David Samson

On this short day’s journey into night – coming just in time for the winter solstice, Professor David Samson is featured on this edition of VIEW to the U, on which he talks about his evolutionary biology research in UTM’s Department of Anthropology. For this season of the podcast, which is a focus on "adventures in research," David shares his stories that vividly illustrate studies are not always conducted in a lab and that researchers are sometimes literally ‘going out on a limb’ for their findings! He also lets us in on the details of the “candlelight challenge,” as well as his top tips for a good night’s sleep, based on his extensive research into understanding sleep, sleep disorders and the health implications of sleep deficiency. David Samson is an Assistant Professor at U of T Mississauga. His work has demonstrated human sleep has a unique evolutionary history distinct from other primates. A true champion of science communication and public outreach, along with agreeing to take part in this podcast, David has been featured on a number of international podcasts, as well as on many media resources – on the radio, in newspapers, and on TV – including CTV News, World News Radio, CBC radio, The New York Times, GQ Magazine, and TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He completed his undergraduate studies and PhD at Indiana University in Biological Anthropology. Prior to joining the faculty at UofT, David was a Senior Research Scientist as well as a Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University, and a Visiting Professor of Anthropology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He joined the faculty at UTM in 2017. Resources - A full transcript of this interview is available at https://bit.ly/2WBSv6d. - As a book recommendation: David mentioned Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society by Nicholas Christakis, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/nicholas-a-christakis-md-phd/blueprint/9780316230032/. - The podcast David recommended: Dr. Rhonda Patrick's FoundMyFitness at https://www.foundmyfitness.com/. - The video game he was playing (at the time of this recording in November 2020) is Red Dead Redemption.