Mukta Pillai
Science Editor
This February, Wooster’s own Dr. Sirot, professor and co-chair for the department of biology, began a podcast dedicated to sex education from an intersectional lens. “I Came for Science” is a project with topics ranging from interviewee personal experiences in the STEM field to Ohio’s sexual assault kits. Podcast episodes detail the experiences and lives of scientists and people of different backgrounds while addressing them from an analytical and academic perspective.
Sirot talked about her studies in animal sex and how they contributed to her understanding of the importance of sex education. According to Sirot, human sexuality and how it works is knowledge that is considered taboo and usually kept secret.
“Our sex education system in the United States, at least in many [areas], is not comprehensive enough for people to know better, so politicians get away with lying to the public about the way our bodies work,” Sirot said. “I felt like something important for me to do would be to stand up for reproductive science.”
In 2013, Sirot worked with an IS student who wanted to study human reproduction, which led to her interest in scientific communication about human sexuality. The idea of inclusive science communication fascinated Sirot. She wanted to make sure there were multiple sources with varying perspectives to create information that was available and engaging for a broad range of audiences.
Sirot decided to use a podcast instead of a traditional journal or book format for her project to help her connect with a wider audience. According to Sirot, podcasts act as a bridge between younger generations and older generations. To help with viewer engagement, the podcast guests provide an array of perspectives, from those of scientists to estheticians to Wooster alumni. “I think ‘inclusivity’ is saying your knowledge is as good as my knowledge,” Sirot said. “What you’ve been through will inform your questions and have us ask questions we never would have thought of before.”A new season of “I Came For Science” premieres this week and will be available on most major platforms. It will begin with discussing what survivors of sexual assault need to know about sexual assault evidence collection in hospital settings.