TWiV 1195: A Tribute to Dickson Despommier and Updates in Virology
0:00 - 7:36 The TWiV team pays tribute to Dickson Despommier, a long-time member of TWiV, parasitologist, and advocate for urban farming, who passed away on February 7th.
9:34 John's letter describes the outpouring of support and condolences on the Office Hours stream after Dixon's passing.
10:41 Vincent recalls meeting Dickson in 1982 and starting TWiV with him in 2008. He highlights Dickson's teaching abilities and vast knowledge.
14:08 Kathy mentions Dixon's websites: trichinella.org, thelivingriver.org, fordhamopolis.com, and despommierphotoart.com, emphasizing their continued accessibility.
18:18 Allan Dove shares memories of Dixon, emphasizing his omnivorous curiosity and optimism, particularly concerning Global Food security and urban development.
25:34 Rich Condit remembers Dickson as a great raconteur and friend.
29:36 Kathy Spindler describes Dickson as a polymath and autodidact, emphasizing his orthogonal questions that prompted interesting discussions.
35:53 Brienne Barker remembers Dickson's warmth and enthusiasm and his inclusive nature.
42:14 Daniel Griffin recalls meeting Dickson as his parasitology professor and their subsequent friendship and collaboration on the Parasites Without Borders project.
51:25 Jolene Ramsey expresses admiration for Dickson's storytelling and humble nature.
55:34 An MMWR report shows H5N1 seroprevalence in veterinarians working with dairy cattle, suggesting the virus is more widespread than realized.
1:00:11 Elisabeth Bik donates her $200,000 award for scientific integrity to fund investigations of scientific data.
1:02:10 A measles outbreak in Texas, primarily among unvaccinated individuals, is discussed.
1:05:57 A paper in Nature Communications is highlighted, showing experimental validation that human microbiome phages use an alternative genetic code.
1:30:49 The podcast episode includes the reading of letters of condolences for Dixon.
1:31:07 The hosts share their weekly picks, including a humpback anglerfish sighting (Angela), a book on memory (Brianne), short history podcasts (Kathy), a flyby of Jupiter video (Rich), ecological succession on abandoned farmland (Alan), and Dixon's parasitic diseases lectures (Jolene).