Patrick Wheatley is a geochemist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a founder and co-host of Science… sort of, a highly rated weekly science podcast. Prior to his work at Berkeley Lab, Patrick received his Ph.D. in Earth Science from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2010 and an M.S. in Geological Sciences from the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin in 2004.
As a scientist, Patrick has worked on isotope biogeochemistry of various vertebrate animals. His work typically consists of trying to source or fingerprint the previous location or environment of animals or to better understand animal physiology by investigating the chemical patterns in animal tissues generated by these physiological processes. His work has impacted the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, paleontology and forensic science. He has given numerous presentations and written several peer reviewed articles on these topics in scientific journals.
Dr. Wheatley is also active in finding ways to communicate science to the public. In 2006 and 2007 Patrick served as an instructor for California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS), a program designed to give precocious and diverse high school students a college experience in a math or science sub-discipline. In 2009, with hopes of increasing public science literacy, Wheatley began his podcast series, Science… sort of. This project involves working scientists communicating science to the public while maintaining a light tone and mixing science with popular culture. This podcast is highly rated and often prominently featured on iTunes. Patrick and his co-hosts have done many interviews with notable scientists including paleontologist Dr. Phillip Currie and astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.
