EpicEarth Podcast

If there's anyone who can tell us the truth about what's out there, it's this week's guest. Justin Crevier, a former diplomat for the State Department, regales us with his story of how typhoid got him interested in not only studying Earth analog processes (and having a blast with volcanoes), but also delving into a whole other world (literally) while studying dust devils on Mars! Hint: The Tasmani...

If you're intrigued, confused, or slightly bothered by the title of this episode, then you're going to want to listen to this week's guest! Meet Dr. Carina Minardi, a kick-butt, formally trained analytical chemist who made a major shift in her career by jumping out of the traditional lab environment and into starting her own organization, called STEM From. Among her many accomplishments, she is al...

....but, let's not call the whole thing off!! Why the title? Well, there's a saying in Tasmania that states "Never plant your tomatoes before Show Day" (which is the 4th Saturday in October). But, according to Edward Doddridge - a research associate in physical oceanography at the University of Tasmania - it turns out that with warmer and longer summers globally (which means, they are starting ear...

We cannot be more thrilled to introduce our guest this week! Sharon Backhouse is the Director of GeoTenerife, a UK and Spanish company that organizes field trips and training programs in the sunny Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are a topographically- and bio-diverse archipelago south of Spain, and west of Morocco. Apart from their stunning beauty, they also are the site of the 2021 La Palma er...

Join us this week as we interview Thomas Farrell, a PhD Geoscience student at Boise State. If you ever need to know the time...as in, deep time...then Thomas is the person to ask! Thomas literally floats through life (not figuratively...he's seriously one of the hardest working students we know!), as his research takes him on rafting adventures through the multi-colored, and fossil-ridden Gran...

We think if sediment transport had a theme song, it would be Tina Turner's version of "Proud Mary"...you know, because all that sediment is "rolling on the river." See...we can make puns and jokes in literally any field of Geoscience...including river science.  Also, singing a song might be a little easier to digest than the impressive research areas of Fluid Mechanics and...

Meet Nora Honkomp, a MS student in the Raptor Biology program at Boise State University - or as she likes to call herself, a "certified bird nerd". Join us as she elaborates on her research in the global change ecology of birds, more specifically, migratory raptors, whose seasonal migratory patterns may be changing due to changes in the climate and the environment. Nora also espouses cit...

Did you know glaciers are a lot like checking accounts? There's a budget where adding snow and ice to them is positive, and there are all the expenditures in the billions of gallons of water that are lost from glaciers every year. That's how our next guest, Aman KC, describes his research in Kalaallit Nunaat, which we commonly refer to as Greenland. Join us as Aman tells us how remote sensing is u...

If you didn't already know, there's another side to studying volcanoes.  While most people think of the "big picture" aspects of volcanoes (like the lahars that Ashley studies) they don't often think of the small-scale aspects - which are JUST as important. Join us as we interview BSU Geoscience Ph. D. student, Jade Bowers, who uses petrology like a detective uses clues to understand a rare p...

Join us as we interview STEM enthusiast, Earth Science junkie, and one of the coolest people doing amazing outreach in the community, Mattie Honea. Mattie currently works in Boise State's COBE Career Services, but her background with the Discovery Center and Girl Scouts has provided EPIC STEM opportunities to hundreds of youth in the Boise area.  Mattie shares with us some of her favorite sto...

This week, we interview Ph. D. Geoscience Education Research Candidate, Greg Shafer. If you're wondering what the workforce and job perspective for geoscience career paths look like, then you'll want to listen to this episode.  His work is pioneering the way for research and influencing how private and public sector agencies are advertising, offering, and recruiting young professionals into t...

Join us as we interview one of the most laid back graduate students you'll ever meet, Maggie Holahan.  She may be studying a "stressed" volcano that has to blow off a lot of steam, but Maggie uses her knowledge of the outdoors and her research with infrasound to understand eruption patterns of Steamboat Geyser - currently the World's most active tallest geyser tucked away in the heart of Yell...

Meet Angela Seibert, a down to Earth BSU Master's student, working in the Boise Center Aerospace Lab (BCAL). She's a quiet scientist but with a big heart!  Angela does it all, from rollerblading to snowsports, to painting to fighting the good fight in environmental justice. She does all of this while using LiDAR to make 3D models of peatlands and measure vegetation structure.  The Earth...

