The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

The Tartan Tardigrade - SPECIAL Episode 17: Astrobio & Planetary Sci MSc

In this special Tartan Tardigrade episode, Mia Belle Frothingham, PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, interviews 5 MSc students currently in the Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences MSc at Edinburgh. We will learn about their individual interest in astrobiology, what astrobiology question they are working on, and how the programme has benefitted their long term career goals.

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 16 Graeme Ackland

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham chats with Dr Graeme Ackland, professor of computer science at the University of Edinburgh. We talk about Dr Ackland's unusual path to astrobiology in regards to hypermolecules, how it feels to see your experiment produce something cooler than you expected, and his work in various fields and projects (including COVID-19) and what it taught him.

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 15: Katherine Baxter

This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham chats with Dr Katherine Baxter from the University of Glasgow. We talk Dr Baxter's innovation in bio-imaging, the impact of microgravity on skin microorganisms, and what the biggest challenges we might face in maintaining astronaut health in future missions.

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 14: Andrew Bissette

This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham chats with Dr Andrew Bissette, the Editor in Chief of Cell Reports Physical Science. We talk about what a "recovering chemist" means, what to expect when submitting a paper and publishing in a journal, and how Dr Bissette sees the discoveries in astrobiology impact the work in chemistry.

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 13: Ralph Lorenz

This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham chats with Dr Ralph Lorenz from the University of Arizona and Johns Hopkins University. We talk about the Dragonfly mission, Dr Lorenz’s role as mission architect, why Titan is so fascinating, and an out-of-this-world keyring souvenir!