Hello! Welcome to the Fail-Safe Science podcast. Fail-Safe Science is a video repository of successful scientists sharing stories about challenges they experienced during graduate school, how they overcame them, and advice they have for current grads. Ultimately, we created this repository to help science graduate students realize that they are not alone in the challenges they face.
To accompany the repository, each week we will be dropping an audio-only podcast version of one of the videos.
Check back each week to listen to the latest featured scientist!
August 2026 Updates from the Team and Temporary Hiatus
Hello Fail-Safe Science listeners! We don’t have a new episode dropping this week, but we still wanted to pop on, check in with you all, and provide some updates from the Fail-Safe Science team. Listen to learn more!
Transcript: Here
Email address: failsafescience@gmail.com
Fail-Safe Science Repository: https://risecenter.asu.edu/fail-safe
Nominate a scientist for the repository: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevRFJqi8zYb1HTa_ppo2s6H962Ks_NgYSe1sQwbvE8KRU9ng/viewform?pli=1
International Postgraduate Mental Health Alliance (MHA): https://www.ispmha.com/
Mental Health Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14G5m91FLPY5gZSHUzWXAQ4Jnm4uX9AS0yhypus3gsuQ/edit?usp=sharing
Land Acknowledgement Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lLcxY7OSsuTnXyq_CSC5Wvst8MSMRurisBfX5hK7AI/edit?tab=t.0
Social Media Linktree: https://linktr.ee/fail_safe_science?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=fc54864f-2496-4afa-959d-fab901d05844&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAaeAVedEe6qNQk5VAnCzXKMNeH7pQuSNMIBWT4lYjz2gZ3_euZt59QZThTFEZQ_aem_JWRNHqF3mwIFPyah-W81-w
17 Aug 2026
Episode 48: Dr. Upma Manral
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Upma Manral, a conservation ecologist working at the intersection of research, policy, and on-ground practice, largely focused on human–wildlife interactions and landscape-level conservation across different regions in India. Her dissertation research focused on the Indian Himalayan landscape on several aspects of livelihood security of forest-dependent, traditional communities, and her work now involves leading and contributing to a national-level initiative to conserve sloth bears and strengthen co-existence and interface management. Here, Upma talks about the frustrations of things in grad school, whether it be fieldwork or funding, just not going according to plan. Though this time period was challenging and stressful for Upma in many ways, it also taught her how to become more resilient and adaptable, and that sometimes even if you want to push more, that is not always the answer. With self-care and support from the people around her, Upma was able to persevere despite the inevitable uncertainties of her work. Let’s listen!
Transcript: Here
Scientist Info: Upma Manral
Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bhGJ3kQAAAAJ&hl=en
Fail-Safe Science Repository: https://risecenter.asu.edu/fail-safe
Nominate a scientist for the repository: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevRFJqi8zYb1HTa_ppo2s6H962Ks_NgYSe1sQwbvE8KRU9ng/viewform?pli=1
International Postgraduate Mental Health Alliance (MHA): https://www.ispmha.com/
Mental Health Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14G5m91FLPY5gZSHUzWXAQ4Jnm4uX9AS0yhypus3gsuQ/edit?usp=sharing
Land Acknowledgement Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lLcxY7OSsuTnXyq_CSC5Wvst8MSMRurisBfX5hK7AI/edit?tab=t.0
10 Aug 2026
Episode 47: Dr. Eric Riggs
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Eric Riggs, Dean of the College of Natural Resources and Sciences at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. His dissertation research focused on the experimental mineral physics and mechanics of deep-focus earthquakes, but his work now, and for most of his career, has focused on discipline based education research and geoscience education, most recently on workforce development and science policy. Here, Eric discusses what it was like to be at the end of his graduate school career, job offer in hand, only to get edits back from a reviewer on a paper that caused him to question everything about one of his chapters. However, after taking the time to regroup and redo experiments, Eric came out of the experience with a stronger dissertation chapter and lessons about how you can rise back from failure with hard work, determination, and community both inside and outside of your own lab. Let’s listen!
Transcript: Here
Scientist Info: Eric Riggs
Faculty Profile: https://www.humboldt.edu/cnrs/people/eric-riggs
Fail-Safe Science Repository: https://risecenter.asu.edu/fail-safe
Nominate a scientist for the repository: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevRFJqi8zYb1HTa_ppo2s6H962Ks_NgYSe1sQwbvE8KRU9ng/viewform?pli=1
International Postgraduate Mental Health Alliance (MHA): https://www.ispmha.com/
Mental Health Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14G5m91FLPY5gZSHUzWXAQ4Jnm4uX9AS0yhypus3gsuQ/edit?usp=sharing
Land Acknowledgement Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lLcxY7OSsuTnXyq_CSC5Wvst8MSMRurisBfX5hK7AI/edit?tab=t.0
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