STEMdentity

Mental health: we all know we should be doing “something” to take care of it, but it’s often easy to put mental on the back burner amidst our busy lives until we’ve forgotten about it for too long and realize that the kitchen is starting to burn down. Someone I really admire for realizing that his kitchen was in full flames, taking accountability and action, and coming out the other side stronger is my graduate advisor, Dr. Jeff Pierce. Jeff has had challenges on and off with mental health but has done major updates over the past few years to keep himself healthy and happy at his job of being a professor in STEM. Jeff is a caring and kind mentor and has been generously sharing his stories of his ongoing mental health journey with students and colleagues alike. I’m so grateful to have him on today and for next week’s part 2 of our conversation on mentor/mentee relationships. Jeff’s song of the week: Love Takes Miles by Cameron WinterMy song of the week: Maggot Brain by FleaFeeling like you need to put more into your mental health but not sure where to even start? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro call with you to discuss mental health and ways you’re feeling stuck at work to start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

You’ve probably heard the advice, “You should be reading a peer-reviewed journal article every day of your life!”...and if you’re like me, you’re thinking things like, “Every day? Like even weekends? And my whole life? That’s a lot of really boring reading!” So I explored reading a journal article (almost) every single day for 30 days (yes, even weekends), but I added in the secret sauce that most people don’t add to their advice: it can be a paper on…anything. I learned about beavers. I learned about reconstructing historical records of bioluminescent milky seas. I learned about albatross names. And it was glorious. So yes, let’s talk about how this advice may not have been working for you in the past and how to instead make this advice your own. Because it turns out there is a lot of magical, fun, creative science lurking under the pile of “must-read” open tabs you have open on your computer. Song of the week: Sushi and Coca-Cola by St. Paul and the Broken Bones Feeling creatively blocked at work? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro call with you to discuss your top issues and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Welcome to STEMdentity Journal Club! Every month, I find an exciting peer-reviewed journal article and interview one of its lead authors. We talk about their paper, their work, and their STEM identities. My guest today is Dr. Zoe Jewell, who is Adjunct associate professor at Duke University USA, Associate Academic at University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and co-founder of the nonprofit WildTrack, Inc. along with her partner Dr. Sky Alibhai. Dr. Jewell has been doing incredible field work all around the world and today we get the behind-the-scenes of her 2026 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution journal article “A non-invasive footprint technique for accurate identification of cryptic small mammal species: a sengi case study”. Check out WildTrack, Inc.’s awesome website: https://www.wildtrack.org/ Get involved with their tracking projects!Song of the week: Ride on by C.S. ArmstrongWant to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Grad school: other than being short for graduate school, what is it like anyways for STEM fields? It’s actually surprisingly common for people to go to grad school without much idea of what it will entail. I was definitely one of those people - all I knew is that it was probably school-like and that it seemed like the thing to do when I looked around and didn’t like the job options that I could see with my undergraduate degree.Even though each experience will be unique, there are some commonalities that we can talk through. Plus - once you’ve decided to apply, I walk through some tips for applications!Song of the week: Don’t Make Me Love U by LizzoRelated episodes - for stories from international students, seeDoing what you love within career changes with Dr. Julieta Juncosa CalahorranoFrom science to science policy as an international scholar with Dr. Zitely Tzompa SosaAlso check out any episode that starts with “Journal Club”!It doesn’t matter where you are in your school/career stage: building your team who can help you be successful is essential for long-term success. I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!If you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Graduate school can be a murky path with either no clear exit ramp or too many exit possibilities (aka Jobs!) after graduation. Sometimes those options are clearly discussed within your degree program formally or informally and sometimes they’re not. A common option for graduate students getting a PhD is to get a postdoctoral position afterwards, especially if they want to stay in research. What’s less talked about are some of the challenges of moving from school to a postdoc that can happen to anyone in any STEM field transition. Dr. Julieta Juncosa Calahorrano generously shares both her experiences within her own school to postdoc path, as well as some of her journey as an international student and a Fulbright scholar. While you might not be going to a postdoc after your degree, you still may resonate with many of the experiences of moving from one environment to another less structured environment with more responsibilities! Julieta has done such a beautiful job approaching each challenge with grace and has managed to stick with her research passions throughout it all. Song of the week: From the corner to the block by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Juvenile, and GalacticWant to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