This episode really brings something special to the STEM stories. For the first time in Epic Earth history, we interview not just one amazing STEM go-getter, but THREE! And they are some of Boise State's finest and most well-respected! Meet: Eric Jankowski: an associate professor in the Micron School of Materials Science and engineering where he uses computing to understand organic materials for s...

Meet Danielle Marquette - a kick butt Geoscience Masters student at Boise State sharing her wealth of knowledge with grade school kids. We have always been taught not to play with fire, but that's exactly what Danielle does in order to teach local students about climate change and wildfires in Idaho. Join us as we delve into this FIREY tale of Epic proportions and "hot" topics (it's the end of the...

We can probably all relate to the saying "With Great Powder, Comes Great Responsibilty". At least, that's what our Epic star for this episode thinks! Meet Brent Wilder - a PhD Geoscience student at Boise State working with the SnowEx Project. His research combines all sorts of cool remote sensing tools to examine the impact of wildfires and climate change on snowpack distributions here in Idaho. J...

Let's face it...it was only a matter of time before we interviewed Jerry Mock, Geophysics Masters student at BSU, who is doing some awesome work with drones and lahar (volcanic mudflow) drainages! Join us as Jerry explains how being a non-traditional student has its perks and how he ended up on a project that works exclusively with remote controlled aerial vehicles. We also learn some of the cleve...

Say hello to Lauren Lynam - a fun loving graduate of Chapman University, who double majored in Environmental Science & Policy and Economics, and also is certified in Applied Statistical Analysis. She not only has an impressive undergraduate degree, but has also been published in the journal Water - discussing the projections of California's droughts through the year 2100. Join us as we learn h...

On this episode of EpicEarth, we interview BSU PhD Geoscience student, Mac Beers. Mac studies hydrology and water resources in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed close to Boise to understand water resources in the Western US that can help facilitate balancing the needs of humans with those of the natural systems we live with. Join us as we find out why his work is analogous to a medical doctor e...

Meet Lisa Hecht, an inspirational woman in the STEM field, who is influencing the environment in a big way. Join us as we talk to Lisa about her background in engineering, her work as a life coach, and her ambition and motivation to reduce her carbon footprint by two-thirds! Lisa explains to us how small changes can have a big impact, and how easy it can be to reduce your carbon footprint in half...

Meet Jenna Rolle, a fun-loving Paleobiologist who is the Director of Education at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and Sea Center, California. Jenna's past research has included bioluminescent bacteria, and in her own words "how, why, and when they got so glowy". She also has participated in teaching a course called "Dinosaurs" (which, perhaps a little misleading, is a course that inclu...

Join us as we interview U.S. Geological Survey Research Geologist, Graham Lederer. Graham works for the agency in Reston, Virginia and studies the supply of materials important to society through material analysis and mineral resource assessment. Are you curious to know what critical elements are needed to use your iPhone touchscreen? Why Tungsten is used in the production of so many things? Where...

Dámaso Alonso, a writer from Madrid, once wrote "Tal vez sea verdad: que un corazón es lo que mueve el mundo" (Perhaps it is true: it is a heart which moves the world). Nothing could be truer of our guest this week, Armando Pineda, whose heart and soul shines through his work. Join us as we interview our Guatemalan colleague and learn all about his amazing work as a first responder and volcano ent...

Move over Captain Planet, there's some new Planeteers in town. And with their forces combined, they are helping us think globally, and act locally! Join us as we interview Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, a research scientist who works for Boise State University and the Natural Hazards Center at CU-Boulder and is a co-founder of the Hazard and Climate Change Resilience Institute (HCRI). Learn how HCRI i...

Join us as we interview cool PhD student, Rainey Aberle, from Boise State who works with the CryoGARS (Cryosphere Geophysics and Remote Sensing) Lab to remotely sense icebergs, ice sheets, and all things ice in Antarctica. She discusses how work at Mt. Rainier, WA was her inspiration for studying glaciers - a true "love at frost sight" story - and how field work, in general, is always re-inspiring...