This special episode of Collaborative for the Earth (C4E) examines how U.S. efforts to move away from fossil fuels collide with surging electricity demand from AI and data centers, prompting companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to pursue nuclear power. 

Distributed by American Public Media from January through April 2026, C4E presents in its first national radio broadcast the history of nuclear energy in the United States, from Eisenhower’s 1953 “Atoms for Peace” through Three Mile Island, and changing public opinion under the Trump administration. Today, approximately 94 reactors supply just over 18% of U.S. utility-scale electricity. The narrative episode explores the restarting of shuttered plants, the promise and skepticism around small modular reactors, and shifts in energy policy as climate solutions that were discussed during an April 2025 Governor’s Island forum debate, in partnership with The New York Climate Exchange.

Learn more with: 

SBU’s Collaborative for the Earth Debuts National Broadcast Special on Nuclear Energy

SBU Hosts 2nd Annual Environmental Forum on Nuclear Energy’s Role in Climate Solutions

Understanding Nuclear Energy with C4E’s ‘Nuclear 101’ Conversation

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

01:25 Three Mile Island Shock

04:05 Nuclear Numbers Shift

05:54 Why This Podcast

07:21 AI Power Hunger

11:13 Restarting Old Reactors

13:47 Debating Nuclear Role

20:47 Safety After Fukushima

25:34 Regulation Lessons Learned

27:01 Nuclear Waste Dilemma

31:31 Do We Need Nuclear

32:50 Long Island Case Study

35:28 Build Times and Costs

37:23 Safety Versus Speed

41:10 Geopolitics and Supply Chains

45:43 Four Paths to Expand

47:43 Small Modular Reactor Hype

51:55 Financing the Nuclear Bet

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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Special thanks to The New York Climate Exchange and Stony Brook’s Office of the Provost, Office of Marketing and Communications and the MS in Journalism program for their support.

Host: Heather Lynch

Writer: J.D. Allen

Editors: Terry Sheridan, Lori Kie

Producers: Jordan Vallone, Melanie Formosa

Post Production: Denis Murray 

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Ben Novak is bringing back the extinct passenger pigeon. Host Heather Lynch and Novak, program manager for the Biotechnology for Bird Conservation Program for Revive & Restore, discuss de-extinction, restoring ecosystem function by using gene editing or selective breeding to give living relatives traits needed to fill extinct species’ ecological roles, and correcting Jurassic Park misconceptions about using ancient DNA directly. Novak explains how museum specimens provide fragmented DNA for sequencing and the limits of mapping genomes, emphasizing goal-oriented trait recovery over perfect genetic identity. 

Learn more with: 

• “Could Extinct Species Save Today’s Forests? Scientist Makes the Case for Darwin Day”
• “De-Extinction” by Ben Novak
• “Towards Practical Conservation Cloning: Understanding the Dichotomy Between the Histories of Commercial and Conservation Cloning” by Ben J. Novak, Stewart Brand, Ryan Phelan, Sasha Plichta, Oliver A. Ryder and Robert J. Wiese
• “First endangered black-footed ferrets, Mustela nigripes, cloned for genetic rescue” by Ben Novak, et al.
• “Natural Selection Shaped the Rise and Fall of Passenger Pigeon Genomic Diversity” by Ben Novak, et al.

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 01:40 Defining De-Extinction
• 02:44 Jurassic Park Myths
• 05:32 Where The DNA Comes From
• 08:41 Sample Quality And Tissues
• 11:44 Mapping Ancient Genomes
• 14:16 How Close Is Close Enough
• 23:04 Naming De-Extinct Species
• 25:30 Tiny Mutations Big Traits
• 28:12 Building Diversity In
• 30:56 Passenger Pigeon Progress
• 31:33 Ferret Genetic Rescue
• 33:55 Why Birds Are Hard
• 35:52 Germ Cell Workaround
• 37:55 Mitochondria Purity Myth
• 44:16 Policy And Release
• 46:46 Stem Cells Future Tools

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You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.

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For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Dana Golden studies energy markets and electricity transmission. Host Heather Lynch and Golden, graduate research assistant in the Graduate School at Stony Brook University, speak about why Suffolk County electricity averages much higher than the national average and how prices are set through generators, transmission constraints, and utilities. Golden explains how data-center-driven load growth raises prices and strains reliability, and supports an “all of the above” mix including nuclear and emerging geothermal.

Learn more with: 

• "Offshore Horizons: HVDC Wind Farms-Exploring Techno-Economic Dimensions" by D. Singh, D. Golden, et al.

