anti-trans legislation that have been proposed in countless states in this country this year. Next Thursday, July 1 we’ll be having our third panel “LGBTQ+ in Academia” benefiting the Trans Lifeline so stay tuned, we’ll be tweeting more information about this in the next couple of days. Stay up to date on all of our Pride events on our Twitter @MFQCPod!

Welcome back to My Fave Queer Chemist, y'all! This week, Bec & Geraldo share the recording of our first Pride Summer event, a Live Panel discussion about LGBTQ+ in Science Communication and Science Policy. We featured four incredible forces in the field of SciComm and SciPol: Sam Brinton (Executive Director, Core Solutions Consulting & VP of Advocacy & Government Relations, the Trevor Project), Josie Caballero (Project Manager, The National Center for Transgender Equality), Kit Chapman (Science Journalist & Book Author), and Ariana Remmel (Science Journalist). We’ve also raised $140 for the Transgender Law Center, an organization that is working to advocate for and save the lives of transgender people in this country. All pride summer, we’ll be hosting other great events that highlight LGBTQ+ scientists in a variety of fields. Each episode will raise funds for a different organization in the United States that is working to save the lives of transgender adults and youth, which feels especially necessary given the huge number of anti-trans legislation that have been proposed in countless states in this country this year. Next Thursday, June 17 we’ll be having our second panel “LGBTQ+ in Industry” benefiting the Trans Women of Color Collective so stay tuned, we’ll be tweeting more information about this in the next couple of days. Stay up to date on all of our Pride events on our Twitter @MFQCPod!

This week on the show Bec and Geraldo reflect on the last year of graduate school and we've navigated their 2nd year in the middle of a pandemic! We chat about the ups and downs and EVERYTHING in between. Follow us on Twitter @MFQCPod. And remember that Black Lives Matter today and everyday. 

This week on the pod, we chatted with the lovely Kat Magnone (they/them), a graduate student in the Yezierski lab at Miami University where they work on chemistry education research. We talk about what Kat wishes people knew about chemistry education research, how to create inclusive classrooms, Kat's graduate school experience so far, and much more! You can follow Kat on Twitter @KatMagnone and us @MFQCPod. And remember, Black Lives Matter today and everyday. *Note: This episode was recorded in September of 2020.

This week on the show, Geraldo and Bec talk with Samantha Mensah (she/her), a graduate student in the Weiss and Andrews labs at UCLA. We discuss her work with #BlackinChem as one of the co-founders and incoming president, as well as her passion for science policy and how she's celebrating Black History Month. You can follow Samantha on Twitter @blackinthelab and us @MFQCPod. See y'all next week! 

We're back with season 2 of MFQC!! We're so glad to be back, we've missed y'all so much!  This week on the show Bec and Geraldo talk with Dr. Benny Chan (he/they), who currently serves as the Department Chair for the Chemistry Department at The College of New Jersey and was nominated as the NOGLSTP Educator of the Year in 2019. We talk about his current research, his role as department chair and what it means to redefine undergraduate STEM education within the lense of DEI. Remember, Black lives matter today and everyday. We'll see y'all next week! Follow Benny on Twitter @drbennyc and us @MFQCPod

This week on the pod, Bec and Geraldo interviewed Dr. Antonio Tinoco Valencia (he/him), who received his PhD from the University of Rochester and recently started as a postdoctoral fellow in the Balskus Lab at Harvard University. We discuss his experience as a DACAmented immigrant in STEM, what being Latinx and queer has taught him, his chemistry role models and much more. We hope y'all enjoy and we'll see you next week! Follow Antonio on Twitter @AntonioTinocoV and us @MFQCPod. And remember - Black Lives Matter today and everyday. Justice for Jacob Blake. 

