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.

Join us this week on Santa Cruz Naturalist as the Director of the Younger Lagoon Reserve, Elizabeth Howard, takes Emily on a tour of the lagoon. This feature is just Part 1 of an interview with Elizabeth where she delves in to the interesting flora and fauna found within the Younger Lagoon. Tune in again the week of October 14th to hear Part 2 of this interview where we will explore the unique dune habitat that helps make Younger Lagoon such a special place.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily continues her discussion with UCSC graduate candidate and SCN co-host Kelley Voss about her work on octopuses.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist, Emily returns to Elkhorn slough with UCSC graduate candidate, Kat Beheshti to learn more about unique ecosystems found within the slough. 

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily takes a walk through Natural Bridges State Beach with UCSC graduate student Christa Siedl. Christa introduces listeners to some of the common birds found within the park.

This week on Santa Cruz Naturalist Emily chats with Ornithologist (and SCN co-host) Theadora Block about her work on golden crowned sparrows.