My guest today is Siena Mckim. Siena is a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara studying sponges in the kelp forest, which is arguably one of the most iconic marine communities. In particular, she's looking at sponge symbionts - basically, the tiny marine organisms that use sponges as a habitat.

Today we hear about Siena's unique path to marine biology, developed in part from an unlikely interest in algae while at the University of Michigan, and accelerated by a love of SCUBA diving.

We then quickly transition to the wild diversity of sponges, including glass sponges the size of a minivan, to sponges that sneeze, and even carnivorous sponges! As mentioned, Siena is looking at sponge symbionts, so we discuss that research and some of the discoveries and mysteries that she is tracking.

Siena shares tons of fun facts in this episode, too. For example, I had to ask a cliché SpongeBob SquarePants question that might also be on your minds, but I was surprised at the answer! I'll just say that you'll have to listen to find out the reality of sponge fashion choices. And PLEASE read on below to see photos of some of these amazing creatures!

And of course, Siena offers tips for locating sponges yourself, whether on docks, in tidepools, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, or even in freshwater.

This interview was a lot of fun, and Siena's enthusiasm really shows. You can find Siena on Instagram as imlichentoday, and on iNaturalist with the same handle.

See the FULL SHOW NOTES for photos of many of the subjects discussed today!

Links To Topics Discussed
People and Organizations
George Matsumoto - MBARI researcher
Tom Turner's Lab at UCSB - and Tom on iNaturalist
Ologies episode w/ Cal Academy of Sciences' Rich Mooi about Echinology (Michael mentioned this episode during the interview)
Dockfouling w/ Cricket Raspett - past Nature's Archive episode with all of the ins and outs of finding cool marine creatures on docks.

Books and Videos
EVNautilus - YouTube channel that Siena recommends
MBARI - The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has an amazing YouTube channel - and look for them on social media, too!
YouTube Video of sponges filtering dye - Jonathan Bird's Blue World

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

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Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!