Bioscience Talks

Mosquito-borne diseases have plagued humanity for centuries, and a prolific offender has been Aedes aegypti, commonly known as the "yellow fever mosquito." Despite the yellow-fever moniker, it is also a potent carrier of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Writing in BioScience, Dr. Jeffrey Powell and his colleagues describe recent work in tracking the spread of this important vector. Using newly available genomic techniques, they cross-referenced the historical divergence of A. aegypti populations with known records of ship movements and disease spread. The results paint a picture of a species that traversed slave and other trade routes to the New World and beyond. In this episode of BioScience Talks, Powell joins us to discuss his work and to elaborate on the evolution and movements of this deadly "domesticated" mosquito species. Read the article. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.   

Amidst increased tensions over the US–Mexico border, a multinational group of over 2500 scientists have endorsed an article cautioning that a hardened barrier may produce devastating ecological effects while hampering binational conservation. In the BioScience Viewpoint, a group organized by Defenders of Wildlife and others called attention to ecological disturbances that could affect hundreds of terrestrial and aquatic species, notably including the Mexican gray wolf and Sonoran pronghorn. For this episode of BioScience Talks, we were joined by Rob Peters, Senior Representative with the Southwest Regional Office of Defenders of Wildlife; Rurik List, Head of the Laboratory of Conservation Biology at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Lerma Campus; and Sergio Avila, Wildlife Biologist and a Program Manager with Sierra Club, based in Tucson, Arizona. They discussed the article, the potential effects of a border wall, and some of the other challenges of conducting science in the borderlands. Read the art

For some time, "big data" has loomed large as a source of challenges and opportunities for science, but as yet, guidance on how to manage the data deluge has been wanting. Joining us on this episode of BioScience Talks, Kendra Spence Cheruvelil and Patricia A. Soranno, both with Michigan State University, describe a synergistic approach to data-intensive science that hinges on open and collaborative research efforts. By harnessing the strengths of interdisciplinary collaboration and open science, they say, researchers will be better able to use big data to solve global environmental problems. Read the article. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.  AIBS's Team Science Event

As synthetic biology emerges into the public sphere, so too does a discussion about the ethical and regulatory questions posed by the field. Because synthetic biology researchers will themselves have broad influence in both the field and the conversations surrounding it, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Wisconsin–Madison sought to shed light on their views. The group first identified a unique sample of synthetic biologists and researchers who focus on ethical, legal, and social issues, then polled them regarding their attitudes and values related to synbio. For this episode of BioScience Talks, we are joined by Dr. Dietram Scheufele, who discusses the poll's results and also the ways in which synthetic biologists might best engage the public—as experts and as listeners—during and after the field's entrance onto the public and regulatory stage. Read the article. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.  Photo credit: Kyle Cassidy, Annenberg School for Commun

Improving training in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields is a major priority, crucial to the nation's economy and international competitiveness. However, to date, research evaluating the effectiveness of STEM training programs and initiatives has often been lacking. Writing in BioScience, Alan Wilson of Auburn University, Eric Nagy of the Mountain Lake Biological Station at the University of Virginia, and their colleagues present an assessment of the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site programs. They compared the scientific outcomes of demographically matched participants and non-participants and found substantial differences between the two groups. For instance, participants in the REU Site programs were more likely to obtain a STEM PhD and to receive awards, make scientific presentations, and publish the results of their research. In this episode of BioScience Talks, Wilson and Nagy join us to explain their assessment approach and describe the

Ticks pose numerous threats to human health and well-being, ranging from the familiar Lyme threat to spotted fever rickettsiosis and even mammalian meat allergies. For this special bonus episode of BioScience Talks, we chatted with Brian Allan of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who works with ticks hands on and leads important research on the ecology of infectious disease. He discussed tick species, their life stages and threats to human health, and the ways that people can avoid exposure to ticks during their most active periods. He also delved into recent research into the techniques and tactics that land managers are using to abate tick overabundance in the face of expanding ranges and growing numbers of many arthropod disease vectors. Learn more: Visit the Allan Lab Online. Read more about the mammalian meat allergy. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter. 

