Clemson faculty member Kimberly Metris is not just an academic but also a licensed commercial pilot. One day while piloting skydivers to their jump altitude, Metris could see the Saharan dust plume over Upstate South Carolina and had a research epiphany to see what genetic matter was flying around in the sky.  In this episode of Earthly, I talk to Metris about that epiphany, her work monitoring the skies for genetic matter, how she designed and constructed her own instrumentation, and what she found. She’ll also talk about next steps for her research.

Show notes and additional resources.

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

Referred to in some scientific literature as "ecological zombies," feral hogs cost millions of dollars of damage to farms, fields and forests, and they are breeding and spreading at a rate that outpaces the efforts of wildlife professionals to control them. In this Halloween edition of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Greg Yarrow and Andrew Jamison about the feral hog problem in South Carolina and the Southeast. Yarrow is interim dean of Clemson's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Science and professor of wildlife biology at Clemson University, and Jamison is a graduate student. Together, they're leading an effort to greater understand these "ecological zombies" and finding ways to control them. They also discuss once and for all whether Hogzilla — the 800 pound animal caught in South Georgia — is fact or folklore.

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has produced a map showing that radon levels in upstate South Carolina homes are higher than other parts of the state.  Nicole Martinez  is an expert in radiological health sciences, and Lindsey Shuller-Nichols is a material scientist — both in Clemson's Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. They're going to help us understand what causes radon, why it's higher in the upstate, its potential health effects and resources for testing and mitigation.

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

There has been a flurry of geological activity in South Carolina lately, particularly around the Midlands and Upstate. In fact, the most recent was a  1.6 magnitude earthquake recorded April 4 near the town of Cross Anchor in Spartanburg County.

In this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Clemson assistant professor Brady Flinchum about South Carolina earthquakes and if all the little quakes we’ve been having mean there’s a big one headed our way. Flinchum compares earthquake magnitude to pasta noodles, explains what earthquakes can tell us about the structure of the earth, and even talks about what Marsquakes can teach us about Mars. He also tells us what to do if an earthquake strikes.

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

Honeybees are a crucial part of the food system. In fact, they pollinate more than 100 of the food crops we eat. But a survey by Auburn University and the University of Maryland found that 48% of honeybee colonies were lost last year. Today on Earthly I talk to two experts in the protection and cultivation of honeybees. Brad Cavin leads a program that regulates the beekeeping industry in South Carolina, and Ben Powell runs Clemson Extension’s beekeeping and pollinator program. They’re going to explain the importance of honeybees, why they might be struggling, and steps we can take to help protect them.

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

South Carolina lawmakers recently named the Venus Flytrap the state’s official carnivorous plant. The law places the plant in a category that includes the state bird (the Carolina Wren), state flower (the yellow jasmine), state fruit (the peach), state tree (the palmetto), and even the state snack (the boiled peanut).

Trent Miller is plant collection manager at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. He’s going to talk about the flytrap and why it grows natively in only one small sliver of the Carolinas. He’s also going to talk about other plants that are unique to the Palmetto State.

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.