Priya Nanjappa didn’t really have a career plan- she just followed her interests and was open to trying new things. That’s what led her to her current position as a commissioner for the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she helps implement laws that govern oil and gas development.

We talked to Priya about her early love for the outdoors and birdwatching, which gave her an idea about where her interests lay when figuring out what to major in in college. We also spoke about the different classes she took, and how she narrowed down her interests, and about keeping your options open in your career, because you never know what opportunities are available to you.

This episode was produced by Shane M Hanlon and Nisha Mital, and mixed by Collin Warren. Artwork by Karen Romano Young. 

Paula Buchanan is a disaster scientist and an emergency management researcher. Her job is to help effectively communicate the science of emergencies and natural disasters so they can empower themselves to do something- for Paula, there is no point to science if it isn’t benefitting others.

In this episode, we talked to Paula about pivoting from science to social science, or as her dad says, being a “degree collector.” She also shares advice about persevering and setting boundaries as a woman of color in STEM, and how important it is to “meet people where they are” when communicating science.

Dante Lauretta, Regents’ Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Arizona and the principal investigator for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample mission, has been working on bringing back samples from Asteroid Bennu since 2004- and he still has two more years before he might be able to touch them.

We talked to Dante about the amount of patience required when working in science- from submitting (and getting rejected) numerous proposals to seeing births and deaths and marriages and divorces, a lot happens when working on a project for years. We also talked about how his passion for science stems from his love for exploring, and how in two years, when he finally has his asteroid samples, it will be worth a billion dollars.*

*give or take

This episode was produced by Shane M Hanlon and Nisha Mital, and mixed by Collin Warren. Artwork by Karen Romano Young.