• “Investment and the Transfer of Power: Dynamic Effects of Transmission in Electricity Markets.” by Dana Golden
• ⁠Hear Dana’s lecture on environmental and natural resources economics⁠
• Breakneck by Dan Wang

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:32 Why Does Suffolk Power Cost More
• 01:49 What Is HVDC
• 05:20 Where HVDC Is Used
• 07:45 Renewables Drive HVDC
• 12:44 Preventing Cascade Failures
• 15:50 ISOs and Market Design
• 20:54 Renewables Forecasting Risk
• 27:07 Do Data Centers Raise Prices
• 28:52 Nuclear and Energy Crisis
• 37:56 China vs US Building
• 42:48 Transmission Costs and Permitting

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For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Health experts Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi and Nozomi Sasaki look at how climate change is increasing wildfire smoke exposure and related health risks. Host Heather Lynch, as well as Danesh Yazdi and Sasaki from Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University, discuss evidence linking airborne particles to increased mortality and cardiopulmonary impacts. They point to growing research, using large administrative datasets and local hospital data to assess impacts, that suggests wildfire smoke is more harmful than other pollution sources.

Learn more with: 

• “Long-term Effect of Exposure to Lower Concentrations of Air Pollution on Mortality among Medicare Participants and Vulnerable Subgroups,” by Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Yan Wang, Qian Di, Weeber J. Requia, Yaguang Wei, and Liuhua Shi
• “Associations between air pollution and psychiatric symptoms in the normative aging study,” by Xinye Qiu, Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Marc Weisskopf, Anna Kosheleva, Avron Spiro, Cuicui Wang, Brent A. Coull, Petros Koutrakis and Joel D. Schwartz
• “Emulating causal doseresponse relations between air pollutants and mortality in the Medicare population,” by Yaguang Wei, Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Qian Di, Weeberb J. Requia, Francesca Dominici, Antonella Zanobetti and Joel Schwartz
• “Fish consumption and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from diet are positively associated with cognitive function in older adults even in the presence of exposure to lead, cadmium, selenium, and methylmercury: a cross-sectional study using NHANES 2011–2014 data,” by Nozomi Sasaki, Laura E. Jones and David O. Carpenter

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 01:34 Air Pollution and Mortality
• 10:56 Environmental Justice and Work
• 22:01 Who Is Most Vulnerable
• 28:57 Short vs Long Effects
• 30:12 Heavy Metals in Smoke
• 35:56 Fish Mercury Tradeoffs
• 41:28 Practical Air Tips
• 44:33 EVs and Hidden Costs

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For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Jordan Vallone

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Marija Krstić, assistant professor of practice in the Department of Civil Engineering at Stony Brook University, is interested in cement production, which is a major source of global carbon emissions. Host Heather Lynch and Krstić explore the difference between cement and concrete, why steel reinforcements are essential for structural concrete, and how Portland cement – the binder, or glue in concrete production – requires high kiln temperatures, which releases CO2. Krstić explains why it is still unlikely that concrete is to be fully replaced with sustainable alternatives and changed methods in the near future. 

Learn more with:

• “Field-Application-of-Recycled-Glass-Pozzolan-for-Concrete,” by Marija Krstić and Julio F. Davalos
• “Macro - and Microstructure Evaluation and Field Applications of Concrete with Recycled Glass Pozzolan,” by Marija Krstić
• “Freeze–Thaw Resistance and Air-Void Analysis of Concrete with Recycled Glass–Pozzolan Using X-ray Micro-Tomography,” by Marija Krstić , Julio F. Davalos, Emanuele Rossi, Stefan C. Figueiredo, Oguzhan Copuroglu

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:39 Why Concrete Matters
• 02:49 Krstić’s Path to Concrete 
• 05:00 Concrete 101
• 08:54 Steel and Concrete Are A Perfect Couple
• 10:09 Why Cement Emits So Much CO2
• 15:20 Lower-Carbon Cement Paths
• 22:10 Supply & Safety Challenges
• 24:57 Recycling Concrete
• 27:11 Can We Replace Concrete?

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You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.

Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/c4e/newsletters.php

For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Jordan Vallone

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Pascal Title delves into the evolutionary history and biodiversity of snakes, exploring their unique characteristics, diets and habitats. Host Heather Lynch and Title, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, define characteristics of snakes, and discuss speciation and diversity within the group, as well as the role of snakes in ecosystems. They touch upon the impacts of climate change on snakes and the importance of museum collections and scientific research in understanding historical and future biodiversity.

