Of Peeps and People…and Plant Pathology

In this episode, Matthew Kasson, associate professor of forest pathology and mycology at West Virginia University, joins host Jim Bradeen for an engaging conversation wrapped around SciComm and a viral experiment involving injecting Peeps with certain types of fungi. The two also get personal, discussing mental health issues in academia; the responsibilities of organizations to speak out on social issues; and the importance of social media in advancing interests in plant pathology.

Show notes

The full transcript for this episode can be found here: https://bit.ly/3cpYoyt

Check out Fungal Peeps here: https://twitter.com/kasson_wvu/status/1112826811879182336

Find Matt Kasson on Twitter: @kasson_wvu

Klein, JoAnna. (March 29, 2019) Injecting Marshmallow Peeps With Fungi, for Science. New York Times https://nyti.ms/3zkItuk

Swift et al. (2020) From Hastag to High School: How Viral Tweets Are Inspiring Young Scientists to Embrace STEM. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education 21(3):1-5. https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/jmbe.v21i3.2133

Kasson, Matt. (December 14, 2021) Finding mental-health clarity under pandemic pressures. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03760-4

The Mystery of the Mummified Twinkie. Short Wave, National Public Radio. October 27, 2020 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/925437726

This episode is produced by Association Briefings.