Science Moab

Taming Tamarisk by Peggy Hodgkins

Monsoons in the desert southwest rely on a seasonal wind shift to occur. They don’t always materialize. When they come, though, the drastic change in weather and rainfall amounts can often lead to flash floods in a sun-parched desert. We talk with Megan Stackhouse from the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, CO. We talk about the difficulty in predicting rainfall and flooding in arid envir...

As the number of climbers grows across the country, so does the number of climbing visitors to Indian Creek (San Juan County, UT). Concern is rising for the conservation of the climbing resource and the fragile desert ecosystem it sits in. This is the second of two podcasts dedicated to the recent attention in this climbing area. We talk with Ty Tyler, Stewardship Director for the Access Fund - a...

The number of climbers coming to Indian Creek (San Juan County, UT)has increased like so many outdoor recreation areas. The resource, though, is limited at Indian Creek. This is the first of two podcasts dedicated to this climbing area and the attempts being made to preserve the resource. We talk with David Carter, assistant professor of public policy and administration at the University of Utah’s...

The invasive quagga mussel found its way into Lake Powell in 2012. This rapidly spreading nuisance species is affecting the lake’s ecology, namely its fish population. We talked with biologist Nathan St. Andre about his work with the stable isotopes in the fish of Lake Powell and how they are changing with the presence of the quagga mussel. The results echo a broader geographical division in the L...

The unique ecosystem of Southwestern Utah includes bits of the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin. Here you can find 18 of the 23 species of lizards in the state of Utah. Some species are found nowhere else. Dr. Geoffrey Smith, professor of physiology at Dixie State University, lives in this part of the world for this reason. We talk with him about his work with lizards, in p...

The sheer number of recreationists in southern Utah has brought the subject of human waste in the backcountry to a head. The Southeast Utah Health Department is spearheading a campaign to educate visitors and tourists about having a bathroom plan when recreating. We talk with Ginger Allen, the Environmental Stewardship Coordinator at the SEUHD, about the interagency message and a public health cam...

There are lots of different forms of knowledge, from place-based, community knowledge to science in laboratories. When this wide diversity of understanding isn't listened to or valued, we all lose out. Here, Science Moab speaks with Dr. Sabah Ul-Hasan, who grew up near the Great Salt Lake, about their experience as a scientist studying bioinformatics and how bringing inclusive understandings into...

Soil mapping involves interpreting landscapes, how soil changes across it, and a bit of art to represent repeatable patterns in a map. The mapping of soils began in the U.S. in the 1930’s as a result of the Dust Bowl, but many remote areas in the West are just getting mapped for the first time. Soil scientist Kristi Mingus talks to Science Moab about her work mapping soils in remote areas of Emery...

When dinosaurs roamed the earth, Southeast Utah was a coastal paradise. Dinosaurs flourished in this utopia in numbers and variety of species unlike any other place. This coupled with the effective preservation of the bones in the rock, make Southeast Utah mecca for paleontologists young and old. Science Moab speaks with John Hankla from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and a few of his recen...

Mike and Jenny Fiebig traveled for 183 days over 1800 miles from the source of the Green River in the Wind River Range to where the Colorado River enters the Sea of Cortez. Using canoe, packraft, and a dory, the couple traversed the length of the river system with all its rapids, dams, and reservoirs. Science Moab talks with Jenny and Mike about the Colorado River Basin health, stewardship, and co...

When puffy white clouds appear in the sky above a hot arid landscape, one may wonder “where is that moisture coming from?”. The desert southwest is unique in many ways and the weather patterns are no exception. We talk about weather with Tony Merriman, meteorologist and outreach coordinator from the National Weather Service office in Flagstaff, AZ. We discuss the large and small scale factors that...

The humpback chub have been swimming in the wild and turbulent waters of the Colorado River Basin for 3 million years. They have been endangered since 1967 following the building of dams along the Colorado River and its tributaries and the introduction of non-native predatory fish. We talk with Brian Healy, the Native Fish Ecology and Conservation Program manager at Grand Canyon National Park, and...

To understand geologic time, you have to stretch your mind across knowledge sets and time scales. That’s exactly what geologist and paleontologist Kevin Madalena has done as he’s worked to understand and defend the fossil record and cultural sites on Ancestral lands. Here, we speak with him about how he has crossed scientific disciples and knowledges to understand the deep past and help safeguard...

The Willow Flycatcher’s song is innate... it is not a learned song but something ingrained in its DNA. Because of this and the fact that the songs are unique among subspecies, the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher is protected under the Endangered Species Act. We talk with Dr. Sean Mahoney who studies the ecology of plants, birds, and insects. His work with the Willow Flycatcher and its song is impor...

Educating visitors about the Colorado Plateau landscape is necessary to keeping it intact. It's something that storyteller and guidebook author Morgan Sjogren has been trying to do as she's told stories and written books about the region. Here, we speak with Morgan about what she sees as the role of storytellers on Plateau and the need for diverse voices when educating about and conserving this pl...

Behind the management and policies of the Colorado River System is a computer model...The Colorado River Simulation System (CRSS) is a continuously evolving model that has been revised and modified over a 40-year period. We talk with Dr. Kevin Wheeler who is an important interpreter and translator of the model for stakeholders. We discuss how using the model to explore alternative management strat...

Potholes on the Colorado Plateau are depressions primarily in the sandstone, unassociated with any drainage, that are home to ephemeral pools of water. These potholes provide shelter for life in a hostile environment and many species have survived to the modern day only because these rain filled pools are available. We speak with biologist/ecologist Tim Graham about the types of organisms that hav...

Science and conservation in the United States is made up of primarily white scientists and Western ways of thinking. This is something that Sergio Avila saw clearly when he first came to the US from Mexico to study mountain lions and jaguars along the border. Here, we speak with Sergio about his experiences in conservation and the need to incorporate diverse ways of thinking into science that incl...

The Bears Ears region is a place held sacred to Native people across the Colorado Plateau. It’s also a place that has a complicated history with Western archaeologists, who at times harmed cultural sites that hold tremendous significance to Native communities. Here, we speak with Ralph Burrillo, whose pen name is R.E. Burrillo, about the scientific and natural history of the Bears Ears region and...

Arches are always vibrating. The unique size and shape of each arch produces a unique wave frequency that it vibrates at. We talk with Jeff Moore and Paul Geimer from the University of Utah Geohazards Research Group who study the seismology or movement of natural rock spans.

In Moab, climate change has greatly reduced the size of the wetlands and many of the mosquitoes’ natural predators that used to live there have also disappeared. Now when the floodwaters do come and fill up the wetlands, mosquitoes reproduce relentlessly. We speak with Shannon Amsberry, manager of Moab Mosquito Abatement, about how he and his team are keeping the mosquito population under control.

The Colorado River Basin provides water for communities across the West, from the Front Range of Colorado to the coast of California. Increase in use, along with climate change, have resulted in extremely low water levels for the Colorado River Basin and its reservoirs. We speak with Brian Richter about the hazards of such low water levels and what is being done to mitigate the risks.

Biological soil crusts—mosses, lichens, and bacteria that live on the surface of dryland soils—perform crucial functions in desert ecosystems. Some species make nitrogen available for nearby plants. Others are huge carbon sinks. In this episode, Michala Phillips, a postdoctoral researcher at the Southwest Biological Science Center, explains how drought, temperature increases, and physical disturba...

When it comes to arid climates, junipers are some of the toughest trees around. But in the past two years, southeastern Utah has seen huge swathes of them die off. In this episode, Steven Kannenberg, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah, explains why so many junipers are struggling to survive.