The Northern Long-eared Bat is a Federally Endangered Species. Jill Utrup from USFWS manages the recovery team for the Northern Long-eared Bat. She talks with us about what it takes for a species to be federally listed, how that changes its protections, and the work done to help the species recover.By Three Rivers Park District

Dr. Christine Salomon from the University of Minnesota joins us to discuss her research on controlling white-nose syndrome. Come spelunking with us as we learn what it is, why it is so dangerous, and possible hope for the future.By Three Rivers Park District

It's spooky season and Melissa Boman with the MN DNR joins us to talk about the creature of the night, bats! From what bats live in Minnesota, to how they survive winters, and the adaptations that should make you say "cool" instead of "eww" we soar through the night listening for bats.By Three Rivers Park District

We are joined by Missy Anderson, Propagation Specialist at Three Rivers Park District to talk about how they grow acorns into mighty oak sapling that are planted around the park district. What makes a good acorn? Do mast years have an effect? How do you grow thousands of oaks a year? Wander with us to find out.…

Dan Comerford, Forestry Supervisor at Three Rivers Park District, walks us through how oak trees are managed in Three Rivers' parks. From dealing with oak diseases to determining where they are planted, learn what goes into caring for the oaks you can walk by in our parks.By Three Rivers Park District

Dr. Doug Tallamy, famous author, professor, and more wanders with us to discuss the one plant that can have the biggest impact in your yard, oaks. We discuss why oaks are such a powerful plant for biodiversity and turning your yard into a refuge for wildlife.By Three Rivers Park District

A swarm of wings that darkened the sky. Millions of bodies on railroad tracks that kept the trains from moving. Crops, clothes, and anything else organic eating. The Minnesota Grasshopper Plagues of the 1870's devastated the immigrants and settlers in the area. Zack Mohlis from Three Rivers' History Team joins us to discuss the Grasshopper Plagues.…

Dr. Hojun Song, from Texas A&M University's Department of Entomology discusses his research on how grasshopper songs have evolved. From cricket calls that evolved before ears to grasshoppers evolving ears to help them swarm, wander with us as we study the hopping orchestra.By Three Rivers Park District

Hop along with us as Marissa Schuh a University of Minnesota Extension Educator joins us to explore the common grasshoppers in the Twin Cities area, and what makes them special.By Three Rivers Park District

John Moriarty, Senior Wildlife Manager at Three Rivers Park District, returns to talk about how you prepare to reintroduced a rare or endangered butterfly. From planting thousands of host plants to working with Federal Agencies, wander with us as we see what goes into restoring what's been lost.By Three Rivers Park District

Land management or stewardship is a complex task, especially when you are managing nature on an Army Base. Jessup Weichelt, Land Manager at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin joins us to talk about managing habitat for rare and endangered butterflies, and what makes Army Bases so uniquely suited to this.By Three Rivers Park District

What is a state pollinator coordinator? Rebecca Gutierrez-Moreno, the State Pollinator Coordinator with the Environmental Quality Board, wanders with us to discuss this and explore how pollinators, especially butterflies, are doing in Minnesota.By Three Rivers Park District

Dr. Dan Larkin from the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at the U of M discusses invasive aquatic species, issues with current control methods, and how we can better work to improve treatment of them while protecting native plants.By Three Rivers Park District

Justin Valenty from our Water Resources team joins us to dive into how they monitor aquatic plants in the park district and some cool management techniques they are doing. This includes some rare Minnesota plants you can see in Three Rivers' parks!By Three Rivers Park District

Brandon faces his fears and dives with Angela below the water to explore the plants that call lakes, ponds, and rivers home. Donna Perleberg, Aquatic Plant Ecologist from the Minnesota DNR, talks with us about native plant species. We learn about the different type of plants living in the water, including a predatory plant!…

Sabrina Celis and Emily Althoff, graduate students at the University of Minnesota and members of Frenatae join us to learn about the bugs that keep soil healthy. From tiny springtails to animals with way too many legs, join us to learn about the different kinds of bugs and what they do in the soil.By Three Rivers Park District

Alex Romano from the Land Stewardship Project joins us to talk about how farmers are leading each other to sustainable practices and healthy soil. How can farmers teach each other sustainable soil practices and does it benefit them? Wander with us to find out.By Three Rivers Park District