If you are a (mostly) normal, functioning adult in a STEM career or school, you’ve probably experienced times like this: you are in a lecture or meeting or talk and you have a question. All of a sudden, you’re getting sweaty. Maybe shaky. You doubt your question. You consider whether you’ve forgotten how to speak words altogether. And the chance to ask your question passes, and you’re left feeling relieved that you didn’t have to speak up but disappointed that you didn’t get to satisfy your curiosity. Getting nervous to ask questions is surprisingly universal. It might not be in every situation, but chances are, there is at least one situation where you get too nervous to ask your questions. (For me, it’s always those big conference rooms!) In this episode, let’s normalize this feeling and let’s start working through ways to get more comfortable about asking questions. If you’re wondering, chances are, someone else is wondering too. Questions are a wonderful way to engage with your community, so let’s get better at them! Song of the week: You Are Not Alone by Mavis Staples Podcast where I learned about this awesome song: Norah Jones is playing along with Mavis StaplesAsking questions is probably not the only place you’re getting hung up at work or school. STEM is a team sport, and your mental health and toolkit for dealing with all of STEM’s ups and downs is a team sport too. I would love to help you get to where you want to be. Schedule a free 30-minute call for us to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Curiosity. It seems like a hallmark of being a STEM professional and yet it feels like more than ever, curiosity has to take the backburner to emails, meetings, AI summaries, deliverables, reports, due dates, and on and on… So I did it: I intentionally chose to be curious about whatever I wanted for 15 minutes a day for 30 minutes. How did it go? Would I recommend it to the scientists and engineers in my life? (Spoiler alert: I would!) In fact, if anything, I feel like an even better scientist-engineer (scineer?). The challenge exercised many of the tool we use frequently in STEM in novel and fun ways, and if nothing else, I think I’m at least 30% less boring! So this episode is both a reflection on the challenge and my nudge to you to consider doing your very own curiosity challenge. Song of the week: Wasted by Maggie KoernerRe-sparking curiosity is just one way to re-spark your love of your career, and sometimes it takes a team to jump to the next level. I’ve gone through a massive amount of work and would love to help you get to where you want to do. Schedule a free 30-minute call for us to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Welcome to STEMdentity Journal Club! Every month, I find an amazing peer-reviewed journal article and interview one of its lead authors. We talk about their paper, their work, and their STEM identities. My guest today is Luca Hargitai, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Bath. We’re discussing her 2025 Psychological Medicine paper, “The role of psychological strengths in positive life outcomes in adults w/ ADHD”. We also talk about how she became interested in psychological research, the joys and importance of finding the right research group for you, and much more!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!Song of the week: Bad got me good by Gin Wigmore Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Emails. They probably had a brief moment in the sun as a useful communication tool before they exploded into endless-headed Hydras with no end in sight. Does it need to be this way? In this episode, we figure out your relationship with email and steps towards not letting your inbox run your days. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives, and I sure don’t want my life to be a reply-all email chain!BTW - I talk about the nervous system briefly in this episode. To really get an awesome discussion of the nervous system from a professional, check out Episode 15 with Tami Schweber! Emails still got you down? Do you have other work Achilles’ heels you are finally ready to conquer? Let’s talk and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity! Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Song of the week: Always be my baby cover by Anderson East (orig: Mariah Carey) (if you’re on Spotify, he has a lovely version on his Spotify Singles album!) Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

As scientists and engineers, we are trained to tune into our minds. Critical thought and mental output is often the quantities recognized and nurtured throughout our career. But our minds don’t exist in a vacuum: they exist as a part of our body system. This episode with Somatic Coach Tami Schweber is all about tuning back into our bodies and why that might help us in our STEM careers. Check out Tami’s website: https://theknowingwell.ca/ and sign up for her monthly community sessions here. Follow Tami on instagram for some daily zen! Song of the week: Howl at the Moon by MarchFourth Do you also reject the current STEM culture of overwork and undernourishment physically and mentally but not sure what to do next? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro call with you to talk about what you want your STEM experience to look like and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