This week, Bec and Geraldo interviewed Emily Norwine (she/her) a graduate student in the Szymczak lab at the University of Michigan. We talk about about queer role models, being a queer woman in STEM, her love of chinchillas and much more! You can follow Emily on Twitter @EmilyNorwine and us @MFQCPod

We're ~back~ y'all!! We're so excited to bring back weekly episodes of the show! This week, Bec and Geraldo interviewed Dr. Nicholas Ball (he/him) who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Pomona College. We talk about about his decision to work at a predominately undergraduate institution (PUI), how departments can better support queer and trans people of color (QTPOC), what a collective mindset on education and mentorship looks like and much more! You can follow Nicholas on Twitter @NicholasBall7 and us @MFQCPod

It's our last episode of our Pride Month Special: Celebrating Excellence in STEM! Can you believe it? We hope that y'all have enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed making it! For our last episode, Bec and Geraldo interviewed Cortland Russell (he/him) who works at the consulting firm Accenture in Atlanta, GA while also serving as the President and CEO of oSTEM, Inc. We talk about his advocacy work while at the University of Florida, how he got involved with oSTEM, his time as president, and much more! Geraldo and Bec are taking a short break from MFQC to focus on planning for the next few months of the podcast, while also catching up on research and fellowship writing. We'll be back at the beginning of August! See y'all then! Follow Cortland on Twitter @CortRussell and us @MFQCPod 

Can you believe it's already our last week of our Pride Month Special: Celebrating Excellence in STEM? This week on the pod, Geraldo and Bec talk with Adair Borges (she/her) who recently finished up her PhD work in the Bondy-Denomy lab at UCSF and has since started as Miller Postdoctoral Fellow in the Banfield Lab at UC Berkeley. We talk about the importance of undergraduate research, mentorship, her experience as queer woman in STEM, her advocacy work while at UCSF and much more! We'll see y'all this Thursday for our last Pride Month episode! Stay safe out there, keeping wearing masks, and remember that Black Lives Matter today and everyday! Follow Adair on Twitter @AdairLBorges and us @MFQCPod. 

This week on the show Bec and Geraldo sit down with Shaz Zamore (they/them) who currently serves as the STEAM Outreach Coordinator at the ATLAS Institute at UC Boulder. We talk about their graduate and postdoctoral resaearch, why science communication is so important, their experiences as a queer, non-binary POC, and so much more. Follow Shaz on Twitter @TheDoctaZ and us @MFQCPod. Enjoy and we'll see y'all next week! And remember, Black Trans Lives Matter today and everyday! 

We hope y'all are enjoying our Pride Month Special so far - we've still got a few more amazing interviews lined up for y'all, so stay tuned! This week on the pod Bec and Geraldo talk with Lauren Esposito (she/her) who currently serves as a Curator for Arachnology at the California Academy of Science. We discuss her founding of the LGBTQ+ visibility campaign 500 Queer Scientists, her love of spiders and arachnids, science communication and more! Enjoy and we'll see y'all next week! And remember - Black Trans Lives Matter today and everyday. Follow Lauren on Twitter @ArachnologyNerd and us @MFQCPod.

This week on the pod, Bec and Geraldo talked with the incredible Sam Brinton (they/them), who currently serves at the Vice President for Advocacy and Governmental Affairs at The Trevor Project. We discuss their time at MIT studying nuclear engineering, their career in science policy, their work to end conversion therapy in all 50 states, and SO MUCH MORE! We hope y'all are staying safe and healthy out there, and remember Black Lives Matter today and everyday. We'll see y'all next week! Follow Sam on Twitter @sbrinton and us @MFQCPod.

This week on the pod, Bec and Geraldo talk with Roberto (Robbie) Efraín Díaz (he/him), a graduate student in the Fraser Lab in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). We talk about his work with the Graduate and Postdoctoral Queer Alliance (GPQA), how his different identities have intersected with his scientific career, the barriers to LGBTQ+ inclusion in academia and how those can be taken down, and so much more! We hope y'all are enjoying our Pride Month special and remember that Black lives matter today and everyday. We'll see y'all next week. You can follow Robbie on Twitter @robbiediaz_ucsf and us @MFQCPod. 