Learn more with:

• “The macroevolutionary singularity of snakes”, by Pascal O. Title, Sonal Singhal, Michael C. Grunder, Gabriel C. Costa, R. Alexander Pyron, Timothy J. Colston, Maggie R. Grundler, Ivan Prates, Natasha Stepanova, Marc E.H. Jones, Lucas B.Q. Cavalcanti, Guarino R. Colli, Nicolas Di-Poï, Stephen C. Donnellan, Craig Moritz, Daniel O. Mesquita, Eric R. Pianka, Stephen A. Smith, Laurie J. Vitt, Daniel L. Rabosky.
• “Coral snakes predict the evolution of mimicry,” by Allison R, Davis Rabosky, Christian L Cox, Daniel L Rabosky, Pascal O Title, Iris A Holmes, Anat Feldman, Jimmy A Mcguire
• “Chasing the Niche: Escaping Climate Change Threats in Place, Time, and Space”, by Ranjan Muthukrishnan, Tara M. Smiley, Pascal O. Title, Adam M. Fudickar, Alex E. Jahn, Jennifer A. Lau
• “Ecological interactions between arthropods and small vertebrates in a lowland Amazon rainforest,” by Rudolf von May, Emanuele Biggi, Heidy Cárdenas, M. Isabel Diaz, Consuelo Alarcón, Valia Herrera, Roy Santa-Cruz, Francesco Tomasinelli, Erin P. Westeen, Ciara M. Sánchez-Paredes, Joanna G. Larson, Pascal O. Title, Maggie R. Grundler, Michael C. Grundler, Alison R. Davis Rabosky, Daniel L. Rabosky
• “Rapid increase in snake dietary diversity and complexity following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction”, by Michael C. Grundler, Daniel L. Rabosky

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:34 The Fascinating World of Snakes
• 01:13 Meet the Herpetologist: Pascal Title
• 01:34 Understanding Snakes: Evolution and Characteristics
• 06:13 Why Are People Afraid of Snakes? 
• 07:46 Pascal's Journey into Herpetology
• 11:48 Research on Snake Diversity and Evolution
• 19:19 Climate Change and Snake Adaptability
• 32:34 The Importance of Museum Collections

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You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.

Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/c4e/newsletters.php

For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Jordan Vallone

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Dilip Gersappe explores the engineering of climate resilience into nature's original building material: soil. Host Heather Lynch and Gersappe, a professor in the  Department of Material Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University, discussing innovative methods of soil fortification using biopolymers. Traditional soil improvement techniques, such as compaction and the addition of cement, are compared against the emerging method of biopolymer integration, which offers advantages such as biodegradation and enhanced plant root growth. 

Learn more with:

• “The Effect of Biopolymer Pore Fluids on Soil Properties Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations”, by Shoumik Saha shoumik, Dilip Gersappe, and Sherif L. Abdelaziz
• “Modeling frost heave in silty soils”, by Varghese Babu and Dilip Gersappe
• “Interplay of Surface Energy and Rheology in Biopolymer Soil Enhancement”, by Dilip Gersappe et al.

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

00:24 Introduction to Soil 

01:08 Challenges with Traditional Soil

03:24 Innovative Solutions: Biopolymers in Soil

05:43 Understanding Soil and Plant Interactions

10:24 Applications and Future Research

19:29 Understanding Soil Stability with Biopolymers

20:26 Field Applications and Experimentation

20:52 Potential Risks and Concerns

22:20 Biopolymers in Civil Engineering

22:52 Degradation and Environmental Impact

25:42 Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Future Directions

27:33 Modeling and Predicting Biopolymer Effects

29:55 Commercial Applications and Practical Steps

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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Meet How's That?, a podcast that dives deep into all sorts of things that make our world work — such as organisms that act like zombies, plants that talk to each other, light that pollutes our skies and academic change that brings climate topics to students.

The podcast is reported and produced by graduate students in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University.

Tell a friend and share a link to this episode.

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program manager: Jennifer Gilday

Darcey Evans explores the cultural importance of salmon to Indigenous peoples. Host Heather Lynch and Evans, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, discuss how salmon are harvested in British Columbia, Canada, including the environmental impacts and power struggles involving multinational corporations, local communities, and Indigenous nations. There are broader questions about sustainable food production, ethical research practices, and the role of consumer choices in shaping industry practices.

Learn more with:

• “Pathogenic proliferations: Salmon aquaculture, industrial viruses, and toxic geographies of settler-colonialism” by Darcey Evans

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:30 The Global Impact of Salmon Farming
• 01:01 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
• 01:23 Research on Salmon Aquaculture
• 04:55 Indigenous Perspectives on Salmon
• 08:10 Environmental and Health Impacts of Salmon Farming
• 10:12 Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Rights
• 19:10 Challenges and Future of Aquaculture
• 32:57 Anthropological Research Methods and Ethics
• 44:32 Conclusion and Future Episodes

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You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.

Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/c4e/newsletters.php

For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Meet The Climate Story Project, an initiative led by The New York Climate Exchange to record, archive and share real, personal stories about climate change to inspire action and connection.

During 2025 Climate Week NYC, The Exchange invited the public to tell us their climate story at Pioneer Works and the American Museum of Natural History, and supported by Wellcome.

In snapshots of life in the midst of climate change, hear voices from different places and walks of life to grow an archive of personal climate stories so we can remember, reflect, and respond together.

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For more information about the podcast, visit ⁠nyclimateexchange.org⁠.

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program manager: Jennifer Gilday