The Wandering Naturalist

  Dr. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, Curator of Mycology at the New York State Museum talks with us about how cultural biases impact how we study things like symbiotes. We discuss how the tools of science help us understand the world until they become dogmatic, and how to avoid those pitfalls in science.  

Brandon and Angela explore the spectrum of symbiotes. From mutualistic relationships that are like  you and your friend making each other better, to that one friend that just takes and takes, a.k.a. the parasite, and everything in between wander with us as we figure out the complex relationships that make up the world.

Dr. Holly Menninger executive director of the Bell Museum wanders with us to discuss her research on the bugs found in your homes! Why are they there? What are they? Should you be worries? Learn all about the amazing variety of insects that share your home.  

Dr. Robin Thomson the curator for the University of Minnesota Insect Collection joins us to talk about what running a bug library is like. With insect collections from the late 1800's to today, the Insect Collection provides an invaluable resource for studying bugs. From unidentified specimens, to figuring out how to organize a collection like this, a lot goes into running it.    

It is BYOB! Big Year of Bugs. The coordinator for the year, Bailey Kaul, joins us to discuss why Three Rivers is celebrating bugs for a year, the diversity of bugs, what bugs are, and why they are important.     

White Earth Band of Chippewa member and Fond du Lac fire program manager Damon Panek as well as Rachel Olesiak, Research Plot Coordinator for the U of M Cloquet Forestry Center join us to talk about how the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Cloquet Science Center partnered to bring back cultural fire for the first time in 100 years. The Cloquet Science Center stopped Ojibwe from p...

Rebecca Crooks-Stratton, Secretary/Treasurer of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and leader of the Understand Native Minnesota campaign joins us to discuss why the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is working with Minnesota teachers to improve education in K-12 schools about Native history. 

Dr. Deondre Smiles, member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Assistant Professor at the University Of Victoria, Canada and his graduate student Aidan Gowland wander with us as we learn what Traditional Ecological Knowledge is, Western history with removing or co-opting the knowledge, and how Indigenous People are reclaiming it. We discuss why this knowledge is important and how parks are workin...

Leslee Gutiérrez Carrillo is a local climate activist who joins us to share her personal story about why and how she has worked to combat climate change in Minnesota and how she deals with the stress and anxiety caused by climate change.  

As our climate changes, the ways we manage parks have to change as well. Dr. Heidi Roop, Director of the University of Minnesota's Climate Adaptation Partnership and Joshua Booker, Zone Biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service join us to talk about the research they are doing to develop a climate change adaptation framework for National Wildlife Refuges in the Midwest.    

How is climate change affecting you? Brandon and Angela share stories of how the warmer winters are impacting their lives. Dr. Luigi Romolo, Minnesota State Climatologist, joins us to give specifics on how Minnesota's climate is changing, and some things you can do to help stop climate change.  

Nighttime can bring a lot of fears of the unknown, what we can't see but can hear.  Our imagination gets the best of us...but there is likely a reasonable explanation behind the various noises. One often overlooked nocturnal species is the Flying Squirrel. Michael Joyce, Wildlife Ecologist with Natural Resources Research Institute joins the podcast to put the spotlight on this nighttime creature....

Kyle Johnson, Minnesota Biological Survey entomologist, wanders with us to discuss how moths in Minnesota are surveyed. How many moths are in Minnesota, Kyle is trying to find out. Are there new to science species in Minnesota. You Betcha! Can you help moths in your backyard? Tune in to hear Kyle's advice. 

The nights are getting longer, the aeolians of the wind creepier…What was that? Join Angela and Brandon for a night time excursion as they explore the sounds you can hear, and not hear, at night. 

David Woods, Conservation Program Director for Urban Roots, joins us to discuss how Urban Roots in St. Paul works to encourage youth to enter careers in the outdoor field. Often Urban roots is the student's first job and Urban Roots teaches them the basics of having a job. A progressive employment model encourages the students to grow as their duties and responsibilities increase as the student's...

Birdability was created to help everybody bird. Virginia Rose, founder, and Michael Hurben, Birdability's local representative join us to discuss what Birdability is, why it is important to people with disabilities, and how Birdability provides resources for people with disabilities to bird.  

Asha Shoffner, founder of FIWYGIN (Fusion) Outdoors and BIPOC Outdoors Twin Cities joins us to discuss the importance of having groups people can identify with to get them outside. She talks about why she created two different groups in the Twin Cities and how they meet the needs of two different groups of people.  

Did Brandon meet his match on puns? Find out as  Dr. Solomon David, an aquatic biologist, assistant professor of biological sciences at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, one of the leading experts on gar, and punster extraordinaire joins us to discuss one of Minnesota's strangest fish, gar. From their strange shape, to studying their scales for use as body armor, to the behind the scenes of...

Tyler Winter, River Ecologist and Director of Native Fish for Tomorrow, joins us as we explore Minnesota's native fish. What are some things that make them special? Can you eat them? If, like Brandon you feel a little guilty fishing can you enjoy them in a non-extractive way? Wander with us as we find out the answers.

Dr. Andrew Rypel, Professor at the University of California Davis and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Endowed Chair explores the underwater world of Minnesota and explains what a rough fish is. We push our knowledge upstream as we explore the history of these fish, why they are important to our lakes and rivers, and what we can do to help these native fish.  

Barry Knisley, Professor Emeritus of Randolph-Macon College & Rodger Gwiazdowski, Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst discuss what goes into protecting tiger beetles, why it is hard to put insects on the endangered species list, and Angela has some plans for the prairie.

David Pearson, Research Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, joins us to talk about how tiger beetle species were named, why birds were integral to his interest in tiger beetles, and how to get involved in researching them.  

Wander with us as we burrow into the world of a creature that can run so fast it can't see where it is going, Tiger Beetles! Alex Harman, PhD student at Oklahoma State University joins us to discuss the unique strategies it has as both a larva and adult to catch prey and how you can help researchers study tiger beetles.   

Sarah Fultz, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist with Xerces Society, talks with us about the insects that help maintain a healthy garden, how you can encourage them to live in your garden, and techniques for going pesticide free.  

Jared Dyer, an entomology educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County New York wanders with us to discuss what Integrated Pest Management is, how parasitoid wasps help control unwanted species, and his research on one of those parasitoid wasps, the Samurai Wasp.