Encounters North Podcast

Join Richard Nelson perched on a rocky ledge, a thousand feet up from the waters of Glacier Bay National Park, watching a mammal with extraordinary super powers of agility, balance and survival.

Join Richard Nelson and a huge swarm of noisy, biting insects. Learn all about these tormentors and their surprising, wide-ranging ecological importance in the north country.

Join Richard Nelson on a gorgeous summer evening, pond side in the Alaska Brooks Range, with one of the best known and intriguing animals of the north, the beaver—nature’s engineer.

Join Richard Nelson gazing out on a spectacular scene—thousands of adult caribou and calves, grazing and dancing across the Arctic coastal plain, so close you can hear the clicking of their hooves!

Join Richard Nelson on a wild, rocky island off the coast of Alaska and marvel at one of the most amazing of all predatory animals, distinguished above all else by its blinding speed.

Join the audience in a packed, standing room only hall at the Sitka Whale Fest, for this talk about the miracle of salmon by Richard Nelson (doing one of the things he was such a genius at) in this rare Encounters episode.

Dress extra warm and hold onto your hat for this one! Join Richard and a group of mountain sheep, high up on a steep mountain outcrop, five miles in from the Alcan Highway. Magnificent horns and a gymnastic ability to scale nearly vertical rock walls—it’s a rare treat to be this close to these iconic mammals. Note: Theme music by Outback.

Revel in some of the continent’s greatest virtuosos with host Richard Nelson, along the edge of an old growth forest in southeast Alaska.  Swainson’s, hermit and varied thrushes, the iconic robin, and even some eagles muscle in on the audio action.  A fascinating and joyful episode.

Walk along a forest game trail high above the arctic circle with host Richard Nelson, in Gates of the Arctic National Park. The boreal forest is home to many indigenous people, and mammals such as bear, caribou, moose and wolves.  It is the “bird factory” of North America for billions of birds and plays a major role is moderating climate change.

Join Richard as he keeps company with some of the largest bears on earth, along the Katmai Coast of Alaska. Learn about bear behavior and ways to stay as safe as possible in the bears’ country.