Dr. Lee Frelich Director of the Center for Forest Ecology at the University of Minnesota wanders with us as we discuss what makes forest soil healthy around the Twin Cities. We discuss the impacts invasive earthworms have had on soil, and how a new species of earthworm, the jumping worm, is expected to impact forests.…

Meg Duhr, Three Rivers Invasive Species Supervisor and participant of Becoming an Outdoor Woman or BOW, and her BOW mentor Kathy Von Bank join us to discuss hunting Wild Turkeys, barriers to being able to hunt and how the DNR program BOW helps remove those barriers.By Three Rivers Park District

Nate Huck, Resident Game Bird Specialist, and Timothy Lyon, Research Scientist and Upland Game Project Leader, both from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wander with us to discuss the history of the introduction of Wild Turkeys in Minnesota, the ecological balance of managing a game bird, and research currently being done.…

Angela and Brandon go on their own hunt to figure out fact and fiction on the topic of turkeys. Can turkeys fly? How did they get their name? Did Benjamin Franklin really want them to be the national symbol of the United States? Tune in because the answers are beyond belief!By Three Rivers Park District

Teaching and engaging with nature takes many forms, from film, writing, creative art, and much more. Local writer, organizer, and film producer, Erin Sharkey, joins to discuss the power of nature in unearthing black history and memory, how we are guided by relationship building between people and the land for healing.…

Connecting everyone with the outdoors and wilderness continues to evolve, those stepping in to continue the legacy of outreach is changing, creating a spark of hope ahead to everyone feeling they belong. Interpretive naturalist, Katie Frias, shares how this force of change can come from educators to create a bright future of stewardship.…

Working in any aspect of the outdoors is rewarding to most, fresh air and endless curiosity. Join Angela, Brandon, and guest co-host Charity, as they talk with returning guest, Judy Voigt-Englund on her career working outdoors as a part of the wildlife team at Three Rivers and then later as an educator at our very own The Lowry Nature Center.…

Can humans and the land be in a mutualistic relationship? Jenna Grey-Eagle and Gabby Menomin from Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi share their thoughts on why we are, how approaching our relationship with the land as a mutualistic relationship benefits both us and the land, and how this view point impacts their work at Wakan Tipi Awayankapi.…

Dr. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, Curator of Mycology at the New York State Museum talks with us about how cultural biases impact how we study things like symbiotes. We discuss how the tools of science help us understand the world until they become dogmatic, and how to avoid those pitfalls in science.By Three Rivers Park District

Brandon and Angela explore the spectrum of symbiotes. From mutualistic relationships that are like you and your friend making each other better, to that one friend that just takes and takes, a.k.a. the parasite, and everything in between wander with us as we figure out the complex relationships that make up the world.…

Dr. Holly Menninger executive director of the Bell Museum wanders with us to discuss her research on the bugs found in your homes! Why are they there? What are they? Should you be worries? Learn all about the amazing variety of insects that share your home.By Three Rivers Park District

Dr. Robin Thomson the curator for the University of Minnesota Insect Collection joins us to talk about what running a bug library is like. With insect collections from the late 1800's to today, the Insect Collection provides an invaluable resource for studying bugs. From unidentified specimens, to figuring out how to organize a collection like this…

It is BYOB! Big Year of Bugs. The coordinator for the year, Bailey Kaul, joins us to discuss why Three Rivers is celebrating bugs for a year, the diversity of bugs, what bugs are, and why they are important.By Three Rivers Park District

White Earth Band of Chippewa member and Fond du Lac fire program manager Damon Panek as well as Rachel Olesiak, Research Plot Coordinator for the U of M Cloquet Forestry Center join us to talk about how the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Cloquet Science Center partnered to bring back cultural fire for the first time in 100 years…

Rebecca Crooks-Stratton, Secretary/Treasurer of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and leader of the Understand Native Minnesota campaign joins us to discuss why the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is working with Minnesota teachers to improve education in K-12 schools about Native history.…

Dr. Deondre Smiles, member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Assistant Professor at the University Of Victoria, Canada and his graduate student Aidan Gowland wander with us as we learn what Traditional Ecological Knowledge is, Western history with removing or co-opting the knowledge, and how Indigenous People are reclaiming it. We discuss why th…