This week on the pod, Bec and Geraldo chat with Dwayne Evans (he/him), a graduate student in the Extavour lab in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. We discuss his research passions, his experience as a Black, queer scientist, how departments can better support queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) and so much more! We hope y'all are staying safe out there. Remember, Black Lives Matter and Happy Pride! See y'all next week. You can follow Dwayne on Twitter @RunDME and us @MFQCPod

This week Bec and Geraldo talked with the incredible Jack Miller (they/them), a Lecturer and Statistics Education Specialist in the Department of Statistics at the University of Michigan. We discussed their time as an LGBTQ+ person in academia, their work with the American Statistical Association, how they use their role as a professor to mentor undergraduates and more! We hope y'all are staying safe out there. Black lives matter today and everyday. See y'all next week. Follow Jack on Twitter @statsdog and us @MFQCPod

On the second episode of our Pride Month special, Bec and Geraldo talked with Rochelle Diamond (she/her), the co-founder and chair of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP). We discussed her coming out process, the founding of NOGLSTP, what's in store for NOGLSTP in the coming years, and more! We hope that y'all are staying safe out there. Black Lives Matter today and everyday. Contact Rochelle at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter @MFQCPod. 

Happy Pride Month, y'all! To kick off our Pride Month Special: Celebrating Excellence in STEM, Bec and Geraldo first chatted with Rob Ulrich (they/he) a biogeochemistry PhD student in the Tripati lab in the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences at UCLA. We discuss Rob's work as the co-founder of Queers in STEM at UCLA, co-directing Reclaiming STEM workshops, their work as an organizer for International LGBTQ+ STEM Day, and so much more! You don't want to miss this one! We hope y'all are staying safe out there and remember: the first Pride was a riot and Black Lives Matter today and everyday! See y'all next week. Follow Rob on Twitter @robertnulrich and us @MFQCPod

This week on the pod, Bec and Geraldo chatted with the lovely Grace Panetti (she/her), a graduate student in the Walsh and Schelter groups in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. We discussed their experience working in two labs, the intersections of queerness, coming out as trans, and so much more! We hope y'all are staying safe out there. We'll see y'all next week! Follow Grace on Twitter @GracePanetti and us @MFQCPod. 

This week on the pod, Bec and Geraldo had the pleasure of sitting down with Song Lin (he/him), an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Cornell University. We discussed his journey in academia, his work at Cornell, how he strives to create inclusive lab spaces and so much more! You don't want to miss this one! We hope y'all are staying safe out there - we'll see you next week! You can follow Song Lin on Twitter @songlin_chem and us @MFQCPod.

This week on the show, Geraldo and Bec shake things up a bit by doing the first (of many) "MFQC Check-In". They sit down with their dear friend, Sarah Champagne (they/them), a fellow first year who recently joined Alison Narayan's lab. The three of them reflect and discuss their first year of graduate school at University of Michigan including lessons learned, what surprised them most about themselves and more! You don't want to miss this one! You can email Sarah at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter @MFQCPod. See y'all next week! 

This week we chatted with the lovely Emmett Leddin (he/they), a third year graduate student in the Cisneros lab in the Department of Chemistry and the University of North Texas. Emmett studies molecular dynamics simulations with DNA polymerase and TET2. We discussed the legal side of transitioning, how departments can better support trans folks and more! Follow Emmett on Twitter @EmLedd1 and us @MFQCPod. See y'all next week! 

This week on the show, Bec and Geraldo interview Lorenzo Mosca (he/him), a post-doctoral researcher in the Stoddart lab in Northwestern University Department of Chemistry. We discuss his experience as an international student in the United States, the unique role of post docs in lab settings and what that means for mentorship between post docs and graduate students, how departments can better support LGBTQ+ post docs, and more! See y'all next week! Follow Lorenzo on Twitter @Lorenzointhelab and us @MFQCPod.

This week on the show, Bec and Geraldo interview Sky Cochrane (she/her), a second year graduate student in the Zhou lab in the Duke University Department of Chemistry. We discuss her work with the oSTEM chapter at Duke, prioritizing mental health in graduate school, how the recent COVID-19 events have affected her second year, and much more! We're still welcoming submissions for our new segment Tea Time - find the form on our Twitter to submit your quarantine stories! See y'all next week! Follow Sky on Twitter @SkylerCochrane1 and us @MFQCPod. 

