Laura Fattaruso

Bio

I am a second year PhD candidate in Geoscience at UMass Amherst. I use computer simulations to study how rocks break at small scales in the lab and at large scales in the Earth's crust (a.k.a. earthquakes!) with Dr. Michele Cooke. I also host a STEM-themed podcast -- Lab Talk with Laura -- that features interviews with scientists at all career stages and a new comedian co-host each episode. When I'm not doing research or sci-comm, you can catch me doing stand-up at local venues, out for a hike, or eating a sandwich and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature from the comfort of my kayak. I'm proud to be a first-generation queer scientist and active member of my school's oSTEM chapter. I'm excited to spend the summer with King 5 News in Seattle and work with their awesome team.

@labtalk_laura

Clips

• Puget Sound has 'highest cannabis use per capita' worldwide, wastewater study says

• App uses smart technology to detect signs of cardiac arrest while you sleep

• Hackathon at University of Washington promotes virtual human connections

• Swarm of earthquakes at Mount St. Helens poses no imminent threat

• UW's Mobile Planetarium introduces students to the search for life beyond Earth

• Many of Washington state's public schools will be unsafe after a major earthquake

• Drone mission to Saturn's moon discussed at Bellevue astrobiology conference

• Aspergillus mold: What you need to know after Seattle Children's infections

• Lessons from California earthquakes: What Seattle should know about 'basin effects'

• Shallow Seattle faults still have potential for a magnitude 7.0 earthquake

• Why is earthquake shaking stronger in some places?

• Moon tree connects Olympia to Apollo mission history

• Washington's earthquake warning app may be publicly available next year

• Mapping project started by Paul Allen aims to save dying coral reefs

• Student robotics competition at UW celebrates Apollo 11 anniversary

• Is ‘Seattle Freeze’ over for singles? Maybe if you’re a straight woman in your 40s

• 10% of women with no infection have drug-resistant strains of E. coli in their guts

• How to know when Washington beaches are safe from bacteria

• Why do some people get bit by mosquitoes more than others?

• UW study says art therapy can help teens with stress and headaches

• Are Northwest orcas really starving? Researchers explore several risk factors

• UW engineers test tidal energy turbines on Lake Washington

• UW scientists develop artificial intelligence to improve breast biopsies

• Mental health benefits of nature should influence city planning, says UW study