To date, the conservation of global biodiversity has relied on a patchwork of international goals and national- and regional-level plans. Hampered by poor planning, competing interests, and an incomplete view of large-scale ecosystem function, these efforts are failing. Effective biodiversity conservation will instead require a broad-based approach that relies on the empirical evaluation of ecosystem dynamics and conservation actions.             Writing in BioScience, William Arlidge, E. J. Milner-Gulland, and colleagues present a unified framework to address these challenges: global mitigation hierarchies. These mitigation hierarchies encompass a four-step process of harm avoidance, minimization, remediation, and offsetting. The authors argue that by implementing such processes, global conservation priorities can be established in a way that bridges gaps in current regulatory regimes and enables more effective conservation. In this episode of BioScience Talks, Arlidge and Milner-Gulland join us to explain

The linkages between environmental health and human well-being are complex and dynamic, and researchers have developed numerous models for describing them. The models include attempts to bridge traditional academic boundaries, uniting fields of study under rubrics such as social–ecological frameworks, coupled human and natural systems, ecosystem services, and resilience theory. However, these efforts have been constrained by varying practices and a failure among practitioners to agree on consistent practices. Writing in BioScience, Jiangxiao Qiu of the University of Florida and his colleagues describe this state of affairs and propose an alternative approach to understanding the interplay of social and ecological spheres: causal chains. The authors describe these chains as an "approach to identifying logical and ordered sequences of effects on how a system responds to interventions, actions, or perturbations." The idea was originally formed as result of a workshop funded by the Packard Foundation, and Dr. Qiu

In October 2017, through the collaboration of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), BioScience Talks hit the road. We attended ASGSR's annual meeting in Seattle, Washington, where we had the chance to speak with numerous presenters and participants about a diversity of space-related topics, ranging from the International Space Station (ISS) and zero-gravity plant growth to human health at high altitudes and space-based pharmaceutical development. This special episode brings together the foremost thought leaders in space-related biology and physical science, highlighting the broad spectrum of research being conducted at unique venues such as and the ISS. Interviewees included: Cindy Martin-Brennan, Executive Director of ASGSR Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl, University of Florida Michael Roberts, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space Ken Savin, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space Jonathan Clark, Baylor College of

The positive mental health effects of nature exposure in urban environments are well known, and the literature on the subject is growing fast. However, many previous studies have relied only on cross-sectional data that offer coarse measurements of the phenomenon. Writing in BioScience, Dr. Andrea Mechelli of King's College London and his colleagues describe a new approach: the Urban Mind smartphone app. By collecting data several times daily, the app provides real-time information on both the environment and the subjective well-being of its users. Through this approach, Mechelli and his colleagues were able to quantify nature's effects on human well-being with previously unseen accuracy and timeliness. Dr. Mechelli joins us in this episode of BioScience Talks to discuss these findings and to explain the next steps for Urban Mind. Read the article. Check out an earlier episode on nature's mental health benefits. Does contact with nature prevent crime? Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up w

The benefits of specimen collection are well known. Natural-history archives are increasingly used by researchers to investigate evolutionary processes, examine the effects of climate and environmental change, explore the ecology of emerging diseases, and so on. However, the effects of specimen removal on the wild populations and communities is a question that has rarely been addressed. Writing in BioScience, Dr. Andrew Hope and his colleagues draw on historical data from a Long-Term Ecological Research site to examine the effects of one such specimen collection program. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss those results in particular, as well as broader the research opportunities afforded by natural-history collections. Read the article. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.  

Although the aims of environmental legislation are well known, measuring the effects of regulation is often a difficult task. Inadequate data for baseline conditions and the recovery period can hamper efforts to quantify the effects of a regulation. In a rare exceptional case, Dr. Daniel Gibson-Reinemer and his colleagues describe in BioScience the successful recovery of the Illinois Waterway following the implementation of the 1972 Clean Water Act. Using a robust, multi-decadal data set, the authors demonstrate a tight linkage between water quality and the rebound of numerous fish populations. Dr. Gibson-Reinemer joins us in this episode of BioScience Talks to discuss the article's findings and to explain their possible application in future recovery efforts. Read the article. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.

The illicit wildlife trade is a multi-billion-dollar business that spans the globe. Unfortunately, efforts to control it have often fallen short, and massive numbers of organisms are regularly removed from ecosystems and sold as pets, food, and traditional medicines. Writing in BioScience, Dr. Mary Blair, Dr. Minh Le, and their colleagues describe an integrative framework to help characterize and mitigate the wildlife trade. Based on Elinor Ostrom's social–ecological systems thinking, the framework incorporates biological, anthropological, socioeconomic, and other types of data to paint a holistic picture of the problem. Drs. Blair and Le join us on this episode of BioScience Talks to describe the ways in which this holistic view will help practitioners and stakeholders untangle the complex dynamics underlying the wildlife trade. Learn more about the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research Annual Meeting. Read the article. Learn more about wildlife trade in Vietnam. The search for slow loris

With the rapid expansion of the urban landscape, successfully managing ecosystems in built areas has never been more important. However, our understanding of urban ecology is far from complete, and the data at hand are often patchy, leaving stakeholders without the tools they need to successfully manage human-affected ecosystems. Recent BioScience author Chris Lepczyk, a biologist working at Auburn University, joins us for this episode of BioScience Talks to discuss the future of urban biodiversity, highlighting trends and raising questions whose answers will be crucial for successful "green" management and healthy urban ecosystems. Read the article discussed on the show. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.

