CalAcademy’s Lauren Esposito on Scorpions and the LGBTQ+ Scientists Changing Science

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2021

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Scorpions might be terrifying to most people. But to scientist Lauren Esposito, they are the foundation of her career, which has taken her from a childhood in El Paso, turning over rocks in search of insects, to eventually land her at the California Academy of Sciences. In addition to discovering new species of these arachnids, she’s also become an outspoken advocate for queer scientists. An ongoing exhibit she curated at the California Academy of Sciences celebrates the contributions of LGBTQ+ people. Esposito joins as part of our first person series, which profiles leaders and change-makers in the Bay Area. We’ll talk with her about the organization she founded, 500 Queer Scientists, why she’s drawn to studying scorpions, and how she has so far managed to avoid being stung. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:56.9	From KQED.
0:59.2	Welcome back to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:02.9	Scorpions might terrify most people, like myself, but to scientists Lauren Esposito, they're
1:07.7	the foundation of her career, which has taken her from her home in
1:10.8	El Paso, Texas, through graduate school in New York, and here to us in the Bay at the California
1:16.1	Academy of Sciences. In addition, discovering new species of these arachnids, she's also become an
1:22.2	outspoken advocate for queer scientists. An ongoing exhibit she curated at the California
1:26.7	Academy of Sciences celebrates the contributions
1:28.9	of LGBT, LGBTQ plus people, and Esposito joined us as part of our first-person series,
1:35.9	which profiles leaders and change makers in the Bay Area.
1:39.5	Welcome to Forum, Dr. Lauren Esposito.
1:42.3	Hi, thank you so much.
1:43.4	Happy Friday.
1:44.3	Oh, yeah, same to you.
1:45.5	We've been wanted to have you on the show for a while.
	...

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