Central Coast Naturalist

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily chats with Brett Bell, Restoration Steward at the UC Santa Cruz Fort Ord Natural Reserve. Listen in as Brett introduces listeners to a rare and tiny flower, Gilia tenuiflora ssp. arenaria, found in Monterey Bay's coastal chaparral.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily explores the beautiful UC Fort Ord Reserve with the reserves' field manager, Joe Miller.  Tune in to hear more about what makes the Fort Ord Reserve such a special place! If you'd like to learn more about the reserve please visit: https://fortordreserve.ucsc.edu

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist, Emily chats with Reef Check CA's climate change coordinator, Kate Vylet. Tune in to hear more about how Reef Check trains volunteer citizen scientists to monitor climate change. To learn more about Reef Check, visit reefcheck.org.

We talk with Regina Spranger, a Ph.D. student at UC Santa Cruz, about California Giant Salamanders and where to find them. Ever wondered how they go from eggs to adults? The amazing things that happen during metamorphosis? They live up to their name and can grow to be up to 12 inches long. Learn all about these enormous salamanders who are the banana slugs’ only predator!

You can imagine how difficult it is to eat a banana slug, but these salamanders are able to get through all the slime.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist we follow up with Dr. Zeka Glucs, Director of Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group because we just couldn't get enough of the peregrine falcons (the intro 41 seconds in the same, but don't worry, everything is brand new). In this interview (find part one here) Dr. Glucs tells us about her work with monitoring Peregrine Falcons, how they learn about them, and facts about their migration. Come listen and learn about birds that were once on the brink of extinction and are now thriving today!

For more information about the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, visit them here: https://pbrg.pbsci.ucsc.edu/

To see fascinating behaviors from live birds check these nest cams for observations of breeding Peregrine falcons in San Jose and San Francisco. (Make sure you look at the right time of year though!).

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily chats with Alex Krohn, the Assistant Director of the Ken Norris Center for Natural History at UCSC, and Cathy Flores, a UCSC undergraduate intern with the center. Listen in as Alex and Cathy explain the art of taxidermy as a way to preserve natural history specimens.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily chats with UCSC PhD Candidate Doriane Weiler, about mosquitofish. Listen in as we venture to Antonelli pond on Santa Cruz's westside to find juvenile mosquitofish and learn more about these interesting little fish.

Kelley interviews UCSC doctoral candidate Helen Holmlund has traveled all over the world to study the fascinating physiology of ferns. She has even risked being eaten by Australian crocodiles in order to collect her data! Locally, she studies resurrection ferns, which may appear dead in the dry season, but come right back to life when they’re watered again! Listen in for more on Helen’s work in the most unlikely corners of Santa Cruz.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily chats with Chris Lay, the director of the Ken Norris Center for Natural History at UC Santa Cruz. Chris tells us a little about one of Santa Cruz's most influential naturalists, Ken Norris, as we walk through the redwoods surrounding UCSC's upper campus. If you'd like to learn more about the Ken Norris Center please visit: https://norriscenter.ucsc.edu.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist we talk with Dr. Zeka Glucs, Director of Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group. She tells us about their work with monitoring Peregrine Falcons, how they learn about them, and what sorts of behaviors they exhibit in the wild. Come listen and learn about birds that were once on the brink of extinction and how they are thriving today!

For more information about the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, visit them here: https://pbrg.pbsci.ucsc.edu/

Don’t forget to check their nest cams for live observations of breeding Peregrine falcons during the spring and summer in San Jose and San Francisco.