Bioscience Talks

Our guest for this episode of BioScience Talks is Adam Sepulveda, Research Scientist with the US Geological Survey's Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in Bozeman, Montana. He joined us to talk about READI-Net, an environmental DNA-based program that was recently funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill as a priority for addressing aquatic invasive species. Learn more about READI-Net here. Captions are available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2G-6AEwJE8Y

Today’s episode features three representatives of the Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS), which is an American Institute of Biological Sciences member organization. We discussed many topics related to field stations, including the research performed there, as well as the ways that field stations collaborate through organizations like OBFS and AIBS to improve their research, education, and outreach efforts. Our guests were: Lara Roketenetz, Director of the University of Akron Field Station, in Ohio. She is also currently serving as President of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.  Rhonda Struminger, Codirector and Cofounder of the Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas "Aguazarca" (CICHAZ), in Calnali, Hidalgo, Mexico. She is also affiliated with the University of Padova, in Italy, and is Cochair of the OBFS's International Committee.  Chris Lorentz, Professor of Biological Sciences at Thomas More University and Director of Ohio River Biology Field Station. He is curren

This episode of BioScience Talks was recorded on location at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Norfolk, Virginia, and features a range of presenters and organizers.Our first guests were Sinlan Poo, who is Curator of Research at the Memphis Zoo and affiliated with Arkansas State University, and Prosanta Chakrabarty, who is Curator of Fishes and a Professor at Louisiana State University's Museum of Natural Science. Dr. Chakrabarty is also the current President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, one of the organizations that convened the meeting. They joined me to talk about the ZooMu symposium, which was held as part of the meeting. Read more about zoo and museum collaboration in BioScience. Next up, I sat down with Karen Caceres from Old Dominion University. She spoke about Florida cottonmouths and how they manage to live on small islands that typically lack freshwater resources. Maisie MacKnight, PhD candidate at Penn State, gave a talk about fieldwork and th

For today's episode, we were joined by L. David Mech, from the US Geological Survey’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and the University of Minnesota in St. Paul and David E. Ausband, from the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, at the University of Idaho. They were here to talk about the successful recovery of gray wolves in North America, and in particular, the challenges associated with that success. Below is a brief article describing their BioScience article.____Over the past 30 years, efforts to recover gray wolf populations in the United States have been broadly successful, with many regions now sporting robust populations of the charismatic carnivore. Writing in BioScience, wolf experts David E. Ausband and L. David Mech describe the conservation landscape and also the obstacles that wolves face as their populations expand into their historical ranges."Remarkable wolf conservation success yields remarkable challenges," say the authors, as 6000 wolves now occupy habitat across

Today's episode of BioScience Talks is a second dispatch from AIBS's spring Congressional Visits Day, which is a program that gives researchers a chance to travel to Washington, DC, to meet with their Congressional representatives and advocate for science. I had the chance to talk with a number of participants about their research, their interest in policy, and their plans for the next day's Capitol Hill visits. Participants included:Peri Lee Pipkin, University of California Botanic Garden, Claremont UniversityConner Philson, University of California, Los Angeles; Rocky Mountain Biological LaboratoryValentina Alvarez, University of Hawaii at ManoaKatherine Charton, University of WisconsinLauren Orton, Sauk Valley Community CollegeRebecca Kauten, Iowa Lakeside LaboratoryNews about this year's event.Learn more about our Congressional Visits Day, and stay tuned for the next event. Captions are available on YouTube.

For today's episode, I was joined by Dr. Peter Gleick, Cofounder and Senior Fellow at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, author of the new book, The Three Ages of Water, and member of the National Academy Sciences. He joined me to talk about a number of water-related topics, starting with a recent piece he wrote in the Kyiv Independent about the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River and the ensuing human and ecological tragedies. We also discussed his new book, which tells the fascinating story of human history and the way that it has always been deeply intertwined with the history of water on Earth.  Learn more about the book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-gleick/the-three-ages-of-water/9781541702271/ Dr. Gleick's personal website: www.gleick.com The article in the Kyiv Independent: https://kyivindependent.com/peter-gleick-a-call-to-condemn-attacks-on-water-systems-in-ukraine/ Closed captions can be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/etWCiDxnSBw

For today's episode, I was joined by Juan Amador, who is the Executive Director for the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). We discussed SACNAS's 50th anniversary, its upcoming meeting, as well as the organization's crucial work over the years.  Become a SACNAS member.Donate to SACNAS.Learn more about the 2023 National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference in Portland Oregon, 22–26 October. Closed captions are available on YouTube.