Fish that migrate between freshwater and sea ecosystems play a multitude of ecological roles. In the centuries since Europeans first colonized the Americas, damming and other disruptions to river connectivity have greatly decreased the migration opportunities of these species. Recent BioScience author Steven Mattocks of the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, joins us on this episode of BioScience Talks to discuss the effects of lost habitat and river connectivity for these crucial fish. In particular, he explains that because of a dearth of information on pre-1950 conditions, past estimates of lost biomass may drastically underestimate the ecological harm of damming.   Read the article discussed on the show. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), an American Institute of Biological Sciences member society, fosters research, education, public awareness, and understanding of living organisms from molecules and cells to ecology and evolution. For this episode of BioScience Talks, we chatted with presenters and personnel from SICB's 2017 annual meeting, which was held earlier this year in New Orleans. At the meeting, researchers shared hundreds of findings that highlight the value of interdisciplinary, cooperative science integrated across scales, as well as new models and methodologies to enhance research and education. Abstracts are now being accepted for the 2018 Annual SICB Meeting in San Francisco. See http://sicb.org/meetings/2018 for details.   Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.

Each year, low oxygen levels, known as hypoxia, strike the deep waters of Chesapeake Bay. Arising from a combination of human-induced and natural factors, low oxygen levels have profound effects on fish and other important ecosystem players. Writing in BioScience, Jeremy Testa of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science) and his colleagues describe the phenomenon in detail—and the ongoing efforts to better predict the yearly occurrence.             For this episode of BioScience Talks, Dr. Testa shares more details about hypoxia, its causes, and perhaps most important, the ways in which forecasting it can help us understand and plan for the future of the bay.   Read the article discussed on the show. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.

River temperatures have long been an area of study, but until recently, the field has been hampered by technological constraints. However, a suite of new technologies and methods, driven by inexpensive sensor technology, are enabling new insights, with significant implications for the future of river management. Writing in BioScience, E. Ashley Steel of the USDA Forest Service and her colleagues detail the effects of these newly available data and describe the ways in which the knowledge they enable will assist future management efforts. Key among data-enabled innovations is the incorporation of measurements over time and space to create a holistic view of river thermal regimes that the authors dub the "thermal landscape," which has broad implications for the future of river science. She joins us on this episode of BioScience Talks to describe the article and the future of the field. Read the article discussed on the show. Subscribe on iTunes. Subscribe on Stitcher. Catch up with us on Twitter.

As species rapidly adapt to altered landscapes and a warming climate, scientists and stakeholders need new techniques to monitor ecological responses and plan future conservation efforts. Writing in BioScience, Drs. Stephen McCormick of the US Geological Survey and Michael Romero of Tufts University describe the emerging field of conservation endocrinology and its growing role in addressing the effects of environmental change. The authors argue that, bolstered by the development of new field-sampling techniques, researchers working in this area are poised to make substantial contributions to the wider field of conservation biology. For this episode of BioScience Talks, Dr. McCormick describes the range of applications spawned by new research involving the endocrine system, which refers to the set of glands that deliver hormones directly to the circulatory system. These new applications span the measurement of birds' altered stress hormones in response to ecotourism to drone-collected blowhole spray from whale

On landscapes around the world, environmental change is bringing people and large carnivores together—but the union is not without its problems. Human–wildlife conflict is on the rise as development continues unabated and apex predators begin to reoccupy their former ranges. Further complicating matters, many of these species are now reliant on human-provided foods, such as livestock and trash. For this episode of BioScience Talks, we're joined by Dr. Thomas Newsome of Deakin University and the University of Sydney. Writing in BioScience, Newsome and his colleagues use gray wolves and other large predators as case studies to explore the effects of human-provided foods. They find numerous instances of species' changing their social structures, movements, and behavior when these resources are available. Perhaps most concerning, they've found that human-fed populations often form distinct genetic subgroups, which could lead to future speciation events. Read the article discussed on the show. Subscribe on iTune