Exploring all things science.

I've always loved science starting with a passion for astronomy, natural history, and science fiction, I was all about Star Trek and Star Wars as a kid. Then, at some point I began birding and growing a love of natural history which played a large role in getting a degree in biology from Florida State University. After four years of working various field jobs and environmental consulting, I went on to grad school earning a masters in environmental science from the University of Virginia and a PhD in biology from the University of New Mexico. My education gave a strong background across the sciences, not just biology as I studied invasive species, the effects of dams on rivers, and climate change. But it was during my graduate years that I realized teaching science was my passion, so I went into teaching and today, I'm a lecturer in Biology at the University of New Mexico. And starting this year, I've decided to start teaching a class in astrobiology, what could be better than combining my two favorite subjects, astronomy and biology! I'm very fortunate that my passions of teaching, science, hiking, photography, videography, and writing all come together. The lines between my work, passions, and hobbies are blurred.

My podcast is about all things science, from atoms to cells, natural history to climate change, astronomy and astrobiology, to evolution and Earth history. I also like to include a little science-speculation and science fiction too.

Many of my listeners are my students, and hopefully other biology students around the world. However, I try to make my podcast accessible to anyone interested in science who are interested in learning about many different subjects.
 

While teaching, I noticed that my students were interested in more than just biology, and like me, many are interested in subjects we barely get to learn in class. Additionally, in each class, students were recording me, which I wasn't sure how well that helped them because it was just a voice recording without any visuals. They told me it helped because they could go back and listen to what I said. Also, over the past few years, I began listening to podcasts and realized that my students could benefit from good quality sound recordings that were made as a podcast rather than listening to a recording of a lecture. so I decided to write and produce my own podcast, starting with my lecture materials.

So, just before the Pandemic, I began my first podcast in February 2020 and my students really liked it, encouraging me to do more. And it turns out that I really enjoy making podcasts, I'm slowly learning how to explain science by using more story telling and thought experiments rather than using power point slides. It's been rewarding to know that many of my students enjoy and find my podcasts useful.

Since my first "lecture" podcast, I've expanded beyond the lectures and even did a podcast posing philosophical questions about causing certain mosquitoes to go extinct or the technical challenges of building a generational ship to colonize new star systems.
 

Honestly, I've been a little sporadic on releasing my podcasts. During the pandemic, I had to move all my courses online and I had to do that while working at home taking care of two kids and without internet. Fortunately, we are slowly returning to normal and I'm finding more time to podcast. My goal for 2022 is produce about 25 episodes, or one every other week. I'd like to eventually get to a place where I could release about one per week. But, still have my day job...

I write most of my podcast the day before I record them, usually Sunday mornings while everyone is sleeping, it's also when I record them, 4:00-7:00 in the morning works because the house is nice and quite. Then it takes several hours to almost a day to edit and re-record if needed. However, I've decided to make them more simple these days with less music imbedded. That was taking the most of my time.
As for funding, I fund myself, but I don't spend much money, except for the small amount for hosting and none for marketing. I've been making videos for a long time, so I already had all the equipment I needed, which was helpful. And I save money by doing all my own editing.
 

I gain a lot from podcasting, I get to be creative and make something for the world to listen. I love thinking about science and exploring new topics. But, I must admit, I get an incredible amount of satisfaction when someone comes up to me and tells me they love my podcast and ask me when is the next one coming out. It makes me happy to know I'm reaching people, making science accessible, and hopefully getting people into science.

I don't have any sponsorships and I don't make any money from my podcast. One day, if it gets large enough, I might consider it. But for now, I'm just glad its free and accessible to everyone one.
 

This summer, I'm building a studio office on our property so I can go all in on the multi-media, including more podcasts, videos and writing.
For right now, I use a Yetti Blue microphone with pop-filter and a sound shield which I think do pretty well for the money. I'm all-in on Adobe, so record and edit using Adobe Audition software. It works well for me. A few years ago, I built my own computer around an Intel i9 12-core processor and GForce 1080 graphics card with 32GB of DDR3 ram and a terra byte m.2 form solid state drive. That was four years ago, so I'll start upgrading my computer this summer starting with the memory.

When preparing for an episode, I write down the main points and organize them. Then, I typically go on a hike and rehearse the podcast at least once. Once I start podcasting, I usually stand up, and just start talking and do the podcast in a single take. Then I go back in edit it.

In the future, I want to start inviting guests for interviews, mostly my colleagues at the university to promote their work.
 

I don't do a lot of marketing for my podcast, I mostly post new episodes on Facebook. And like many podcasts, I'm listed just about anywhere you get your podcasts.
 

Importantly, I work hard to be accurate and get the facts right. I think that's important today with so much misinformation out there. 

I'm not perfect, and neither is my podcast. I tried to make it perfect and it was costing me a lot of time, trying to find the right piece of music to set the mood, I must have spent hours on this. I'll use music again in the future, but for now, I'm taking a break.

Be yourself. I'm still working on finding my voice, learning to just be myself and not go directly into my "lecture voice", which is also something I'm working on for lecturing too.
 

Right now, I have Facebook Page called Tom's SciCast. I'm slowly adding more to that page. I also have a webpage made for my by Buzzsprout. Starting this summer, I'll likely start airing my podcast on YouTube,