Invasive Species, Wealth of Nations, Stepdads, Hostile Bosses

Invasive Species, Wealth of Nations, Stepdads, Hostile Bosses

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

  • Mar 4, 2015 10:00 pm
  • 1:42:51 mins

Eat 'Em to Beat 'Em (1:17) Guest: Matt Barnes, Assistant Professor in Natural Resources Management at Texas Tech University. Co-founder of invasivore.org  This weekend marked the end of the National Invasive Species Awareness Week.  The EPA defines an invasive species as “a plant or animal that is non-native to an ecosystem, and whose introduction is likely to cause economic, human health, or environmental damage in that ecosystem. Once established, it is extremely difficult to control their spread.” These species grow rapidly and are causing some concern. Some Notre Dame graduate students decided to take this threat head on, and come up with a way to fight back against invasive species in a very unique way.  “We focus mostly on the education. The idea of eating invasive species all started with exhausted biology students at the field station. We were unwinding one evening with a tongue and cheek eat your study dinner. We noticed that those non-harmful invasive species were on our plate and we started to wonder if we were on to something,” says Barnes.  “The website gives us a chance to talk about biological invasions more generally. It allows us to provide education on invasions,” says Barnes.  “It’s a topic that is unknown to a lot of people and I think with these creative approaches like eating invasive species is a good excuse to talk about it,” says Barnes.  G Proteins (24:14) Guests: Rebecca Plimpton, PhD. Candidate in Biochemistry at BYU  Barry Willardson, Faculty Advisor in the Biochemistry Department at BYU  Your ability to react fast – and without having to think “Okay, I need adrenaline” – is a result of a special class of protein that has long mystified scientists. So-called “G” Proteins are like the switchboard operators in your cells, telling various processes when to turn on and off.  “We were actually looking for something that happens with G proteins before its attached to the cell membrane. All proteins when they are made start out as a long string of atoms all connected together and in order for the G protein to perform its function that string has to fold into a 3-dimensional, precise shape. Our research looks at how the proteins fold into this shape,” says Plimpton.  Wealth of Nations (51:57) Guest: Grant Madsen, Political Science Professor at BYU  Time now for another episode of “Our American Heritage.” This is the weekly appointment we have with BYU history professor Grant Madsen.  In the same year that Americans declared their Independence, Adam Smith published his massive inquiry into why some nations seemed to be doing better economically than others. Popularly called the Wealth of Nations, Smith provided a thoughtful meditation on the nature of economic growth, its consequences, and why it might make the world a better place.  Smith had more than an economic agenda, though. He also wanted to change politics. Ideally he hoped to bring peace to Europe. Thus, much of his explanation of what we call economics today had to do with social organization and moral reform. In the end, he hoped that free markets might bring people together rather than tear them apart.   “Obviously it’s about wealth,” says Madsen, “but a lot of what he’s writing about is how to find a solution to the perpetual problem of war.”  “If you want to be wealthy, you have to have a division of labor,” says Madsen. “But Smith is saying wealth is not money—it’s not gold, it’s not silver… you’re wealthy as a nation if you produce more stuff.”  Parenting and Depression (1:14:47) Guest: Kevin Shafer, Assistant Professor of Social Work at BYU  The Brady’s made it look so easy, didn’t they? Blending families, step-parenting, finding harmony.  In real-life, stepdads are really stressed out and prone to depression. Researchers at Brigham Young University and Princeton studied just how much stress different members in a blended family experienced and found dads topped the list.  “We all have an image of the wicked stepmother… what Dads’ face that’s different than stepmoms, is that they have an awkward middle ground,” says Shafer, “Am I supposed to be like a biological father? Like a cool uncle? It’s quite ambiguous.”  Stress and depression relates to how many new roles stepparents take on, says Shafer. “The expectations of moms are usually pretty solid... whereas for Dads there’s a lot more variability in what parenting looks like.”   “I think the biggest mistake that blended families make is that they don’t communicate with each other,” says Shafer. “They don’t go in talking about all the baggage they’re bringing into the relationship, not talking about their previous marriage, not going through everything that goes with divorce, and just jumping into new relationships.”  “They’re not having the conversations they need to have with their kids.  If you have children who are of the age that they can communicate with you, their opinions and impressions should be integrated into what the family will look like,” says Shafer.  Hostile Bosses (1:30:04) Guest: Marie Mitchell, Associate Professor of Management at the University of Georgia  The old saying goes that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar. But according to a study published in the journal of Personnel Psychology last month, employees who strike back against their abusive bosses fared better psychologically than those who cowered.  “By and large a primary reaction is 3rd party employees get pretty angered by it… abusive supervision is not cool behavior.”  Abusive behaviors are “incredibly financially costly to the work environment. These are not productive behaviors for the work environment.”

Episode Segments

G Proteins

28m

Guests: Rebecca Plimpton, PhD. Candidate in Biochemistry at BYU  Barry Willardson, Faculty Advisor in the Biochemistry Department at BYU  Your ability to react fast – and without having to think “Okay, I need adrenaline” – is a result of a special class of protein that has long mystified scientists. So-called “G” Proteins are like the switchboard operators in your cells, telling various processes when to turn on and off.  “We were actually looking for something that happens with G proteins before its attached to the cell membrane. All proteins when they are made start out as a long string of atoms all connected together and in order for the G protein to perform its function that string has to fold into a 3-dimensional, precise shape. Our research looks at how the proteins fold into this shape,” says Plimpton.

Guests: Rebecca Plimpton, PhD. Candidate in Biochemistry at BYU  Barry Willardson, Faculty Advisor in the Biochemistry Department at BYU  Your ability to react fast – and without having to think “Okay, I need adrenaline” – is a result of a special class of protein that has long mystified scientists. So-called “G” Proteins are like the switchboard operators in your cells, telling various processes when to turn on and off.  “We were actually looking for something that happens with G proteins before its attached to the cell membrane. All proteins when they are made start out as a long string of atoms all connected together and in order for the G protein to perform its function that string has to fold into a 3-dimensional, precise shape. Our research looks at how the proteins fold into this shape,” says Plimpton.