Science storytelling organization The Story Collider develops “true, personal stories about science” as part of their mission to reveal the vibrant role that science plays in all of our lives through the power of storytelling. Two IGB members will be featured on the December 16th episode of the Story Collider weekly podcast, which will be titled “Flora: Stories from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.”

Anthony Digrado is a postdoctoral researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) with the Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit at the University of Illinois who works on the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project with the Genomic Ecology of Global Change theme. His research focuses on optimizing plant's canopy and architectural traits in order to improve carbon uptake at the canopy scale.

Jessica Brinkworth is an Assistant Professor and evolutionary immunologist in the Department of Anthropology, a member of the Infection Genomics for One Health and Gene Networks in Neural & Developmental Plasticity research themes, and the director of the Evolutionary Immunology and Genomics laboratory at UIUC. Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 her lab has worked with Illinois agricultural workers, focusing on the effects of labor environment on immune function and disease susceptibility.

Anthony and Jessica will share their stories through the lens of their personal and professional experiences on this special edition of The Story Collider podcast, available to download or stream via your preferred platform. Visit https://www.storycollider.org/podcasts to access their episode when it airs on December 16th!

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In case you missed it, IGB members Heng Ji and Brendan Harley appeared on the November 25th episode of the Story Collider podcast, titled “Unlikely Paths: Stories from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.” Visit https://www.storycollider.org/podcasts to view all the available podcasts or hear their stories directly by visiting this page.