Leslee Gutiérrez Carrillo is a local climate activist who joins us to share her personal story about why and how she has worked to combat climate change in Minnesota and how she deals with the stress and anxiety caused by climate change.By Three Rivers Park District

As our climate changes, the ways we manage parks have to change as well. Dr. Heidi Roop, Director of the University of Minnesota's Climate Adaptation Partnership and Joshua Booker, Zone Biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service join us to talk about the research they are doing to develop a climate change adaptation framework for National Wildl…

How is climate change affecting you? Brandon and Angela share stories of how the warmer winters are impacting their lives. Dr. Luigi Romolo, Minnesota State Climatologist, joins us to give specifics on how Minnesota's climate is changing, and some things you can do to help stop climate change.By Three Rivers Park District

Nighttime can bring a lot of fears of the unknown, what we can't see but can hear. Our imagination gets the best of us...but there is likely a reasonable explanation behind the various noises. One often overlooked nocturnal species is the Flying Squirrel. Michael Joyce, Wildlife Ecologist with Natural Resources Research Institute joins the podcast …

Kyle Johnson, Minnesota Biological Survey entomologist, wanders with us to discuss how moths in Minnesota are surveyed. How many moths are in Minnesota, Kyle is trying to find out. Are there new to science species in Minnesota. You Betcha! Can you help moths in your backyard? Tune in to hear Kyle's advice.…

The nights are getting longer, the aeolians of the wind creepier…What was that? Join Angela and Brandon for a night time excursion as they explore the sounds you can hear, and not hear, at night.By Three Rivers Park District

David Woods, Conservation Program Director for Urban Roots, joins us to discuss how Urban Roots in St. Paul works to encourage youth to enter careers in the outdoor field. Often Urban roots is the student's first job and Urban Roots teaches them the basics of having a job. A progressive employment model encourages the students to grow as their duti…

Birdability was created to help everybody bird. Virginia Rose, founder, and Michael Hurben, Birdability's local representative join us to discuss what Birdability is, why it is important to people with disabilities, and how Birdability provides resources for people with disabilities to bird.By Three Rivers Park District

Asha Shoffner, founder of FIWYGIN (Fusion) Outdoors and BIPOC Outdoors Twin Cities joins us to discuss the importance of having groups people can identify with to get them outside. She talks about why she created two different groups in the Twin Cities and how they meet the needs of two different groups of people.…

Did Brandon meet his match on puns? Find out as Dr. Solomon David, an aquatic biologist, assistant professor of biological sciences at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, one of the leading experts on gar, and punster extraordinaire joins us to discuss one of Minnesota's strangest fish, gar. From their strange shape, to studying their scales fo…

Tyler Winter, River Ecologist and Director of Native Fish for Tomorrow, joins us as we explore Minnesota's native fish. What are some things that make them special? Can you eat them? If, like Brandon you feel a little guilty fishing can you enjoy them in a non-extractive way? Wander with us as we find out the answers.…

Dr. Andrew Rypel, Professor at the University of California Davis and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Endowed Chair explores the underwater world of Minnesota and explains what a rough fish is. We push our knowledge upstream as we explore the history of these fish, why they are important to our lakes and rivers, and what we can do to help t…

Barry Knisley, Professor Emeritus of Randolph-Macon College & Rodger Gwiazdowski, Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst discuss what goes into protecting tiger beetles, why it is hard to put insects on the endangered species list, and Angela has some plans for the prairie.…

David Pearson, Research Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, joins us to talk about how tiger beetle species were named, why birds were integral to his interest in tiger beetles, and how to get involved in researching them.By Three Rivers Park District

Wander with us as we burrow into the world of a creature that can run so fast it can't see where it is going, Tiger Beetles! Alex Harman, PhD student at Oklahoma State University joins us to discuss the unique strategies it has as both a larva and adult to catch prey and how you can help researchers study tiger beetles.…

Sarah Fultz, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist with Xerces Society, talks with us about the insects that help maintain a healthy garden, how you can encourage them to live in your garden, and techniques for going pesticide free.By Three Rivers Park District

Jared Dyer, an entomology educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County New York wanders with us to discuss what Integrated Pest Management is, how parasitoid wasps help control unwanted species, and his research on one of those parasitoid wasps, the Samurai Wasp.By Three Rivers Park District