Wild Ideas...the Podcast - The Wilderness Center

Bats, stream structure, and Yarrow. How do we know this stuff? How do we keep current in all the fields? Our good sources and an invitation to you to share yours.

Damsel Flies, Earwigs and the June solstice. Interview with David Quammen, author of Song of the Dodo, Monster of God and many other natural history books and articles.

Lighting Bugs, June Beetles, Poison Ivy lead to a discussion of things we love to hate.

Gray Tree Frogs, Common Nighthawks, and cottonwood trees. Discussion of air-borne seeds, spiders, and other aeroplankton.

Seasonal topics include parasitic Squaw Root, the color blue in nature, different kinds of wetlands. The interview is with Rob Bixler from Clemson University about the relationship people have with nature.

The song of the Veery; lunar perigee, apogee, and appearance; relative value of different habitat types in different areas are the week’s topics. Forester Adam Beichler joins a discussion about deciding the proper stewardship for a tract of land.

Yellow Warblers, Morel mushrooms, ferns: The discussion of species in three different kingdoms of life inspired an interview with Richard Allen from the Smithsonian Institution’s Encyclopedia of Life.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, apple trees, and Eastern Chipmunks. Discussion of Foxfield Preserve and environmentally-friendly green burials.

Episode includes a brief review of a prescribed burn, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Flowering Dogwood and return of Wood Thrushes. The Wood Thrush leads to a discussion of forest fragmentation.

Mourning Cloak butterflies, native bees, and oak flowers. Dr. Lyn Loveless talks about the connections between genetics and conservation biology.

Constellation Leo, the Prescribed Burn that did not happen, Queen Ants and an interview with Chia-Hua Lin about the pollenation ecology of Squirrel Corn in the genus Dicentra.

Lepidodendron, Killdeer, Garlic Mustard, Interview with Tim Sandsmark

American Robins, Reading the Woods, Revolutionary new research by Alfred E. Newman, Interview with Ken Finch of Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood.

Vernal Equinox, Western Chorus Frog, Heron Rookery, Colonial Nesting

Red-tailed Hawks, maple syruping, and the sound of the spring thaw lead to a discussion of water, its unique qualities, and its importance to life. Water!

Northern Flicker, Winter Stone Flies, Using road kill to estimate wildlife populations, Interview with Toni Ruth about Cougars in Yellowstone National Park

Song Sparrows, the shape of night, White-tailed Deer. Interview with Zara McDonald of Felidae, on the Bay Area Puma Project.

Mars, Ocean Currents, The Galapagos Islands

Inuit words for snow, American Tree Sparrows or Canadian Ground Sparrows? and Charles Darwin and the quest of the unifying principle of the life sciences.

Echolocation genetics in bats and dolphins, genetically-engineered trees, bird song. Discussion of courtship and reproductive strategies.