Come Rain or Shine

Kernza® is a small perennial grain with multiple environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration. We are joined by Nicole Tautges (Michael Fields Agricultural Institute) and Hana Fancher (The Land Institute) to learn more about the benefits and uses of Kernza®, as well as some of the challenges associated with growing this grain, and possible future directions. Photo credit: USDA Relevant l...

“Old growth” is a term often associated with forests, however scientists are beginning to realize that this concept also applies to other types of ecosystems, including grasslands, which provide a host of important ecosystem services. We interviewed Dr. Katharine Suding, a researcher at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, to learn more about old growth gras...

What’s behind the increasing size and severity of California’s wildfires? And if the trajectory continues, what does that mean for people living there? How has this trend already impacted residents? Three co-authors of a recent synthesis on drivers of wildfire in the Golden State share their main findings with us, as well as speculating on some possibilities for future solutions to living alongsid...

The John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora, New Mexico, aims to advance the understanding of restoration activities on forested areas in New Mexico through multidisciplinary research, education, and partner collaborations. The Center also provides science-based solutions for private, tribal, state, and federal forest managers, who face the threat of catastrophic fires due to overgrown...

Traditional burning, also known as cultural burning, is a form of under burning that has been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years to increase water runoff into streams, create habitats for plants and animals, recycle nutrients, and promote other ecosystem benefits. We interviewed  Diana Almendariz (Maidu/Wintún/Hupa/Yurok), cultural fire practitioner, and Nina Fontana (Ukrainian and...

We often talk about Climate Hope on this show, but what about Climate Anxiety? Perhaps even Climate Despair? These are very real emotions that many of us feel when thinking about this planet we call home. We sat down with Dr. Sarah Ray, author of the book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet . Dr. Ray shared with us some of her tips and advice on navigating t...

Water scarcity solutions, especially those solutions that allow for continued food production while reducing water use, are a critical component of coping with reduced water availability now and into the future. We interviewed Dr. Manoj Shukla about a current research project of his using microgravity drip irrigation technologies from Israel on an experimental farm in Southern New Mexico. Related...

We have been hearing a lot about biochar recently. Biochar is the charred material leftover after partially burning organic material, which is then used to improve soil health, remediate polluted soils, sequester carbon, and even improve soil water holding capacity and soil moisture. This month we spoke with Dr. Debbie Page-Dumerose and Dr. Nate Anderson, both with the USFS Rocky Mountain Research...

The impacts of climate change are threatening the resources in our national parks, including many of the cultural resources within them. This month we interviewed Lauren Meyer, Program Manager for the National Park Service Intermountain Historic Preservation Services Office, and Dr. Gregg Garfin, former director of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center consortium and climatologist at the...

We always like to ask our guests on this show what gives them hope as they think about the future and our changing climate, particularly with regard to the systems they work in. For our first episode of 2023, we made a collage of some highlights from our guests’ responses to this question. As this new year begins, we hope you’re finding things to fuel your fire, and perhaps you might find some add...

Ecological sites are the basic component of a land-type classification system that describes ecological potential and ecosystem dynamics of land areas. We interviewed Dr. Joel Brown, current leader of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s National Ecological Site Team, to learn more about ecological site descriptions, transitions and transformations, and some thoughts about rangeland ecolog...

Science education is critical in responding to future challenges, both in building awareness in our community and also building the skills to respond to some of our most pressing climate-related challenges, such as drought and water scarcity, wildfire, and food production under climate extremes. In this episode we speak with Dr. Stephanie Bestelmeyer, executive director of Asombro Institute for Sc...

Last month we heard from two experts on drought and aridity; this month we’re covering the other end of the spectrum and focusing on precipitation intensity and heavy downpours in the Southwestern US. Two hydrologic modelers, Dr. Dave Goodrich and Dr. Eleonora Demaria, discuss their research on intense precipitation events, as well as some of the implications of observed trends, associated challen...

Megadrought is a term we’ve been hearing a lot of lately, with, as we find out from one of our guests, somewhat varying definitions. The term megadrought is generally used to describe the length of a drought, and not its acute intensity. A related term, aridity, is the degree to which climate lacks effective, life-promoting moisture. Simply put, aridity is permanent, while drought is temporary. Bu...

We interview Dr. Mike Hoffmann about climate change and the foods we love and need. Dr. Hoffmann is one of the authors of Our Changing Menu, a book published in 2021 about a complicated and nuanced topic – how climate change is impacting our food supply. Relevant Links & Promo Codes: Our Changing Menu website: https://www.ourchangingmenu.com/   Promo code for 40% off the book if ordered from C...

Warming temperatures can exacerbate forest drought stress, reducing defenses to bark beetle outbreaks, wildfire, and tree diseases. Concern about losses within the forests of the Navajo Nation due to these stressors led to a partnership between the Navajo Forestry Department and a diverse group of scientists to assess the vulnerability of Navajo forests to climate change and develop strategies to...

Dr. Carolyn Enquist and Dr. Dave Gutzler discuss the making of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, particularly the Working Group II section that presents an assessment of the impacts of, and vulnerabilities and adaptations to, climate change, of which both were authors. They share with us the scope and purpose of the report, applicability for resource man...

Continuing our series on managing for ecosystem transformation, we sit down with Dr. Mark Schwartz, a plant ecologist at UC Davis, and Aviv Karasov-Olson, a PhD candidate at UC Davis, to discuss a new tool for assessing the biotic risks associated with a managed relocation project (also referred to as assisted migration). Managed relocation is the act of deliberately relocating, or translocating,...

How are extreme events transforming sequoia forests in the western US.? And what are land managers doing about it? Dr. Christy Brigham, Chief of Resources Management and Science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and Dr. Joanna Nelson, Director of science and conservation planning with Save the Redwoods League, visited with us to share their knowledge and experiences working to conserve t...

Impacts from rapid climate change are challenging traditional land & wildlife management strategies that were based on a stable baseline condition. In some locations we are already observing early-stage ecosystem reorganization in response to historic land management practices combined with recent novel climate stresses. Dr. Craig Allen and Dr. Nate Stephenson discuss how the convergence of cl...

A discussion around sustainability challenges and opportunities within the U.S. beef supply chain. Our guest for this episode is Dr. Sheri Spiegal, a rangeland scientist with the Jornada Experimental Range and Co-PI of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project. Dr. Spiegal shares insights with us from her ongoing research on beef supply chains, trade offs, and producing “socially acceptable beef”. Th...

An interview with world-renowned climate scientist and Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, on her most recent book titled Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World . All opinions expressed by our guests are their own. Relevant links and resources: Katharine Hayhoe’s website: http://www.katharinehayhoe.com/ Coming soon from Dr. Hayho...

The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project is a collaborative effort to establish experimental trials of climate change adaptation strategies across different forest ecosystems throughout the United States and Canada. According to the society of American Foresters, silviculture is “the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of fo...

In this episode, Drs. Sheri Spiegal, Shelemia Nyamuryekung'e, and Matt McIntosh roll up their sleeves and dig into answering some of the questions that producers have asked the team about the precision ranching technologies currently under research as part of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project. If you’re just tuning in for the first time and would like to know more about the Sustainable S...

2020 and the first half of 2021 were brutal drought years for the Southwest U.S. continuing a much longer term regional drought.  But this monsoon season brought welcome rain to many places in the region, with flowing washes and bright green vegetation. Many are asking, is the drought over? Surely if there is water in our usually dry washes, we must be out of drought. Unfortunately, this isn’t the...