🎙️ From Burnout to Balance – Lexi Reid on Healing and Reinventing Your STEM Career What happens when the career you worked so hard for starts to affect your well-being? This week on Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, I speak with Lexi Reid, a former plant biologist and regulatory affairs specialist who transitioned into…
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Welcome back to Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD! In this episode, host David Mendes sits down with Jillian Rilley – founder, writer, keynote speaker, and consultant whose decades of work focus on helping people navigate change and accelerate learning, especially in disruptive times. Drawing on her experiences across Africa, Asia, and Central Europe, Jillian…
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Welcome back to Beyond the Thesis! This week, host David Mendes sits down with Dr. Kirsten “Kiki” Sanford, a science communicator with an unconventional path from bird neuroscience to the front lines of science storytelling. In this episode, Dr. Kiki shares behind-the-scenes stories of launching “This Week in Science,” collaborating with mentors like Leo Laporte,…
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Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD. This week, host David Mendes sits down with Dr. Rob Lion, professor of Human Resource Development at Idaho State University, expert in culture, leadership development, and organizational performance, and co-owner of Black River Performance Management. With over two decades of experience guiding individuals and…
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Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD. In this episode, David Mendes sits down with Sylvie Lahaie, a neuroscientist, yoga and meditation teacher, and expert in stress management and burnout prevention. Sylvie shares her compelling journey through academia, detailing both the pressures and rewards of graduate research, and candidly opens up…
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Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD! In this positivity-charged conversation, we’re joined by Ashley Moses, a PhD candidate in neurosciences at Stanford University. Ashley is not only advancing her own research but she’s also created a precious resource, for herself and for her fellow graduate students – PhD Paths –…
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Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD, where we’re diving deep into the world of academia with Dr. Vikki Wright. Dr. Wright, the founder of The PhD Life Coach, joins David Mendes to share her journey from a full professorship at the University of Birmingham to becoming a life coach empowering…
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Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD! In this episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, your host David Mendes sits down for a meaningful chat with Claudia, who just wrapped up her PhD and is now stepping into the pharmaceutical industry. They explore Claudia’s experiences during her time in…
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Join the Beyond the Thesis Skool community! Welcome to another thought-provoking episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD! I took some time in the middle of my family vacations to record a very short minisode and send you my 2025 wishes of a year full of enriching conversations! Listen through and you will also…
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In this week’s episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD, I sat down with the Dominique Louër, a 4th-year PhD candidate at McGill University. Dominique shared her journey as a first-gen graduate student overcoming multiple challenges, from losing a supervisor to facing down imposter syndrome. Despite the hurdles she faced, Dominique championed a passion…
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