For today's episode, we're joined by Dr. John Van Stan, Associate Professor at Cleveland State University in the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, where he runs the Wet Plant Lab. A description of the article follows, and captions can be found on YouTube . Scientists need to get out of the lab and into the rain, say an interdisciplinary group of researchers led by John T. Van Stan of Cleveland State University. Writing in the journal BioScience, the authors make the case that human observation of storm events (be it rain, snow, or occult deposition) is key to understanding wet weather and its myriad effects on the natural world.Recently, Van Stan and colleagues noted a trend in the scientific community towards relying on remote sensing to study storms and their consequences: "Natural scientists seem increasingly content to stay dry and rely on remote sensors and samplers, models, and virtual experiments to understand natural systems. Consequently, we can miss important stormy ph

Today's episode comes "live" from AIBS's 2023 Congressional Visits Day in Washington, DC, where our guests gathered for a communications boot camp and meetings with their congressional representatives. Our interviewees were winners of AIBS's Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award: Inam Jameel (2023 awardee, University of Georgia), Elena Suglia (2023 awardee, UC Davis), Michael McCloy (2022 awardee, Texas A&M), and Heidi Waite (2022 awardee, UC Irvine). During the busy preparations for the upcoming congressional visits, we took a few minutes to chat about science and the policies needed to support it.If you're interested in applying for the EPPLA or in joining us in Washington, DC, for our next Congressional Visits Day, please visit the links above.Captions can be found on YouTube.

In this episode of BioScience Talks, we're joined by Professor Roy Sidle, Director of the Mountain Societies Research Institute and Professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Central Asia. He was here to discuss his new BioScience article, Food Security in High Mountains of Central Asia: A Broader Perspective.Captions can be found on YouTube.

A recent article in BioScience discusses "Nature's Chefs"—animal, plant, and fungal species create or mimic food for others for a variety of reasons. In this episode of BioScience Talks, we're joined by authors Robert Dunn and Pia Sörensen to discuss the article and some of these food-creating species (including humans).Captions can be found on the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/gqzXjUoJYyE

For this episode, we're joined by Samantha Kreling, PhD candidate at the University of Washington, in the Prugh Lab. She's here to discuss her new BioScience article So overt it's covert: Wildlife coloration in the city.Captions can be found in the YouTube version.

Today's interview is with Dr. Richard Hill, Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University and author of the BioScience article "Living Naked in the Cold: New Insights into Metabolic Feasibility in Primeval Cultures."Captions available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/2eT9WXCiY8A

For today's episode, we're joined by Dr. Brenda Lin from CSIRO Land and Water in Australia, and Dr. Erik Andersson, Professor of Sustainability Science with University of Helsinki and Stockholm University. We discussed their BioScience article on green spaces, particularly in urban areas, and the ways that different groups use those spaces. We also chatted about how planning can be used to achieve urban green spaces that are equitably used and a valuable part of the urban landscape. A captioned version can be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jUCk6ghBoLU

This podcast is part of AIBS's Diversity Heroes series, where we spotlight individuals who are working to increase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the biological sciences. Our guest today is Roberto Efraín Díaz, PhD student in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, San Francisco. Read our Diversity Heroes contribution from Dr. Steward Pickett.

For today's episode, we're joined by Dr. Charles A. S. Hall, who discusses his recent book review of Peter Victor's "Herman Daly's Economics for a Full World: His Life and Ideas." In addition, we chatted about neoclassical economics from a biologist's perspective, among many other topics. For a further critique of neoclassical economics, read Hall and colleagues 2001 BioScience article, The Need to Reintegrate the Natural Sciences with Economics.  The accompanying transcript was computer generated and has not been edited.

In Their Own Words chronicles the stories of scientists who have made great contributions to their fields. These short histories provide our readers a way to learn from and share their experiences. We publish the results of these conversations in the pages of BioScience and on our podcast, BioScience Talks. This history is with Dr. Osvaldo Sala, who is the Julie A. Wrigley and Regents’ and Foundation Professor and the founding director of the Global Drylands Center, at Arizona State University.Note: Both the text and audio versions have been edited for clarity and length.

In this episode, we're joined by Scott Plein, Principal of Equinox Investments and Founder and Chairman of the White House Farm Foundation, and Alan Rowsome, Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, to discuss Leopold's Preserve, a 380-acre natural site nestled within the rapidly growing area of Haymarket, Virginia. We discussed the vision that underlies the preserve, its namesake, Aldo Leopold, the preserve's ecology and role promoting the wellbeing of the community, and the conservation easement that will protect it in perpetuity.Learn more about Leopold's Preserve and plan a visit here.

For this episode, we're joined by Dr. Judith Weis of Rutgers University to discuss her new book, Polluting Textiles: The Problem with Microfibres. Listen to Dr. Weis's In Their Own Words oral history interview. A description of the book follows:This book examines the critical issue of environmental pollutants produced by the textiles industry.Comprised of contributions from environmental scientists and materials and textiles scientists, this edited volume addresses the environmental impact of microplastics, with a particular focus on microfibres released by textiles into marine and freshwater environments. The chapters in Part I offer environmental perspectives focusing on the measurement of microplastics in the environment, their ingestion by small plankton and larger filter feeders, the effects of consuming microplastics, and the role of microplastics as a vector for transferring toxic contaminants in food webs. Written by environmental and material scientists, the chapters in Part II present potential solu

For this episode, we're joined by Thyaga Nandagopal, Division Director for the Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems, in the newly launched TIP Directorate at NSF. He discusses the directorate's programs, priorities, and future plans.