Summary My guest today is Paul Johnson. Paul is a Wildlife Biologist at Pinnacles National Park, and a long time lepidopterist, or one who studies butterflies and moths. Paul also leads several North American Butterfly Association (NABA) butterfly counts in California, which is how I got connected with Paul in the first place, and a … More #46: Paul Johnson – Finding and Counting Butterflies
Summary My guest today is Siena Mckim. Siena is a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara studying sponges in the kelp forest, which is arguably one of the most iconic marine communities. In particular, she’s looking at sponge symbionts – basically, the tiny marine organisms that use sponges as a habitat. Today we hear about … More #45: Siena Mckim – The Wild World of Sea Sponges
Summary Eric Eaton is an entomologist and the well known author of Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect, and co-author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Today, we discuss his most recent work, Insectpedia, due out on May 3. Insectpedia promises to be a fascinating and non-traditional look at … More #44: Eric Eaton – Insectpedia, Insect Ecology, Wasps, and the Future of Entomology
Summary Today’s guest is Alison Young, Co-Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences. Alison has a background in marine biology, including a MA in Marine Biology from Humboldt State University and a BA in Biology from Swarthmore College. At the Cal Academy, Alison is a driving force … More #43: Alison Young – The City Nature Challenge
Summary I live in a city of 1 million people that is part of a metropolitan area of close to 8 million people. Yet, at my suburban home I often hear Coyotes howling at night, turkeys gobbling in the morning, and great-horned owls hooting. There are Bald Eagles that nest near a school not too … More #42: Dr. Peter Alagona – Cities: The Accidental Ecosystem
Summary My guest in this episode is Michael Kauffmann. He’s a life-long educator, ecologist, and author, as well as founder of Backcountry Press. He’s also an expert in conifers – those wonderful trees that include some of the tallest, widest, and oldest living trees on Earth. Think Giant Sequoia, Coast Redwood, and Bristlecone Pine for … More #41: Michael Kauffmann: Conifers – Extreme Survivors
Summary My guests today are Rhett Barker and Curtis Sarkin of the incredibly popular Wild Green Memes for Ecological Fiends. If you don’t know Wild Green Memes, it’s a Facebook group of over 475,000 members. And it’s quite possibly the most enjoyable place I’ve found on social media. Before I go any further, yes, today’s … More #40: The Crazy World of Wild Green Ecological Memes – Rhett Barker and Curtis Sarkin
I read a quote today that said (paraphrased) “We need to think about being better ancestors, and not being adherent to legacies, descendants, or social norms.” It was a unique way to implore us to do what is right. What we feel is right. To think long term. And it made me think of this … More Be a Better Ancestor
Summary If you’ve listened to more than a few of my podcast episodes, you’ve likely noticed some common themes. One in particular is that everything in nature is interconnected in multiple ways. And today’s episode demonstrates that in some mind bending ways. What’s the topic? Well, it’s an often overlooked subject. If it is handled … More #39: Dr. Elaine Ingham – The Ecology of the Soil Food Web
Summary Highways, roadways, and railways isolate animals, prevent them from reaching needed food and water, cause genetic isolation, and make populations vulnerable to natural disasters. And as you’ll hear today, the impacts go much deeper, and sometimes in surprising directions. But wildlife crossings go a long way towards mitigating this damage. Today, my guest Beth … More #38: Beth Pratt – The Age of Wildlife Crossings
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