Tanina Arab is an Associate Research Scientist at Yale University. On this week's episode, she and I talk about her experience growing up in a small mountain village in Algeria, her thesis training in France, and her move to the US to complete her postdoctoral studies. We also chat about the challenges facing academia today and the spillover of politics on academic relationships.

On this week's episode of LGF, I look back on my discussion with Professor Ashley Cole. I also reflect on her thoughtful question of how we would describe ourselves without mentioning our work. I also learned much about the rich Potawatomi culture (https://www.potawatomiheritage.com/) and came across the book Braiding Sweetgrass by the Potawatomi botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer (https://www.amazon.com/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Indigenous-Scientific-Knowledge/dp/1571313567). As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com!

Professor Anna Ciaunica studies self-consciousness, embodiment and social interactions in Humans and Artificial Agents. On this week's episode we discuss the remarkable evolution of her research focus and her groundbreaking work on what makes the "self" and reconceptualizing the relationship between the mind and body. As always, your questions and input are welcome at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com!

This week on Let's Get Coffee, I reflect on my discussion with Rahaf Salim and how our uniqueness can be strengths in the research endeavor. I also revisit some old Arabic poetry I learned as a kid a long time ago. As always, your questions and input are welcome at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com!

In this week's episode, I sit down with Dr. Daniel Manrique-Castaño, a Data Curation Officer at the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. Daniel shares his rich experiences growing up in Colombia, where he developed an early interest in psychology that eventually blossomed into a research career in neuroscience. He recounts completing his thesis in Germany during the pandemic and reflects on the challenges he encountered during his postdoctoral training in Canada. Now working in the field of data science and data integrity, Daniel reflects on the broader challenges of data management, scientific publishing, and the evolving landscape of science communication. As always, your questions and input are welcome at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com!

In this episode of "Let's Get Coffee", I sit back and ponder Elvira's question and read a passage from Ulysses by the 19th Century English poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson. As always, your questions and input are welcome at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com!

Dr. Ashley Cole is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Oklahoma State University. Ashley grew up in Oklahoma as a member of Potawatomi Nation. In this week's episode she and I discuss her successful journey to academic independence and the impact of her cultural background on her research focus. Ashley also shares her perspective on academia and mentorship. In her career as an academic, Ashley brings her values of compassion, support, respect, and intellectual vigor to life as she trains the next generation of scholars. As always, your questions and comments are welcome at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com!

Hey pals! “Let’s get coffee” is a short midweek episode companion to our longer Saturday episodes. In these bite-sized offerings, I sit back and comfortably reflect on last week’s discussion. This week I reflect on my discussion with Ashley Kopec and her question of what moments in the past week have given us a sense of fulfillment. I'd love to hear from you! Send me an email at SaturdayMorningLab@outlook.com with your thoughts!