GeoTrek

The National Tropical Weather Conference is a reliable source of information as we head into the heart of hurricane season. This episode goes behind the scenes of the conference, interviewing Alex Garcia and Tim Smith, who provide leadership for both the weekly virtual conference and the in-person conference every April.

Peter Davis, award-winning lifesaving expert and water sports athlete, shares about hidden dangers in complex coastal environments. He also provides some life lessons about teamwork and preparing for all contingencies that are applicable both at the coast and far inland.

Chile peppers are a prolific food in New Mexico, showing up in omelettes, burritos, enchiladas, tacos, and even cheeseburgers. Dr. Stephanie Walker takes us behind the scenes in this episode to explore the history of this crop, as well as the impacts of weather and climate on its growth.

Students at the University of New Mexico are designing and deploying flood sensors to improve flood prediction models. Dr. Fernando Moreau and Dr. Su Zhang share about the unique culture in this university, where students are encouraged to create and innovate science, while involved in student mentorship. This work helps improve the prediction and response to flooding from monsoon rains in the sum...

Santa Rosa, New Mexico experienced a population explosion after the railroad came to town in 1901, and the city remained well-connected, as iconic Route 66 brought people through town from the Depression through the 1970s. Throughout its history, the town has experienced severe droughts and floods, with both hazards striking the town hard in 1937. On this podcast episode, local historian Dan Flore...

Join us for severe storm chasing on the Great Plains in this episode of the GeoTrek podcast. We cover chases in Texas, Minnesota, and South Dakota, including interviews with impacted people on the ground. We also interview Dr. Victor Gensini, severe storm researcher and storm chaser, to learn more about the science behind these storms and hear about his recent 10,000 miles of storm chasing this se...

In this episode, we travel the world featuring cutting-edge research from women in Earth and ocean science. Marta Marcos, associate professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca, Spain, shares her passion for oceanography and sea-level rise science. Sarah Piwetz, the stranding biologist at the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, provides insight into marine mammal stranding tren...

Oceanographer Dr. Ivan Haigh, associate professor in Coastal Oceanography at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, is our special guest on this podcast episode. We follow his journey from growing up in Africa, to oceanography research in the UK, to several years living by the sea in Western Australia. We also hear the story about how he and his wife were nearly victims of the 2004 Boxing...

Some scientists take creative or unconventional professional paths. This podcast features four such stories, recorded live at the EVAN2022 Conference in Orlando in May 2022. Get inspired by these interviews we conducted with Soenke Dangendorf, Assistant Professor at Tulane University; Joao Morim, Postdoc Researcher at University of Central Florida; Caroline Huguenin, doctoral candidate at the Univ...

The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Extreme Value Analysis and Application to Natural Hazards was hosted in May 2022 by the University of Central Florida in Orlando. One of the main themes shared at this conference was the importance of identifying extreme flood events from the past when analyzing flood risk for the future. This podcast features interviews with Jens Bender, Senior Pr...

Come cycling around Europe with Ola Mae in Part-2 of her 13-month, 9000-mile adventure. In this episode, we join Ola Mae in Portugal, fight a lot of mountain climbs in multiple countries, and then battle tremendous heat in southern Italy. But along the way we find a companion—a black cat named Friederyk, and then start the journey home before winter sets in. In the end, we discover some transforma...

Are you ready for an adventure? Come cycling around Europe with Ola Mae. This Polish-born adventurer-at-heart crossed 14 international borders on a 13-month, 9000-mile bicycle adventure from 2020 to 2021. Along the way, she learned a lot about herself and met a long-term companion — a black cat named Friederyk — in Southern Italy. This is part 1 of a 2-part podcast that is bound to be a fan favori...

A catastrophic ice storm crushed Upstate New York and portions of southern Canada in January 1998. Days of freezing rain left more than 3 inches of ice on trees, power lines, and utility poles, causing extended power outages during the coldest time of the year. Rouses Point, New York, a village on the border of Vermont and Quebec, Canada, fared better than many other locations because they started...

What would you do if your city was facing the threat of collapse from running out of water during an unprecedented drought? When Wichita Falls, Texas, faced this situation in the 2011–2015 drought, they found a creative solution only successfully implemented one other time in world history: direct reuse of wastewater for treated drinking water. In this episode, Daniel Nix, Utilities Operations Man...

Serving as a companion piece to the recent episode on the massive wildfire outbreak in Texas, we feature two experts on the topic of the relationship of wildfires to ecology. Dr. Kelly Lyons, professor of Biology at Trinity University in San Antonio, embarks on a field excursion with us into a recent burn zone to help us interpret the landscape. Matt Mccaw, President for the Texas Chapter of the S...

Scientists are predicting an active 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season. This episode explains the science behind these predictions. We also look back at factors driving recent active hurricane seasons, lessons learned from fieldwork, and emerging trends that coastal residents should understand to protect themselves and their communities.

Lessons learned from people who live in fire country

In this episode we bring forests and green spaces to you—in your community, home, or business. Jonathan Taylor, CEO and co-founder of Andromeda District, shares his vision for a new generation of green living. This Miami-based movement is passionate about bringing plants and green spaces into urban environments, and recently built the largest living green wall in the US in Nashville, Tennessee. We...

Artist John William Bailly, faculty fellow at Florida International University and the Artist in Residence Fellow at Miami’s Deering Estate, shares his passion for exploring the world, and how he lets cultural and natural excursions guide his art. This podcast explores landscapes and paints a contrast between tropical South Florida and the open spaces of Europe. Listeners on this episode are invit...

Sea-level rise has emerged as one of the greatest impacts of climate change. In this episode, Dr. Keren Bolter, a climate scientist from South Florida with a passion for sea-level rise education and communication, shares how communities can prepare for the impacts of this hazard. She shares that impacts may be more complex than people realize, but communities can find hope by planning ahead and ra...

Ice jam floods form when river ice jams along with pinch points and sharp turns in rivers after breaking up during warm or rainy weather. The ice jam acts as a dam, backing water up into riverine communities. This episode investigates the science and impacts of these unusual floods through interviews near the Pennsylvania-New York-New Jersey tri-state. Guests include Tom Vicchiariello, Director of...

It's amazing how much we rely on our phones and cell technology during major storms. In this episode, Jonathan Feuer, Vice President of Business Development for CellAntenna Wireless, shares insights about cellular technology with a special focus on natural disasters. He shares how Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) can be used to enhance cell service and gives advice on how homeowners, business own...

Leona Chereshnoski provides stories from one of the snowiest inhabited places on Earth, recorded at her family’s farmstead on the Tug Hill Plateau of Upstate New York. Leona provides practical insights related to the importance of removing heavy snow loads from roofs and winter driving safety. She also shares about the importance of snow in this region, as winter tourism is a large part of the loc...

German civil engineer Steffen Krei shares perspective on flood protection in Germany in this international episode of the GeoTrek podcast. This interview provides insights into Germany’s long-term flood records, major flood events, and efforts to protect the country in vulnerable ports like Hamburg. Mr. Krei also shares his personal reflections about growing up in East Germany, and how drastically...

Mark Rayome is the building code official in Camden, New York, a village in the heart of the snow belt that receives more than 200 inches of snowfall annually. This high-energy episode covers a wide variety of topics, including Mark's passion for history, cross-cultural experiences, building codes and waste water treatment. This interview is particularly applicable for people thinking about constr...