Schell acknowledges her deductive mindset comes in handy at her day job as senior organizing adviser for the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, where her activities include coordinating rallies, protests and marches, as well as presenting workshops on direct action strategies for labour groups. “I like measurable outputs and evidence in everything I do,” says Schell, who often fields story ideas and suggestions with her colleagues at work.
Schell, a native Edmontonian and graduate of M.E. LaZerte High School, didn’t have any plans to host a radio show when she was a marketing manager at CJSR. It wasn’t until she became dissatisfied with how the media was covering social and science issues that she decided to go behind the mic.
“I find media to be a big source of misinformation,” says Schell. “There’s a lot of ideologically driven news out there, as we found out during the last U.S. election.” As well, science reporting, according to Schell, has become less common, especially on important issues like climate change. “Newspapers and TV have dropped their science sections altogether,” explains Schell. And Schell worries that a lack of science knowledge among journalists means the public sometimes misses out on key information.
Schell does what she can to spread her knowledge – also speaking at conventions across the continent. Appearances in 2012 included paneling discussion on evidence of alien influence on ancient cultures at the CONvergence sci-fi convention in Minnesota, as well as a workshop on activism techniques at a student leadership conference in Amherst, N.Y. Lately, however, she’s been so busy she’s had to turn down offers.
But even when she’s not on the road, the show still takes her into uncharted territory, from demystifying effects of a woman’s menstrual cycle on a bear’s predatory instincts to the relationship between rabies and hydrophobia.
“This show has been a journey,” says Schell.
“Science isn’t the answer to everything, but then again, it gives you quite a starting point.”