Central Coast Naturalist

In this episode, host Frankie Gerraty interviews Dan Palance, a marine ecologist and PhD candidate at UC Santa Cruz, about his research focused on the diet and distribution of marine top predators.

In this week's episode, host Frankie Gerraty chats with Georgia Third, a fisheries ecologist and PhD student at UC Santa Cruz. They chat about genetics, snorkeling in rivers, and all things steelhead trout.

This episode is part 2 of our conversation with Julia Harenčár, a botanist, evolutionary biologist, and PhD candidate at UC Santa Cruz. Frankie and Julia discuss weeds, evolution, and Julia's favorite plants!

In this episode, host Frankie Gerraty interviews Julia Harenčár, a botanist, evolutionary biologist, and PhD candidate at UC Santa Cruz. They discuss when and where to find wildflowers in Santa Cruz county, and how to identify them!

In this week's episode with host Niki Sridhar, we continue our conversation with Keenan Chau-Pech on effects of aquaculture facilities in Tomales Bay on the entire ecosystem!

On this episode, host Niki Sridhar interviews undergraduate researcher Keenan Chau-Pech on his recent project looking at ecosystem services of aquaculture facilities in Tomales Bay. Spoiler alert: birds are attracted to habitat created by aquaculture gear!

This week, hosts Frankie Gerraty and Nikka Malakooti discuss the biology underpinning the unique bioluminescence currently taking place along the Santa Cruz coastline.

In otter news, Frankie Gerraty covers a developing story about "841," a southern sea otter who has gotten too comfortable with humans—so comfortable, in fact, that she has been stealing surfboards!

In this episode, host Frankie Gerraty discusses the ecological effects of one of the most common and widespread human infrastructures: fencing.

In this week's episode, host Frankie Gerraty continues his conversation with Nicolás Cruz about prescribed and cultural burning. 

In this episode, host Frankie Gerraty talks to fire ecologist Nicolás Cruz about forest fires, cultural burning, and his research on the role of fire in wetland ecosystems. 

In this episode, host Frankie Gerraty discusses the important ecological roles that fallen trees play as they move from forests to rivers to oceans. 

On today's episode, host Niki Sridhar talks about the sunflower seastar. A now critically endangered species that plays an important role in kelp forest dynamics.

This week on the Santa Cruz Naturalist, Frankie talks to Moss Landing Marine Labs masters student Jacob Harris about ongoing efforts to restore Olympia oyster populations in Elkhorn Slough. 

This week on the Santa Cruz Naturalist, Frankie talks to UCSC marine mammal biologist Allison Payne about ocean acoustics and eavesdropping on rare, deep-ocean whales. 

Niki Sridhar continues her conversation with Aspen Ellis, discussing conservation strategies for protecting seabird populations. 

On this episode, Niki Sridhar speaks with PhD student at UC Santa Cruz, Aspen Ellis, about the life of a seabird ecologist and why seabirds are quite an extraordinary taxonomic group!

In this week's episode of Santa Cruz Naturalist, Chloe wraps up their series on the Norris Center by speaking with Dr. Gizelle Hurtado about community and outreach events, and where the field of natural history is going over the next 20 years. Even though this series is at an end, you can still visit the Norris Center! For more information, including the current operating hours, check out https://...

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist, Chloe sits down with Dr. Gizelle Hurtado, Assistant Director of the Norris Center.  We hear about Dr. Hurtado's background and some of the amazing work she does at the Norris Center

Chloe continues their conversation with Dr. Andy Kulikowski, the lead entomologist at the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History at UC Santa Cruz.  Dr. Kulikowski talks about how the Norris Center interfaces with education and conservation, and tells us about some interesting specimens in the museum. Norris Center Fall 2022 hours: Monday - Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 2pm

Chloe interviews expert entomologist Dr. Andy Kulikowski, to talk about his background as a naturalist and the future of natural history.

In this week's episode, and the second in the Norris Center series, Chloe continues her interview with Dmitrius Rodriguez, and together they speculate about the future of natural history.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist, Nikka interviews Chloe Rickards, M.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, about the mind-controlling Cordyceps fungus, which served as the inspiration for their award-winning entry for the Coha-Gunderson Prize in Speculative Futures at the UCSC Humanities Institute. To see the pieces we reference, check out Chloe's Instagram: @clo.makes.art 

In this second-parter interview with Sarah Mastroni, we learn more about the red algae responsible for lowering methane emissions from dairy cows.

In this week's episode of Santa Cruz Naturalist, and the first installment of the Norris Center Naturalist series, Chloe talks with Dmitrius Rodriguez about natural history, community science, and more.