After a year of preparation, the Belmont neuroscience club’s new podcast is here — and it’s the perfect way to fill the silence of walking to a Monday morning class.
“We want people to fall in love with neuroscience,” said Belmont neuroscience club president Devanie Coombs.
“That’s our goal as a club as well,” Coombs added. “Just to really foster a love for neuroscience and build a community within it.”
The Neuropod’s first episode made its Spotify debut on March 8, with new episodes to follow. Episodes of the Neuropod feature will short conversations between club members and guests working in the neuroscience field.
Each conversation stems from the same five questions, including how neuroscience plays a role in the guests’ current careers and what advice they’d give to current students.
While some of the questions are neuroscience-specific, others are more broad, targeting a more general audience.
“You may not be interested in what someone’s done in a career in neuroscience, but you may want to know someone that’s doing a PhD and what their advice would be for you,” said Coombs.
Though the Neuropod’s cerebral content may seem a little intimidating, it was created with everyday listeners in mind, said Belmont neuroscience club secretary Bailey McCarl.
“It’s taking these scholars who are very often at the top of their field and making them real humans,” said McCarl.
McCarl said the Neuropod might have helped with the “imposter syndrome” she felt after starting her study of neuroscience. She loved the topic, but its academic demands bordered on overload, and she often found herself struggling to keep up.
She remembered feeling like she didn’t belong.
A few years later, McCarl realized lots of neuroscience students feel this way. Neuroscience was and continues to be daunting for students both inside and outside the major.
McCarl’s time with the Neuropod helped her combat this imposter syndrome as she realized even experts still ask questions, she said. She wishes the podcast had started sooner, but she’s happy to be a part of it now.
The Neuropod simply aims to make neuroscience a little less scary for everyone.
“Even though the topic may not be something everyone is familiar with, it’s something everyone can learn from and relate to,” said McCarl.
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This article written by Vivi Smilgius.