Science Moab

Consider making a map of land use issues across the Bears Ears National Monument. This is what Gustavo Ovando-Montejo, Assistant Professor at USU Blanding, is working on. Gustavo uses geography and social science to understand landscapes and how people interact with them.

Over 65 million years ago, a seaway existed across North America from the present-day Gulf of Mexico to present-day Alaska. Peter Flaig, Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin, TX, has studied the geology of this seaway by looking at deposits from the southwest US into Canada and Alaska. We talk with Peter about the margin of this seaway that includes parts of the present-day Colorado Plateau.

The historic distribution of wolves includes most if not all of Utah. As wolves migrate out of the Yellowstone reintroduction area, their numbers expand both to the north and south. We talk with Kirk Robinson, founder and executive director of Western Wildlife Conservancy, about what wolves are doing, the ecosystems they live in, and what it might mean to have wolves back on the western slope and into the historic ranges within Utah.

This is the second part of a two part series on the science of fire brought to you by our partners at Utah Tech University and the Southern Utah Science Cafe. This discussion was captured live early in 2022 in St. George, UT and pertains to the impacts of wildfires on the land and its inhabitants. Panel members include Greg Melton (Utah Tech University Department of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Science), Mike Schijf (Biologist, Washington County Habitat Conservation Plan), and Jason Whipple (Director, Washington County Emergency Services).

This is the first part of a two part series on the science of fire brought to you by our partners at Utah Tech University and the Southern Utah Science Cafe. This discussion was captured live early in 2022 in St. George, UT and pertains to the impacts of wildfires on the land and its inhabitants. Panel members include Greg Melton (Utah Tech University Department of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Science), Mike Schijf (Biologist, Washington County Habitat Conservation Plan), and Jason Whipple (Director, Washington County Emergency Services).

Whether on rock or vegetation, lichen can be found all around us and play surprising and complex roles. Steve Leavitt, an evolutionary biologist at Brigham Young University, is the curator of the lichen collection at BYU’s Life Science Museum. We talk with Steve about what lichen are composed of and why we should care about these colorful and unique life forms.

There are lots of myths and misinformation surrounding rattlesnakes and snakes in general. We talk with Scott Gibson, Wildlife Conservation Biologist for the Southeastern Region with the Utah Division of Wildlife (UDWR), about his research and interest in rattlesnakes. Scott sets the record straight on many of the common falsehoods about rattlesnakes and talks about where you may (or may not) encounter the rattle.

Michael Remke, a researcher and lecturer at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, identifies the connections native plant communities have with their mycorrhizae (plant root associated fungi). We talk about how he applies this research to reforesting programs, rebuilding and replanting after high-intensity disturbance events, and utilizing next-generation sequencing to predict the genetic make-up of soils already long-gone.

Beginning in 2001, an executive order mandated that the Bureau of Land Management consider climate change in their reports and their management planning. We talk with wildlife ecologist Lainie Brice about a project she was a part of for the climate adaptation science program at Utah State University. A key feature of this project was looking at the gap between scientific literature on climate change and the actual land management practices within the Bureau of Land Management.

Biomass is anything that has ever grown or anything organic from bugs, to animals, to plants, and everything in between Darren McAvoy, Extension assistant professor at Utah State University, is a forester by trade and the chair and co-founder of Utah biomass resources group. We talk with him about biomass and the product, biochar, and how he is working to reduce hazardous fuels in the forest and educate people about the advantages of biochar.

When considering sources of greenhouse gases, lakes and reservoirs may not immediately come to mind, but they are a significant part of the global greenhouse gas budget. Bridget Deemer is a research ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. Her research aims to understand how human activities are affecting the way that energy and nutrients cycle through ecosystems. She also continues to be involved in efforts to understand methane emissions from lakes and reservoirs, including Lake Powell.

Our partners in St. George, UT at the Southern Utah Science Cafe bring you this week's podcast. Scientists Jerry Harris and Lura Snow talk about the geology in Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and the critical habitat for the desert tortoise.

Many plants can thrive through drought and other stresses because of their associated fungi. We talk with Catherine Gehring, the Lucking Family Professor at Northern Arizona University (NAU), who has been studying plant-associated fungi for more than 20 years. The Gehring Lab at NAU conducts research to understand the functioning of fungi and how they influence the natural world.

The Glen Canyon Dam disturbed the balance of many natural processes in the Grand Canyon stretch of the Colorado River. Here we talk with geologist and fluvial geomorphologist, Katie Chapman about the effect the dam has had on sandbars downstream. By understanding how the sand is (or is not) moving through the canyon, Katie is working to try and restore these once plentiful sand deposits for the sake of recreationists as well as natural river ecosystems.

Tara Gatewood understands the power of Indigenous radio. As longtime host of "Native America Calling", Tara was part of a communal place where native voices were heard. Here, we speak with Tara, an award winning veteran journalist and enrolled Citizen of the Pueblo of Isleta/Diné, who is now the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Director of the Fund for Indigenous Journalists Reporting on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Transgender People (MMIWG2T) (https://www.iwmf.org/programs/fund-for-indigenous-journalists/ ), an initiative that directly supports Indigenous journalists’ reporting on the issue of MMIWG2T.

Dawn Davis of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall, Idaho studies the sustainability of ethno-significant plants. Her work is trying to deter people from harming culturally important plants by helping others understand the impacts on plant populations and the Indigenous cultures that have had direct relationships for thousands of years. Here, Science Moab speaks with Dawn about Peyote, a traditional medicine and important cultural plant found only in the Southwest United States. We speak about how peyote is threatened and how she and others are working with land owners, Native communities, and scientists to maintain this important species.

Science Moab talks with Ann Marie Chischilly, Executive Director at the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP).  In addition to the advocacy work she does at the national and international level, Chischilly works with ITEP to address climate change in Tribal communities  and works in academia to Indigenizing higher education.

This week we talk with Reagan Wytsalucy about traditional foods on the Colorado Plateau. Reagan is actively working to reestablish agriculture and the traditional food crops in native communities, and is specifically looking at peaches as the beginning food crop to identify, locate, and bring back to four corners communities.

Native communities have land management objectives that stem from traditional ecological knowledge and deep connections to land. Jaime Yazzie has been asking how traditional knowledge held within her Diné community can inform management in Navajo Nation forests. Yazzie's work on Tribal forests emphasizes Diné concepts of kinships and here she explains how she works to incorporate these concepts into management objectives. This episode of Science Moab was made possible by a Stem Action Grant from the Society for Science.

All About the Bees by Kristina Young