When puppeteer Raymond Carr gets the opportunity to work on a show about dinosaurs, he worries about how his creationist parents will react, and a trip to the Kennedy Space Center reminds science journalist Wade Roush of his early inspiration.

As a kid, Dan Souza finds it hard to appreciate his mother’s nursing expertise until he sees it in action, and when Michaella Thornton shares her struggles with infertility with her farmer father, his response stuns her.

The only thing standing in the way of Jennifer Landa’s dreams of studying art in college is her grade in chemistry, and when she’s accepted into the conservation fellowship of her dreams, Emi Okikawa must leave her family’s home in Hawaii.

An expert in oxytocin, the hormone released during birth, Bianca Jones Marlin is determined to have a natural birth, and science writer Veronika Meduna thought she never wanted to have children, but in her late thirties, she changes her mind.

Born without a right pectoral muscle, John Trumbo has always felt defective, but then he discovers a possible solution, and Emma Yarbrough discovers there’s more to her unusual height than she’d thought.

Erik Klemetti starts to question his decision to become a geologist when a 20,000-foot volcano in Chile, proves difficult to tame, and explorer George Kourounis prepares to enter a fiery sinkhole known as the “Doorway to Hell.”

Science writer Kate Sheridan falls in love with a man who suffers from paralyzing headaches, and math teacher Giselle George-Gilkes is on a trip with her students when she receives terrible news from home.

Gail Thomas clashes with her oncologist while deciding how to fight her cancer, and as a marathon runner, Pierce McManus prides himself on his toughness — but then he begins coughing up blood.

Science journalist Sushma Subramanian experiments with haptic technology to connect with her long-distance fiance, and Nick Andersen’s type 1 diabetes begins to affect his dating life.

Fiona Calvert is a crier — but when she starts her PhD, she promises herself she’ll never cry in front of her colleagues, and after graduating with his PhD, Shane Hanlon struggles to find balance in his science career.