The Eco Well podcast

Botanical extracts is a huge and complex topic that touches on so many areas of science. From botany to agriculture to pharma and so on. There is so much going on to get to a quality extract in a beauty product. Some brands do their due dilligence, many do not, leading to a wide array of extracts on the market. To help us grapple with this huge topic, this episode features none other than Prof Monique Simmonds PhD, who is IMO an icon in the botanical research arena. If you want to know about the intracies of extracts, this convo will give you some groundwork! Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!  

In case you weren't aware, bad science is a really big problem, driven by some of the very skewed incentives within publishing right now. I've covered this topic from many angles over the years on the podcast; for this episode we'll dig into the medicine side of things. And how the pressures for research output from residency applicants might be creating the perfect storm for all sorts of misconduct issues. What's been happening? Why is it happening? Why does it matter? And what should you know? To help me do the topic justice, this episode featured a roundtable discussion with research integrity researcher, Dr Reese Richardson, and cardiologist, Dr Rohin Francis, AKA Medlife Crisis. Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!  

Is hair care really the cause of hair loss that a lot of people attribute it to be? How does this vary, and how do hair care brands navigate this so that this isn't a problem? To help us navigate the topic, this week's episode features cosmetic chemist and hair care product developer, Dr Cicely Shillingford PhD. We get into the science, what's behind hair loss and how hair care may or may not be involved with that, the class action lawsuits we've seen over the years, and more. Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!  

Is formaldehyde in cosmetics something everyday consumers actually have to be worried about? What does the science actually have to say about this? To help me unpack the topic, this week's episode features the POVs of toxicologist, Dr Joe Zagorski, and cosmetic chemist, Gabrielle Dwyer. The right expertises - which are often missed in popular reporting - to help do this topic justice. This convo will give you a run down of what you should know about formaldehyde in cosmetics. Spoiler: this topic has a ton of misinformation around it that's had pretty profound impacts on the cosmetics industry... Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!

This podcast features another roundtable discussion, this time on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is becoming increasingly important to the beauty industry. If you are a beauty brand that hasn't heard of EPR yet, you need to change that ASAP, trust me! Some of the potential fines of not complying with the new rules that are cropping up are upwards of 50k USD PER DAY! This convo featured  general EPR consultant Dr Michael Washburn, and the beauty industry specific view point of Dr Akemi Ooka, who is the CEO of the trade association independent beauty association, who's been doing a lot of work on the EPR front. My hope is that by the end of this discussion, you'll have a good 101 of what's been happening, and if you're a brand, a good diving board so you can take the right steps to keep up! Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!  

There is a lot to unpack when it comes to skin cancer and preventative measures against it. It's a huge and complicated topic that I think has sometimes been oversimplified to the point where the messages have become problematic... This podcast will give you a 101 on skin cancer, to hopefully help you cut through the noise. This is a roundtable convo, featuring skin cancer researchers David Whiteman PhD and Ade Adamson MD - both of whom are doing some big work in this research area and towards sound health policy to address skin cancer. Covered in this episode: what is skin cancer? how does it happen and how does that vary depending on the cancer and person? how do we prevent skincancer, and how may that vary? what should people know? why are public health guidelines different for this stuff? and lots more! Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!  

If you're not aware, you probably should be - expert led misinformation is a really big problem that is supercharging some of the misinformation that's out there. So, this is a problem, but… should other experts be correcting them? Is that more damaging because it sows more doubt in science? Inspired by some feedback I've gotten over the years, I figured it was high time to flesh it out in a roundtable to kick off this podcast season. This episode features registered dietitian, Dr Kevin Klatt, toxicologist, Dr Joe Zagorski, and chemist, Dr. Michelle Wong.  Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!

This episode is a 2026 update on where things are at with animal testing in beauty. A roundtable discussion featuring the POV of regulatory expert from the brand side of things, Jonathan Reynolds & regulatory toxicologist from the ingredient supply side, Barae Jomaa PhD ERT. What has happened, is happening and is on the way, and why? Where are we at with non-animal safety testing methods, what is up with China, what does cruelty free even mean, what are common misconceptions about this topic? We covered all this and lots more!  Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!

A roundtable on women in science communication - and some of the often unspoken barriers in this space. Featuring Dr Jen Gunter, Dr Michelle Wong and Emily Graslie. There's a lot here, I think the points raised in the discussion are really important for everyone to be aware of. Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!

This week's episode is all about influencer marketing, and what everyone needs to know. There are rules, and very real potential repercussions, for brands AND influencers for not getting them right. This podcast features a roundtable discussion with Jennifer Santos from BBB National Programs, now program director of the Center for Industry Self-Regulation, C-I-S-R, and Meredith Petillo, VP of technical regulatory affairs at Independent Beauty Association.  Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review if you haven't already! If it's accessible, you can also support my work on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Big thank you to all of my patreon supporters for supporting my scicomm!