What’s up, nerds?

It’s Sarah Jean, the mad mastermind behind Kenyon Kritters, here to invite you to listen to my brand new podcast Kernel: A pop science podcast exploring the hidden world of academic research at Kenyon!

Kernel is really a labor of love that I started in this, my final year on this peaceful, bulldozed hilltop. As a biology major currently working on my senior honors thesis, research has been a hugely important part of my time at Kenyon, but I barely stray beyond my lab and my birds. And I realized that I still know so little about what other students devote so much of their time and energy to on this campus, and I wanted to change that. So Kernel is my personal quest to know everything ever, and I invite you along for the journey!

Every episode, I sit down and chat with a student who’s involved in academic research at Kenyon. And not just biology students! My goal is to feature voices from all different departments on campus from neuroscience and computer science to art history and English. We talk about their passions, their current research, and all things nerdy. It’s basically just a normal conversation except we happen to be wearing little clip-on microphones that are plugged into my labtop. It’s a rollicking good time!

Most recently of the show, senior molecular biology major Hannah Hertz tells us all the nitty gritty of moss sex and the evolution of land plants in her work with Dr. Hicks.

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sarah-jean-mcpeek/kernel-a-pop-science-podcast-for-kenyon-college

We’ve also had:

• Jess Kusher, a senior biology and film double major who told us briney sea tales of her summer studying seabirds on Kent Island up in the bay of Fundy with Dr. Mauck.
• Natalie Twitchell, a senior neuroscience major who elucidated the fine mechanics of cellular octopus frisbee in her work with Dr. Hemkin.
• Pilar Hoye and Andrea Evans, who will completely sell you on joining the Anthropology department family, and for more than just the dogs.

So, I’m here to invite you to listen and share Kernel with your friends, your family, your professors, your professors’ dogs, every brain you know! The show is available on Spotify and Stitcher as well as online at http://kenyonkernel.buzzsprout.com/  I post new episodes every Monday and I’ll be sharing them weekly on The Thrill. I also broadcast the show Mondays at 6 pm on WKCO, so tune in to listen with your friends and hear my weird music taste. Learn about the nifty work your friends are up to! My goal is to demystify the hidden world of research on campus, promote involvement in independent research across all academic disciplines, and spark conversations about our work all over campus. This is for current students, prospective students, alumni, faculty, emeritus faculty, Kenyon parents, Kenyon pets, everyone to stay up to date on the amazing projects happening on the Hill right now, and the amazing students doing them.

AND, if you want to tell the world about the fascinating project you’re working on, I want to talk to you! Email me, Facebook message me, DM me on Twitter, corner me in the salad bar line, send a carrier pigeon. Just get on the show! You get to share your brilliance with the world and make your parents proud, and I get closer to my goal of knowing everything ever! Everybody wins.

Stay nerdy, my friends.