“Rest Matters,” episode 16 of The WPI Podcast, has been named as one of three finalists for “Episode of the Year” in the inaugural HigherEd PodCon Awards. The awards, organized by the founders of a conference dedicated to podcasting in higher education, recognize outstanding achievement in podcasting at colleges and universities in 2025.
“Rest Matters” features a conversation with Stacy Shaw, assistant professor in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies. The episode, hosted by Colleen Wamback, director of public relations, explores the vital role rest plays in learning, creativity, focus, and long-term well-being, and it provides listeners, especially students, with practical research-based strategies for incorporating rest into their routines.
The episode was produced in the spring and summer of 2025 by Steven Foskett, former public relations manager, and Wamback, with audio engineering support from Varun Bhat, PhD candidate in community climate adaptation, in the Global Lab.
Award winners will be announced in July at HigherEd PodCon in Cleveland.
The May 18 announcement of finalists in all five categories of HigherEd PodCon Awards can be read here.
The WPI Podcast, produced by the Division of Marketing Communications, helps listeners keep up with the fast pace of changing technology, explores innovations and research in STEM fields, and features interviews with faculty, students, and staff that demonstrate what it’s like to live and study at WPI and how the university’s project-based learning uniquely prepares students to be future-ready leaders.
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