Ollie Combs

About me:

Hi! I'm Ollie. I grew up in Rantoul, Illinois. I graduated from University of Kentucky with dual bachelor's degrees in Linguistics and Communication Sciences and Disorders, as well as a Master's in Linguistic Theory and Typology. While working with researchers and aphasia patients at Boston University, I was inspired to investigate the challenges facing traditional scientific and healthcare communication. To prepare for BVIS, I returned to school to take art and medical classes, ran an aphasia group for patients with aphasia, and worked as a primary care medical scribe. I am curious about what methods can be used to increase public confidence in parsing scientific and healthcare information. In the BVIS program, I want to create materials to improve the healthcare experience for those who face barriers navigating the current system.

Play My Tea Shop Game!

Science communication I am excited about:

• An Immense World by Ken Wong
• Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
• Cells At Work! by Akane Shimizu
• An Immense World by Ed Yong

Some cool websites (ranked by amount of joy they bring me):

1. neal.fun: Games and interactives.
2. Orb Farm: A low-res virtual aquarium.
3. Voleflix: Free streaming of public domain movies.
4. The Useless Web: Randomized interactives and websites. (best on browser.)
5. Zombo Com!: A classic. Sound on. You can do anything at Zombo Com.

Activities I enjoy

• Creative writing
• Tabletop games
• Exploring thrift stores
• Walking while listening to audiobooks
• Dismantling everyday contraptions to see how they work.

...more on that last point.

One of my favorite ways to spend free time is trying to figure out how all the contraptions work in my house.Things I have built or fixed in my house: