Wild Connection

Today's episode is all about insects and is a theme for the next 3 weeks. I discovered Dr. Jeff Lockwood, a Professor of Natural Science and the Humanities at the university of Wyoming, when I was doing research for episode 9, Love is a Battlefield, I came across his work sharing how insects have been used as weapons in human warfare. That stopped me in my tracks and I knew I had to dig deeper. After much digging and reading it was clear that I needed two episodes to cover this special topic. This is Part I. From direct attacks and using insects to cause disease to indirect attacks by destroying agricultural crops and starving your opponent to death, humans have an uneasy and well ugly history with some insects. Join us as we talk about his book Six-legged Soldiers .

You can keep up with scientist, author, and librettist Dr. Jeffrey Lockwood by visiting his website at 

https://www.jeffreylockwoodauthor.com

Twitter: @J_A_Lockwood

I was inspired by his book to design a cover for this episode. As always the talented Krys Hookah brought my vision to life with this amazing piece. You can find more of her work at her store You can also folder her on Instagram @KrysHookuh

 

 

Today's episode tackles a BIG question: What is cognition and consciousness and do other species have it?

That's not all though, my guest Dr. Kristy Biolsi, Associate Professor of Psychology at St. Francis College (@SFCNY) in Brooklyn Heights NY and co-founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Pinniped Ecology and Cognition (C-SPEC) talks to us about what she's discovering about the cognitive abilities of seals as well as why seals are back in New York City waterways. 

During this podcast we also chat about safe ways to enjoy seals and what you can do to help. 

You can find out more information about the Riverhead Foundation here: https://www.longislandaquarium.com/riverhead-foundation-rescue-center/

and go on a seal walk if you are in the NY area with CRESLI. Check their website https://www.cresli.org/seals/

 for details. 

If you're enjoying the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

 

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

 

 

 

This week its all about volcanoes. And not just about eruptions, of which there have been two significant ones recently. There is so much interesting history surrounding how people cope and live around such a potentially dangerous natural phenomenon and the societal factors that shape who is impacted, who recovers and who doesn’t when there is an eruption. To tell us about all of that is a brilliant scientist, Dr. Jazmin Scarlett. 

You can keep up with all the amazing work Dr. Jazmin Scarlett is doing by following her on Twitter : @scarlett_jazmin

Or by subscribing to her blog: https://phdvolcanology.wordpress.com

If you want to donate this link provides you with details on how you can help:

(https://twitter.com/djimeshaprince/status/1381016213728460805?s=21)

If you are enjoying the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

 

according to NASA there are currently 45 active volcanoes on Earth at the moment and you can see La Soufrieres activity and others here: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148190/tracking-la-soufrieres-plume

Tune in next week for my conversation with Dr. Kristy Biolsi where we try to determine what is consciousness and do other species have it?

 

Welcome back everyone. This week is Part 2 of my interview with geographer Dr. Jacob Shell.  He specializes in human transportation networks that rely on animals. His book, Giants of the Monsoon forest: Living and Working with Elephants, is a thought provoking read. If you haven’t heard part one, please do listen as that’s where we talk about the history of humans using elephants, talk about why Asian elephants are still used while African elephants are not, and where he describes how new elephants are captured. We left off on the cusp of talking about how continued use of elephants helps with conservation. In this episode we shift toward exploring how the humans and elephants interact in modern Myanmar and what this means for the future of the Asian elephant.  

 

Dr. Jacob Shell is a professor of geography and urban studies at Temple University. He writes about transport animals, maps, and transient landscapes.

You can connect with him on Twitter @JacobAShell  and he has a marvelous visual website 

 https://jacobshell.carbonmade.com/

 

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

 

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Hi everyone. This week is Part I of a 2 part interview I had with Dr. Jacob Shell is a geographer that specializes in transportation networks and the interface between humans and other animals when it comes to getting around. We talk about one of his books, Giants of the Monsoon Forest: Living and Working with Elephants. His work and this book really examines so many aspects of how connected we all are that we just couldn’t cover it all in one podcast. When we consider how we use other species to meet our needs, one has to ask, are we and can we also meet the needs of those species that we depend on? How can we ensure their autonomy and independence in a rapidly a world we dominate?

Dr. Jacob Shell is a professor of geography and urban studies at Temple University. He writes about transport animals, maps, and transient landscapes.

You can connect with him on Twitter @JacobAShell  and he has a marvelous visual website 

 https://jacobshell.carbonmade.com/

You can also see more of his work here. His book, Giants of the Monsoon Forest: Living and Working with Elephants is available on Amazon and other sellers. It is fascinating and I recommend it highly. 

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

It is Earth Day tomorrow April 22, so this episode is coming out a little late. As a celebration of Earth Day,  my guest Dr. Gary Shapiro and I talk about orangutans, the not for profit that he co-founded with his wife, and how becoming aware and researching the nuances of the difficult ecological problems we are facing is something we should all commit to this Earth Day 2021. 

 

To learn more about the organization, Orang Utan Republic visit their website at https://www.orangutanrepublik.org

You can also follow them on Twitter @OURF and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OrangUtanRepublik

 

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

 

 

Today I am talking about insects, their weapons, how they are used in love and war, and how some scientists curious about why insects have elaborate weaponry use a bit of creativity to get some answers. One of those scientists, Dr. Zach Emberts is my guest today. He studies animal behavior and the evolution of anima weapons with a focus on insects. 

 

Dr. Emberts is a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. The research we are talking about today was done in collaboration with his postdoctoral advisor, Dr. John Weins. You can learn more about the Weins lab here and follow Zach Emberts on Twitter @ZachEmberts 

A highlight of the episode is where Zach talks about the creative problem solving needed to design the body armour used in the fighting experiments. 

And here is a video showing just how these critters fight and wrestle.

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

 

In this episode I talk with  Dr. Adam- Hartstone-Rose whose bustling functional morphology and comparative anatomy lab at NCSU is not just giving us insights into the relationship between jaws and diet but is a place of mentoring for the next generation of scientists. 

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

To find out more about Dr. Adam Hartstone-Rose and his lab visit his website here: https://hartstoneroselab.wordpress.ncsu.edu and follow him on Twitter @GreaterSkulls

Here are some of the places and organizations we talked about in this episode:

American Museum of Natural History: https://www.amnh.org

 Carolina Tiger Rescue: https://carolinatigerrescue.org

Duke Lemur Center: https://lemur.duke.edu

 If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

This episode is about our relationship to nature, how no matter how passionately you care about the planet you are complicit in its destruction by merely existing, and what, in face of calamity can we actually do about it? 

Nathaniel Popkin,  novelist, essayist, editor, documentary writer, and critic has released a new book called To Reach the Spring: From Complicity to Consciousness in the Age of the Eco-Crisis brings to the forefront all of these aspects. 

In our conversation we talk about environmental advocacy, the inequality of influence, decolonization, and integration of the messiness of nature back into our lives. 

If you want to cnnect with Nathaniel check out his website, reach out on twitter @NathanielPopkin and get a copy of his new book, To Reach the Spring

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Thanks for supporting the show and keep an eye out for our Patreon link coming up soon!

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

This episode is all about butterflies, or the pandas of the sky. Check out this cool art I had my friend and artist extraordinaire, Kry Hookuh create. You can check out her work at kryshookuhdoodles.com and follow her on Instagram @kryhookuh

With the release of two new papers looking at what is happening to butterflies as a consequence of climate change, Katy Prudic, Assistant Professor of Data and Citizen Science in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona and colleagues are revealing that big changes are happening for butterflies. One study, published in Science, shows a decline in butterfly populations over the past 40 years. Given continuing warming, especially in Fall, this decline will likely continue. What does this mean for butterflies? For many it means they won’t be able to take the heat. For some, though, like the Giant swallowtail, they may be able to shift northward to escape the increasing temperatures. That comes from the second important paper Katy and her colleagues also just published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 

We talk about these studies and more. Like why do people love butterflies? And of course, because people do love butterflies, they are helping scientists get science done. Plus, you’ll learn some interesting little tidbits about butterflies you may not have known before. I know I did. You can follow Katy on Twitter @Envirokaty 

Lastly, I was lucky enough to be part of the monarch butterfly tagging effort. Check out the video of me tagging one on my YouTube Channel, Wildlife Connection TV, here.

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Thanks for supporting the show and keep an eye out for our Patreon link coming up soon!

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com