SISP Spotlight: Kruthi's Podcast

This past year, senior Kruthi Gundu decided to focus her spotlight on a podcast dedicated to sharing stories of individuals working within STEM fields. Titled “The Science Spotlight”, Gundu ultimately decided on a podcast as a medium for her SISP with the ultimate goal of increasing public awareness of science research. Gundu’s passion isn’t just science research, though; she is also deeply interested in bioengineering, genetic engineering, and biochemistry. Most importantly, she is driven to share the excitement of scientific discovery through clear and engaging communication with her community. 

When asked why specifically a podcast, Gundu explained the personal connection that a podcast offers: “ I think actually hearing, like, someone's voice and, how they say certain things, .. you get more depth in the conversation, as opposed to just like, a blog, or, you know, writing notes from an interview ”, she said. 

The podcast process starts when Gundu starts looking at different institutional research websites and sees what kind of research is going on. Then, she looks at different labs that do work or research in certain fields, and then she reaches out to either the Principal Investigators (PIs) or grad students in the lab by email. “And then, like, if they're interested, they'll email me back, and then we'll find a time to meet.”, she said, outlining the initial steps in securing interviews. 

However, the process of coordinating interviews and recording the podcast itself has not been without its challenges. Gundu noted the logistical difficulties involved, saying, “I’d say that because not only am I busy, but the people that I’m interviewing are much more busy than I am because they either work in a lab or run a lab and have a bunch of other commitments.” Not only that, but sometimes it can be hard to understand all the technical aspects of what the interviewees are saying. “I made sure that I was thoroughly informed on the research that the guests had done in the past and were currently doing,” explained Gundu, talking about how she made efforts to overcome her obstacles. 

Despite these obstacles, though, Gundu has already conducted a few interviews with a couple of people. “'I’ve interviewed some individuals that are currently working in labs as grad students”, she said. She has also interviewed multiple researchers from other labs, as well as some of the PIs. So far, Gundu has had guests from various backgrounds and with different experiences, just as she was hoping. 

Through her podcast, Gundu is not only fulfilling the SISP requirements but also creating a valuable resource for increasing science awareness. In the future, maybe we all can give Kruthi’s podcast a listen!