In this episode of Oak City Move, Sophs sits down with Dave Klemp, executive director of the environmental non-profit, Trees for the Triangle. Trees for the Triangle is a "pay what you can" non-profit that helps restore trees in the Triangle area, planting new trees as well as replanting old trees. During this episode Dave and Sophs discuss the importance of Urban Forestry (especially amongst climate change), how Trees for the Triangle is actively helping communities, as well as where he thinks urban forestry will be in the next 10-20 years. Listen to here about everything they are doing for the Triangle as well as to find out Dave's favorite tree species!

Breyton Hill interviews Adriana Brassart, Head of Public Diplomacy and Press at the Delegation of the European Union [European Union] to the United States. Adriana explains what her job is and how she first got into the realm of politics.

With Adriana’s previous experience working as an International Policy Officer for the Middle East and now the Head of Public Diplomacy and Press for the United States, the pair discusses how to combat misinformation with media literacy and a critical eye.

Adriana goes on to explain why even college students should care about what is going with the European Union and offers some advice on how to get into journalism, public policy, or politics in general.

Breyton ends the interview with the next Breyton Interrogation: a series of questions to get to know you rather than what you do.

Breyton Hill interviews Dr. Laura Bottomley, an engineering professor at NC State, about her career journey, motivation, and common misconceptions about engineering.

Dr. Bottomley talks about her original dream to be an astronaut right up until the moment she got in the classroom. “I loved it. Teaching was the ultimate puzzle… to figure out how to explain things to people so that they would understand and would get excited about stuff. I was sunk.”

Breyton asks Dr. Bottomley about her career mentors over the years and how one of those mentors prompted Dr. Bottomley to found Women in Engineering at NC State. Dr. Bottomley didn’t see a lot of change happening with regard to getting women into and excited about engineering so she became that change with her K-12 outreach program, the Engineering Place.

The pair discusses how engineering is making a difference in the world and that “engineers are not just people who do math and science alone in their room with the door shut and never talk to people. That image is completely incorrect. [Engineers] have to be very wholistic.”

After clearing up common misconceptions about engineering, Dr. Bottomley offers the question of “what kind of difference do you want to make in the world? Where do you want the impact of your life to be?” and offers some advice on how to discern that.

“Begin with the end in mind,” she says, “but as you learn more, be willing to change.”

The interview continues with Dr. Bottomley’s current soapbox “we need to teach more critical thinking in this country. Anti-intellectualism is dangerous. I don’t think that we should aspire to be ignorant.”

Breyton ends the interview with the Breyton Interrogation: a series of questions to get to know you rather than what you do.

Breyton Hill then transitions to interviewing at North Carolina Museum of Natural Science’s Astronomy Day.

Secretary of the Raleigh Astronomy Club, Ann Murphy, discusses her interactive booth about how time passes differently and your weight and jumping height changes on different planets.

Ann introduces Pluto’s five different moons. Breyton dives deeper into these moons and the dwarf planets in our solar system including Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea, and Makemake.

Breyton additionally spoke with volunteer, Toby, on different kinds of telescopes. Volunteer Syndey, also at the telescope booth, explains that using a telescope or binoculars, you can see Mars currently in retrograde.

Lastly, Breyton discusses the potential of alien life with Toby.