This week on the show, Bec and Geraldo interview Kyle McDonald (he/him), a senior scientist at Dow Chemical who did his PhD work in the Matzger lab at the University of Michigan. We discuss his transition from academia into industry, how Dow has fostered an inclusive workspace for him, DE&I initiatives in industry, and so much more! Y'all are going to love this one! Be sure to send us your submissions for our new segment Tea Time!! Stay healthy and safe out there. See y'all next week. Follow Kyle on Twitter @KyleAMcDonald90 and us @MFQCPod

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Johanna Masterson (she/her), a first year graduate student in the Sorenson Lab at Princeton University who works on total synthesis. We discuss finding queer support in graduate school, what it means to be femme in chemistry, how gender performance plays into lab dynamics, and much more. We hope that y'all enjoy this episode! Stay safe and healthy out there. Follow Johanna on twitter @JohannaMasters2 and us @MFQCPod. See y'all next week! 

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Hannah Friedman (she/they), a fourth year graduate student in the Caram lab at the University of California, Los Angeles who studies the energetics of triplet excitons in oligoacenes, a class of organic semi-conductors. We discuss coming into our queerness, breaking down the notion that professionalism and queerness cannot overlap, and so much more. We also discuss Hannah's work being president of the Queers in STEM organization at UCLA. Enjoy the show and stay safe out there! Follow Hannah on twitter @hcfriedmanchem and us @MFQCPod. See you next week! 

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Tehshik Yoon (he/him), a photchemical/synthetic organic chemistry professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. We discuss his journey of coming out, what excites him most about working in academia, and what it looks like to mentor the next generation of queer chemists. We also discuss his experience being the chair of the Gay and Trans Chemists and Allies Division of ACS, and so much more. We hope that y'all enjoy the show as much as we enjoyed making it. Stay safe and healthy out there. See y'all next week. Follow Tehshik on twitter @TehshikYoon and us @MFQCPod

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Barbara Belmont (she/her), an analytical chemistry lecturer and laboratory instructor in the Department of Chemistry at Cal State Dominguez Hills. We discuss her work with National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), laying the groundwork for the Gay and Trans Chemists and Allies Division of ACS, and how owning her identity as a lesbian scientist paved the way for her activism. Barbara is an important pioneer in the national recognition and celebration of LGBTQ+ chemists. We hope that you enjoy the show! Remember to get out and vote if you're eligible! See y'all next week. Follow Barbara on twitter @AnalyticalBB and us @MFQCPod.

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Filipe Cerqueria (he/him), a third year PhD student working in Nicole Koropatkin's lab at the University of Michigan Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS). We talk about his work co-founding the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force here at the University of Michigan, the importance of owning your mistakes, and being your own role model. Enjoy the show and we'll see y'all next week. Follow Filipe on twitter @FilipeHutchens and us @MFQCPod. 

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Randolph Escobar (he/him), who got his PhD in Scott Schaus' lab at Boston University and is now a postdoctoral fellow working at AstraZeneca. We talk about the importance of LGBTQ+ mentors in chemistry, prioritizing mental health in graduate school, and what it truly means to support underrepresented minorities in academic spaces. Enjoy the show and we'll see you guys next time! Follow Randolph on twitter @Dr_REscobar and us @MFQCPod

On this weeks episode, Geraldo and Bec interview Isaac Blythe (they/them), a second year graduate student working in Melanie Sanford's lab at the University of Michigan. We talk about pronouns, coming out to your lab and your boss, embarrassing haircuts, and Myspace profiles. We hope that you'll have as much fun listening as we did doing this interview. See you guys next time! Follow Isaac on twitter @isaac_blythe and us @MFQCPod

Welcome to the *inaugural* episode of My Fave Queer Chemist (MFQC for short), a podcast celebrating the excellence of LGBTQ+ chemists everywhere. Join Bec Roldan (they/them) and Geraldo Duran-Camacho (he/him) as they embark on the journey of meeting, interviewing, and laughing with queer chemists from all walks of life, all while trying to survive their first year of graduate school. Buckle in, it's going to be a wild ride! Follow us on Twitter at @MFQCPod.