It’s easy to romanticize science as a series of lightning bolts: researchers have brilliant research questions and hypotheses suddenly come to them out of the blue! So if this doesn’t happen to you, you’re bad at research right? Right? No! There are simple, easy to apply frameworks for every major part of the research process form coming up with research questions to writing up results. Today, let’s dig into how to come up with research questions. Developing research questions is not a mystery: it’s a process. Grab your ORA template here! Look up “4 levels of questioning” for more details here: I like the template from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Song of the week: Now and Eternity by Scratch Massive, Daniel Agust, Maud Geffrey Want to demystify your work processes?? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Welcome to STEMdentity Journal Club! Every month, I find an amazing peer-reviewed journal article and interview one of its lead authors. We talk about their paper, their work, and their STEM identities. My guest today is Dr. Audrey Lin, who just wrapped up a postdoctoral researcher position at the American Museum of Natural History. We’re discussing her 2025 PNAS paper, “A legacy of genetic entanglement with wolves shapes modern dogs”. We also talk about her winding path from not being particularly into school at all to getting a Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford and working at the Smithsonian and American Museum of Natural History (what!!). Check out Dr. Lin’s linktr.ee - https://linktr.ee/undeaddandy!Additionally, check out her Science article on Woolly dogs: “The history of Coast Salish “woolly dogs” revealed by ancient genomics and Indigenous Knowledge”, Lin et al., 2023. Song of the week: Dogs Days Are Over by Florence + the MachineScience isn’t done in a vacuum, and support doesn’t need to be a mystery. I’d love to be a part of your team that helps you bring all of you to the table at work and in life. Let’s chat: Schedule a 30-minute (free!) chat with me by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentityLoving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @ STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @ ExcessSass - I’d love a follow!

Having fun in your STEM job is something that probably seems like a good idea but can get completely lost in the rush of the day-to-day. Even more subversive, much of our time might be spent thinking about when we will be happy: We’ll be happy when we get the job, graduate with the degree, go on the vacation, get the paper published, get the successful experimental result…Instead of “I’ll be happy when”ing ourselves, can we shift towards “I am happy now” throughout our days? Take a listen!Song of the week: Good Times Roll by Griz and Big GiganticLooking to expand your definition of fun to find your most STEMtastic STEmdentity? I’d love to be a part of your team that helps you bring all of you to the table at work and in life. Let’s chat: Schedule a 30-minute (free!) chat with me by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentityLoving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - it might be a hard name to say three times fast but I’d love a follow!

I’m dropping this quick minisode to invite us all to jump joy first into a creativity challenge: 15 minutes a day. 30 days. Just…explore the thing you’re curious about. Maybe you take an intentional break at work. Maybe you write the things that pop into mind on a sticky note and you do a deep dive at the end of your day. Curiosity and creativity are STEM super powers for us scientists and engineers, but the busyness of our days can stifle those sparks. It doesn’t matter when you find this episode: today is always a good day to start nurturing your curiosity again.Song of the week: Bishtar Behand by LirazFeeling curious about the fact that school taught you almost everything except how to be full of curiosity? I’d love to be a part of your team that helps you bring all of you to the table at work and in life. Let’s chat: Schedule a 30-minute (free!) chat with me by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity! Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get pod recaps and some awesome science and engineering updates in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Dr. Zitely Tzompa Sosa is the bright light we need in science policy. Trained as an atmospheric chemist, Zitely has navigated several international moves for school and work. Along the way, she found that working in policy is her guiding light for showing up to work as her most authentic self. Song of the week: The Wild Rover by Lankum More about Ravi, a true hero of atmospheric chemistry!Navigating finding yourself in your career doesn’t have to be a solo sport. Would you like to have me in your corner? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get a quick roundup of inspiring science and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Groundhog Day: it’s a holiday AND a movie! (Movie spoiler alert ahead FYI - it’s been out for >30 years so I don’t apologize.) For those of us who know the 1993 movie classic starring Bill Murray as grumpy TV weather forecaster Phil Conners, we’ll remember that poor Phil got himself stuck in a time loop, forced to relive Groundhog Day over and over and over and over again. And ultimately, only through growth and change did he find his way out of the time loop. And….I can almost guarantee that each of us have settled into our own little time loops in work and in our lives, often without realizing it. Our jobs can be deeply dynamic and yet… do you find yourself feeling the same frustrations every time a similar situation comes up? Do you trigger yourself in the same ways every time you move into certain tasks? Which of your Groundhog Day loops are serving you (shoutout to brushing my teeth every day!)? Which ones could be holding you back? Let’s dig in! And if you are ready to expand your circle of support, I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to start finding where you’re getting stuck in dysfunctional patterns and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!Song of the week: Try Me by Cat Power. Killer cover!! If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

