BioScience Talks

Today's episode is a mostly onsite podcast from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where BioScience Talks was graciously hosted earlier this spring by the Association of Southeastern Biologists at their annual meeting. Our guests represent a broad range of exciting research and career stages. The meeting was striking in its emphasis on providing a welcoming environment for students. Learn more about ASB here (https://www.sebiologists.org), and be sure to attend a meeting. Our guests included: Amy Allen, Lee High School; Barbara Comer, Georgia Southern University; Skyler Fox, Georgia Southern University; Heather Joesting, Georgia Southern University; Chinyere Knight, Tuskegee University; Howard Neufeld, Appalachian State University; Jeremy Rentsch, Francis Marion University; Jennifer Rhode Ward, University of North Carolina Asheville; and Ashleigh Woods, Wesleyan College.

For this episode of BioScience Talks, we're joined by DeeAnn Reeder, Professor of Biology at Bucknell University and a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution. We spoke about a number of topics, including bats, disease ecology, and community outreach. Underlying that conversation was an important message about the One Health concept, which will be the subject of a forthcoming special issue of BioScience. 

Potential contributors to the One Health special issue can find more information here. 

Read Dr. Reeder's latest paper, Ecological countermeasures to prevent pathogen spillover and subsequent pandemics | Nature Communications.

For today's episode, we're joined by Catalina Munteanu, Researcher at the University of Frieberg in Germany, who has a background in geography and forest sciences. Also joining us is Volker Radeloff, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the SILVIS Lab, where he works on satellite imagery to look at land use. They were here to discuss the potential value of images from Cold War-era spy satellites for current ecological research and practice. 

Read their article in BioScience.

Captions are available on YouTube.

For today's episode, we're joined by Thomas Meinzen, recent Master's of Science graduate from Montana State University in Bozeman, Diane Debinski, who is a Professor and Department Head in the Department of Ecology at MSU, and Laura Burkle, a Professor also in the MSU Ecology Department. They were here to talk about the subject of their recent BioScience article, roadside verges, and in particular, the way that these habitats may prove to be a boon—or bane—for pollinating insects. 

Captions are available on YouTube.

For today's episode, we're joined by Avery Paxton, who is a Research Marine Biologist with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Chris Taylor, Research Ecologist, also with NOAA's NCCOS, and Melanie Damour, who is a Marine Archeologist and the Environmental Studies Coordinator with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Gulf of Mexico Region Office. They were here to discuss their recent BioScience article on "Shipwreck Ecology," and the ways in which these sites can be hotspots for biodiversity—and also for research. 

Read the article here. 

Captions can be found on YouTube. 

For today's episode, we jump back to last spring's Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Our guest is Sinlan Poo, Curator of Research at the Memphis Zoo and one of the co-organizers of the Global Women in Herpetology Project. You may remember her from a previous interview, but we recorded an extra mini-podcast to talk about the book "Women in Herpetology: 50 Stories from Around the World," which features a diverse group of authors describing their journeys to and through the world of herpetology. Proceeds from the book's sales will fund a conference scholarship for women students. 

Captions are available on YouTube. 

For today's episode of BioScience Talks, we're joined by Dr. Simone Soso, Assistant Director of Research and Workforce Development at the MSI STEM Research & Development Consortium. She was here to discuss the NSF-funded Re-Envisioning Culture (or REC) Network and its recent activities. I'll let her tell you more, though, so let's go to the interview.

Captions are available on YouTube.

In this episode, we're joined by Jeremy Bruskotter, faculty member and Professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University and John Vucetich, Distinguished Professor at Michigan Technological University, in the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. They were here to talk about their recent article in BioScience on the governance issues related to rewilding, or the restoration of native species to their traditional ranges. Read the article here.

Captions are available on YouTube.

Our guest for this episode of BioScience Talks is Adam Sepulveda, Research Scientist with the US Geological Survey's Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in Bozeman, Montana. He joined us to talk about READI-Net, an environmental DNA-based program that was recently funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill as a priority for addressing aquatic invasive species. Learn more about READI-Net here. 

Captions are available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2G-6AEwJE8Y

Today’s episode features three representatives of the Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS), which is an American Institute of Biological Sciences member organization. We discussed many topics related to field stations, including the research performed there, as well as the ways that field stations collaborate through organizations like OBFS and AIBS to improve their research, education, and outreach efforts.

Our guests were:

Lara Roketenetz, Director of the University of Akron Field Station, in Ohio. She is also currently serving as President of the Organization of Biological Field Stations. 

Rhonda Struminger, Codirector and Cofounder of the Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas "Aguazarca" (CICHAZ), in Calnali, Hidalgo, Mexico. She is also affiliated with the University of Padova, in Italy, and is Cochair of the OBFS's International Committee. 

 Chris Lorentz, Professor of Biological Sciences at Thomas More University and Director of Ohio River Biology Field Station. He is currently serving as Past President of OBFS. 

Learn more about OBFS and their ongoing efforts on their website.

Captions can be found on YouTube.