Environmental and Earth Sciences

Arctic Science, Geography, Geology, Oceanography, Hydrology, Glaciology, Seismology, Meteorology, Climate Science, Limnology, Remote Sensing, Natural Resources, Mining, Green Tech, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Archeology, Paleontology

As One Looks at the Stone, the Questions Arise – SHA 2024 Conference Presentation

Steph Halmhofer Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, General Science
Happy 2024, everyone! I recently returned from the Society of Historical Archaeology annual conference in Oakland, California, which is always held at the start of the year. This year I was invited to present a paper as part of an excellent session on frontier mythologies, which gave me an opportunity to jump into something I...

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Gloria Pancrazi: On Endangered Orcas, Endangered Humans and Making Movies that Change the World

Mark Leiren-Young Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Policy and Politics
Filmmaker Gloria Pancrazi (Coextinction) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about red herrings, fishy fish farms, whale watching, whale saving and Coextinction. “Orcas are telling us something. They’re showing us something. You can learn a lot about the things we’ve got to do in the world right now by looking at these orcas.” Shownotes: 3:35...

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Baja Buddies: the Boojum Tree & Cacti

chloevanloon Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Environmental and Earth Sciences
Thanksgiving this year was spent road-tripping through Baja California, with botany on the brain. What’s new? Two plants really stuck out, dotting the landscape along most of our route. Looking back at photos, they really felt like buddies, plant buddies of the Baja. Who are they? The Boojum and ever present cacti! Starting from Tecate, and...

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Increasing melting of West Antarctic ice shelves may be unavoidable – new research

Kaitlin Alexander Environmental and Earth Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics
Evgeny Kovalev SPB/Shutterstock Kaitlin Naughten, British Antarctic Survey; Jan De Rydt, Northumbria University, Newcastle, and Paul Holland, British Antarctic Survey Originally published at The Conversation based on research published in Nature Climate Change The rate at which the warming Southern Ocean melts the West Antarctic ice sheet will speed up rapidly over the course of...

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Danna Staaf: On Alien Octopuses, Squid Squads and Why Baby Animals Rule

Mark Leiren-Young Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Policy and Politics
Cephalopod expert Danna Staaf (author of The Lady and the Octopus and Monarchs of the Sea) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about the alien world of octopuses, the secret lives of squid and her two new books Nursery Earth: The Wondrous Lives of Baby Animals and the Extraordinary Ways They Shape Our World and...

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California’s Flaming-Trumpet, Collomia rawsoniana

chloevanloon Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Environmental and Earth Sciences
In this week’s edition of Floral Friday, I explore an incredibly beautiful but shy and elusive flower from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It’s not news that California has an exceptionally rich array of flora, including some exceptionally rare and unique plant species. If you’ve read some of my other posts, I enjoy highlighting...

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Jason Colby: On the Capture of Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and How Penn Cove Almost Ended the Southern Resident Orcas

Mark Leiren-Young Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Policy and Politics
Jason Colby (author of Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator) talks with Skaana host Mark Leiren-Young about the capture of Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and how Penn Cove almost ended the southern resident orcas and was the beginning of the end of the capture era. “It’s worth remembering that the argument at...

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Howard Garrett: On the Life and Death of the Orca Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut

Mark Leiren-Young Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Policy and Politics
Howard Garrett (Orca Network) remembering the southern resident orca Toki/Tokitae/Lolita/Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and his nearly thirty year fight to bring Toki home to the Salish Sea. “Toki’s legacy is building, building, building by the day… She wasn’t just a circus animal. She was a member of the southern residents.” Shownotes: 0:00 The voice of Toki. 4:57 How...

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