What if the wildest place you visit this week is the tiny park down your street? Urban wildlife biologist Sam Kieschnick of Texas Parks and Wildlife joins us to show how Dallas–Fort Worth’s “mosaic of green and gray” holds more life than most people imagine—over 12,000 documented species and counting. 

Sam walks us through the people-centered work of urban ecology: helping residents share space with coyotes, guiding park managers to support pollinators and birds, and translating observations into decisions that make cities cooler and healthier. We dig into iNaturalist as a gateway for wonder and a serious tool for community, learning, and policy. Naming what you see changes your relationship with it, and those names stack into patterns scientists can study—distribution, phenology, even climate signals. Equally important, participation data reveals where people are engaging with nature, giving city officials a clear case for investing in habitats that voters value.

Subscribe, share this story with a friend, and tell us the most surprising species you’ve seen in your backyard!

More information

The Wildlife Society - https://wildlife.org/

TPWD Urban Wildlife Program - https://tpwd.texas.gov/wildlife/wildlife-diversity/urban-wildlife-program/

iNaturalist (@sambiology) - https://www.inaturalist.org/

The Future of Life by E. O. Wilson - https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Future_of_Life.html?id=5rbG839DFw0C

Urban Heat Island - https://www.epa.gov/heatislands

Texas Master Naturalists - https://txmn.tamu.edu/

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