In this episode of the Living Proof podcast, we meet the irrepressible Anita Layton. As well as leading a busy research team, Anita also spends much of her downtime fostering diversity and mentorships throughout her networks, and is professionally engaged across disciplines as distinct as applied mathematics, computer science and the medical sciences. She was also voted one of 2021's top 100 "Canada's most powerful women".

We are very pleased to host this episode of the Living Proof podcast as part of our collaboration with the wonderful Isaac Newton Institute. Plus editor, Marianne Freiberger, joined the INI's Dan Aspel to interview the irrepressible Prof Anita Layton of the University of Waterloo, when she was a guest at INI for a week-long workshop on kinetic theory. You can find out more about this fascinating area of maths on Plus.

00:00 – Introduction

00:58 – Welcome

01:50 – Attending the “Frontiers in kinetic equations for plasmas and collective behaviour” workshop

06:44 – How do you stay on top of multiple fields? (“I don’t always understand every single slide in a talk!”)

12:50 – Fostering diversity in the sciences, connecting mentorships between different generations of female mathematicians

17:30 – Mathematics for “social good”? (“It excites me to do something that has meaning, that is impactful”)

19:16 – A personal history in the sciences, “I told you I don’t have a math degree. Let me tell you why…”

24:00 – Connecting kinetic theory, kidneys, blood flow and more

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This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.