There’s almost no way to get most of our pulses racing faster than the thought of public speaking. We all have to give talks, both big and small and for many of us, talks of any size spiral us into fear and self-doubt. There are a lot of tools out there to deal with nerves, and this episode goes into several practical tools you can deploy to move from panic to ease when speaking.This episode is the second of two parts with part one diving into how to level up your talks by treating them like performances! Oh yeah, and in case you like me are still confused…it’s vagus nerve, with “vagal” as the adjective form (such as “vagal tone”). IYKYK.Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule now at https://calendly.com/annahodshire/intro-work-audit-call!Physiological sigh resources: https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2023/02/cyclic-sighing-can-help-breathe-away-anxiety.htmlLoving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!Song of week: Midnight Ride by Orville Peck, Kylie Minogue, Diplo If you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

We all have to give talks - whether it’s a big conference talk in front of hundreds of people or quick meeting presentations. And even though we only spend a small fraction of our time speaking in front of others, our talks are one of the main ways people we don’t directly work with can get to know us. Talks are also one of our fastest ways to communicate the amazing things we do - and can be the most engaging way to get others’ attention!So why shouldn’t we treat talks like any other performance or competitive activity? We can use the same tricks as competitive athletes to make our talks and our work stand out! This episode is the first of two parts - part two dives into how to get past the nerves when speaking.Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule now at https://calendly.com/annahodshire/intro-work-audit-call!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!Song of week: Dead of Night by Orville PeckMore about the reticular activating system: Kosslyn, S. M., Ganis, G., & Thompson, W. L. (2001). Neural foundations of imagery. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(9), 635-642If you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

I’m so excited to bring you this conversation with my very good friends, Taylor Christenson and Tim Remkes! Taylor and Tim met during their bachelor’s degree program in Botany at Weber State University and married shortly after school. They’ve successfully explored several career paths and keep finding themselves back doing what they love with being outside and teaching. Tim has built his own amazing environmental services company for native landscapes - https://remkesenvironmental.com/. He works directly with clients in Utah, does virtual consults, and specializes in native plants in the Rocky Mountain region. Follow Tim’s Instagram for that yard inspo we all need! @Remkesenvironmental Taylor is a spectacular artist, teacher, dog foster and dog mom, and flower arranger, amongst many other skills! You can follow her gorgeous arrangements on Instagram at @Perditafarms and buy her bouquets directly at local coffee shops in Salt Lake City during the flower seasons. Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips. I promise to keep these short and fun!(If the links aren't working...Episode notes link: subscribepage.io/stemdentity-episode-notes. Newsletter link: subscribepage.io/jijZ7P)Song of the week: Rolling in the Deep by Adele - throwback city!If you loved this episode: Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Welcome to STEMdentity Journal Club! Every month, I find an amazing peer-reviewed journal article and interview one of its lead authors. We talk about their paper, their work, and their STEM identities. My guest today is Dr. Eric Boyd, a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at Montana State University. We talk about his group’s paper "Seismic shifts in the geochemical and microbial composition of a Yellowstone aquifer" (2025, PNAS Nexus). We also talk about how he landed the dream job of having a research group that regularly works in Yellowstone, writing awesome methods sections, and the importance of science communication.Link to the article: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/11/pgaf344/8340224Link to Dr. Boyd’s research group: http://geoboydology.com/Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter (subscribepage.io/jijZ7P), Science Hits and Podcast Blips.Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram @STEMdentity!Song of the week: Last Nite by the Strokes

