#10: Mike Bergin – 10,000 Birds – Lessons from Pioneering an Online Nature Community

December 1, 2020

Summary My guest today is Mike Bergin. Mike is the creator of 10,000 Birds, one of the oldest, and one of the most popular birding websites on the planet. Mike was an early pioneer of nature blogging, carving a playbook for others to follow, and creating a community of birding bloggers. This carries on today, … More #10: Mike Bergin – 10,000 Birds – Lessons from Pioneering an Online Nature Community

#9: Rick Halsey – Wildfire Ecology in the Chaparral and the American West

November 10, 2020

Summary My guest today is noted wildfire and chaparral ecologist Rick Halsey.  Rick authored the book “Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California”, and has given countless talks on the subject.  Rick has a background in Environmental Studies, Anthropology, and Education, with degrees from University of California Santa Barbara, Cal State San Diego and UC … More #9: Rick Halsey – Wildfire Ecology in the Chaparral and the American West

#8: Christian Shaw – Adventurer and Founder of Plastic Tides

November 3, 2020

Summary My guest in this episode is Christian Shaw, adventurer and co-founder of Plastic Tides. Plastic Tides is a non-profit with a mission “to inspire and catalyze action toward a plastic-free future through adventure, education, and youth empowerment”. As you’ll hear today, Christian has a multi-faceted program to accomplish this. A graduate of Cornell University, … More #8: Christian Shaw – Adventurer and Founder of Plastic Tides

#7: Merav Vonshak – Outreach and Education with BioBlitzes

October 28, 2020

Summary My guest in this episode is Merav Vonshak. Merav is an ecologist, naturalist, and citizen science organizer located in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Merav is the founder of BioBlitz Club, a group that organizes BioBlitzes to raise awareness for environmental causes, often partnering with specific organizations, or simply to raise community awareness of … More #7: Merav Vonshak – Outreach and Education with BioBlitzes

#6: Cool Tools – Nature Identification Edition

September 1, 2020

Summary Welcome to my second in-between episode. These are short episodes in between my interview episodes.  I’m calling this one Cool Tools – Nature Identification Edition! I’ll cover what I think are great tools to aid you in identifying, and thus, learning about the nature all around us. I cover phone apps and websites, hand … More #6: Cool Tools – Nature Identification Edition

A Quick Note on California’s Historic Wildfire Season

August 30, 2020

I live in San Jose, and we’re sandwiched in between three large fires, including two of the top three fires ever in California. In fact, 17 of the top 20 California fires of all time have occurred since 2003. While the 2020 fires were started by natural causes – lightning, it is clear that the … More A Quick Note on California’s Historic Wildfire Season

#5: Eddie Dunbar on Getting People Excited about Insects, and Building an Online Community

August 12, 2020

Summary Eddie Dunbar, MBA, is an entomologist, the Founder and President of the Insect Sciences Museum of California, and Adjunct Professor at Merritt College. With 38,000 species of insects in California alone, we need people like Eddie to help make sense of it all. Eddie’s passion is to engage the public with insects so they … More #5: Eddie Dunbar on Getting People Excited about Insects, and Building an Online Community

#4: 365 Backyard Species in 365 Days!?!

July 28, 2020

Summary In this episode I discuss a project I started when the COVID-19 shelter-in-place began. In order to stay in-touch with nature, I decided I’d be more deliberate with investigating my own yard. The timing was perfect – Allen’s and Rufous Hummingbirds were migrating through. This simple decision to spend more backyard time quickly grew … More #4: 365 Backyard Species in 365 Days!?!