Bison Jam

In our third season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the wildlife of Yellowstone. For this episode of season three, we are visiting with Dr. John Wendt. Dr. Wendt is an Assistant Professor of Rangeland Ecosystem Management in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at New Mexico State University. He investigates how herbivores, fire, and climate shape landscapes over time. His research integrates rangeland ecology, paleoecology, and biomolecular methods to understand long-term disturbance dynamics and ecosystem adaptation. In this episode, we talk about his work reconstructing historical bison populations, why bison are a climate-resilient species, and how he uses bison poop to reconstruct where they were on the Yellowstone landscape thousands of years ago. We hope you enjoy the podcast and we thank you for listening!

In our third season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the wildlife of Yellowstone. For this episode of season three, we are visiting with Andi Puchany. Andi has been a fish biologist with the National Park Service since 2022. Her Ph.D. research aims to evaluate alternative methods to monitor Yellowstone cutthroat trout throughout the Yellowstone Lake Watershed. She shares all about the life history of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and how they almost went extinct when invasive lake trout established a population in Yellowstone Lake. Andi also provides a look into the life of a fish biologist, including what her days on the water are like, and all the new technologies she is using to track the recovery of Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations. We hope you enjoy the podcast and we thank you for listening!

In our third season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the wildlife of Yellowstone. For this episode of season three, we are visiting with Casey Anderson, an Emmy nominated filmmaker, an adventurer and explorer, who has appeared on Nat Geo WILD, BBC, PBS, Travel Channel, and Discovery Channel. Casey has probably had more grizzly bear encounters than almost anyone in the world. He shares why he thinks grizzly bears are misunderstood and provides examples from his time raising an orphaned grizzly bear named Brutus. Casey's insights into the lives of grizzly bears and their behavior is truly fascinating. We hope you enjoy the podcast and we thank you for listening!

In our third season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the wildlife of Yellowstone. For this episode of season three, we are visiting with Marcus Hockett, the host of Fresh Tracks Weekly and a senior field producer at On Your Own Adventures. Marcus has spent more time on Western public land than anyone else I know and has a passion for bighorn sheep. He shares stories from his time conducting research on bighorn sheep in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; including a day with sheep, multiple bears, and wolves! We hope you enjoy the podcast and we thank you for listening!

In our third season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the wildlife of Yellowstone. For the first episode of season three, we are visiting with Randy Newberg, a hunter, conservationist, and public lands advocate. Randy is the founder and owner of Fresh Tracks and On Your Own Adventures, an outdoor media company with 96 million views on YouTube alone not counting his other distribution outlets. Randy shares all of his knowledge about elk with us, including why he thinks elk are one of the most important species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He also dives into why conserving the public land around Yellowstone National Park is vital to the overall health of this iconic ecosystem. We hope you enjoy the podcast and we thank you for listening!

Welcome to the third season of Bison Jam, a podcast that focuses on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This podcast shares stories of the people, wildlife, and places in this vast and wild ecosystem.

For our third season, we are excited to focus on the wildlife of Yellowstone. We will talk with Randy Newberg, a public lands advocate, about his love for elk and the importance of public land in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We’ll explore bighorn sheep with Marchus Hockett, who used to research them. Andi Puchany, a fish biologist, will share her work with Yellowstone Cutthroat trout. We also visit with Casey Anderson and try to dispel some of the myths about grizzly bears, while giving you a window into his time raising a grizzly bear named Brutus. Dr. John Wendt will give us insight into why bison might be one of the most climate resilient species out there. And Katy Duffy will share her love for all the seasonal avian residents of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

We will also have a couple more surprises to round out Season 3. I hope you enjoy this third season of Bison Jam and follow along as we explore the wildlife of Yellowstone! 

In our second season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the “hot side” of Yellowstone. In our final episode of this season, we are again talking with Dr. Dana Skorupa, Assistant Research Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Montana State University. Dr. Skorupa share stories of thermophile biotechnologies. Learn how thermophiles helped during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they help us solve crime, and how they might even help feed astronauts on their journey to Mars! We hope you enjoyed this season of Bison Jam, and we thank you for listening! Be sure to keep an eye out for season 3 coming in Summer 2026.

In our second season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the “hot side” of Yellowstone. In this episode, we are talking with Dr. Dana Skorupa, Assistant Research Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Montana State University. Dr. Skorupa explains what bioprospecting is and how Yellowstone's thermophiles could help human society! She also shares stories from her time conducting thermophilic research in Yellowstone's backcountry. We hope you enjoy the podcast, and we thank you for listening!

In our second season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the “hot side” of Yellowstone. In this episode, we are again visiting with Dr. Bill Inskeep, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences here at Montana State University. Dr. Inskeep shares about his lifelong research searching for new life in Yellowstone! He explains his work on metagenomics, and how microbial life in Yellowstone could give us clues about both the origins of life here on Earth and how life might survive on other planets! We hope you enjoy the podcast, and we thank you for listening!

In our second season of Bison Jam, we are focusing on the “hot side” of Yellowstone. In this episode, we are visiting with Dr. Bill Inskeep, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences here at Montana State University. Thermophiles are the tiny microorganisms that are often responsible for the beautiful colors around many of Yellowstone's thermal features, and Bill has been researching them in Yellowstone for 30 years! He shares all about the diversity of thermophiles found in the park. Why do certain species grow in certain places and how do these tiny microorganisms create all the fantastic colors visitors enjoy in the park? Bill has the answers for us! We hope you enjoy the podcast and we thank you for listening!