Sometimes life is like learning to drive a car in flat, dry conditions and then all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of the mountains, trying to navigate curves and learning that you might just burn your brakes out if you don’t use your car’s other tools when you’re careening downhill. Just like you needed to shift into a lower gear, we all need tools that help us become more resilient towards work’s (and life’s!) stressors.Today I talk about two major categories of tools: tools that help you build up your resilience over time, and tools that help you immediately come to a more calm, regulated, resourced place when something big comes up.Andrew Huberman on the physiological sigh and other useful breathing tools: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/breathwork-protocols-for-health-focus-stressWant to work with me one-on-one? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity! Schedule by clicking here or DM me on Instagram, @STEMdentity!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!(If the links aren't working...Episode notes link: subscribepage.io/stemdentity-episode-notes Newsletter link: subscribepage.io/jijZ7P)Song of week: Midnight City by M83. If this isn’t a pump-up jam, I don’t know what isIf you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

We are all scientists, engineers, and artists, and we can use this innate curiosity and creativity to keep pointing ourselves towards the life we want. We all know about frameworks like growth mindset, but sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the flurry of work pressures and before you know it, work feels stagnant and the farthest thing from magical.In this episode, I dig into core values versus limiting beliefs, growth mindset, and how we can apply tools to move towards the jobs and careers we want.Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If the links aren't working...Episode notes link: subscribepage.io/stemdentity-episode-notesNewsletter link: subscribepage.io/jijZ7PSong of the week: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen - live in London https://youtu.be/YrLk4vdY28Q?si=J6UkDSgLWdoKIic_If you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

Five jobs in five years was a whole lot and a complete life-changer all in one. In this episode I walk through how each job came about and highlight some of the key lessons I took away from each one. This episode is all about putting sampling and ikigai (episode 1!!) into practice.Want to work with me one-on-one? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here!Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If the links aren't working...Episode notes link: subscribepage.io/stemdentity-episode-notesNewsletter link: subscribepage.io/jijZ7PSong of the week: In the Fall by Future Islands & Katrina Ford https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e50VztTH2MIf you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

What if you’re in your STEM career path (school, first job out of school, nth job….) and you don’t feel like you’ve found a job that lights you up? Or like you mostly like your job but something(s) is missing?This is so normal AND we can actively start moving ourselves towards jobs and careers that let us shine at what we love. In this episode, I go over techniques for starting to figure out what makes you light up at work.Loving this but listening while on your dog walk/commute/cleaning/etc? Want to have key notes for each episode? Grab them for free here!! Want to get science hits and pod recaps in your inbox every few weeks? Sign up here for our newsletter, Science Hits and Podcast Blips! I promise to keep these short and fun!If the links aren't working...Episode notes link: subscribepage.io/stemdentity-episode-notesNewsletter link: subscribepage.io/jijZ7PSong of the week: Blender by Inna True, https://youtu.be/1Mf_FlKb1PE?si=SgbRKTUPG4CbZ2yd. This song is a banger, dance it out!!Want to work with me? I’d love to do a free, 30-minute intro Work Audit call with you to discuss your top blockers at work and start to come up with actionable steps towards your most STEMtastic STEMdentity. Schedule by clicking here!If you loved this episode:Give a follow and share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros!Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes!Music by @excess_sass - I’d love a follow!

We are all scientists, engineers, and artists, and we can use this innate curiosity and creativity to keep pointing ourselves towards the life we want! Welcome to STEMdentity with Anna Hodshire, the podcast for STEM and STEM-adjacent professionals who aren’t here to just churn through emails, meetings, overwhelm, and burnout. We’re here to find our own unique paths and identities that lead us to our most creative selves. In this trailer, I jump right in: I’ve had 5 jobs in 5 years since graduating and I’ve learned a whole lot along the way about myself. I might be an assistant professor in a tenure-track career at a research university, but it was a far from linear path to get here and I know I’ve just scratched the surface of finding my most aligned, awesome STEMdentities. If you already know you want to expand your team of support around you by working directly with me, reach out for a free, 30-minute Intro Work (or School!) Audit call! Let’s dig into your thorniest problem right now and get you unstuck. Schedule at https://calendly.com/annahodshire/intro-work-audit-call or DM me @STEMdentity (Instagram) or LinkedIn - Anna Hodshire! If you loved this episode: Give a follow! We officially launch on January 6, 2026. Share with a friend! Let’s build a community of badass, heart-centered STEM pros! Follow me on Instagram at @STEMdentity & feel free to DM me anytime with questions or ideas for future episodes! PS - we're all bad at file naming amirite ;)