FieldSound - The official UW College of the Environment podcast

Randie Bundy is a researcher with the University of Washington School of Oceanography. Her complex work looks into the cycling of trace metals in marine environments, how bioactive metals such as iron, copper, and cobalt are acquired by marine phytoplankton and bacteria, and how the organic forms of these metals affect their uptake and cycling in the ocean. 

Bundy recently co-led a team aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson for the recent Gradient 5 Survey with all female principal investigators,  LGBTQIA+ diversity represented, and participants from 14 countries of origin. 

On this episode, Bundy shares her path to science, how she approaches scientific inquiry, and what it's like to be an ocean scientist living and working at sea.

Since 2018, Randie Bundy has received 4 grants from the Simons Foundation: Mechanisms of trace metal regeneration in the upper ocean via organic ligands, The fundamental role of heterotrophic bacteria in the global iron cycle, The Impact of Trace Metals on Microbial Communities in the Pacific Ocean and In the Iron Continuum: Physicochemical Metal Speciation Dictates Bioavailability.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

Anne Polyakov is a PhD student in the Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management Program at the University of Washington. 

Anne's PhD research covers a variety of animals and ecosystems, including fungal communities along salmon streams. Recently, she spent a summer with the UW Alaska Salmon Program studying ecosystems along three streams, collecting data to track the uptake of salmon nutrients beyond the water’s edge, and how fungi might play a role in this intricate process.

She is passionate about interdisciplinary research at the intersection of ecology and statistics, utilizing a variety of modeling techniques to better understand ecological dynamics.

Read our recent article on Anne's research in Alaska: https://environment.uw.edu/news/2022/11/fish-forests-and-fungi/

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

Aaron Wirsing is an ecologist with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences studying predator-prey interactions.

On this episode of FieldSound, Wirsing discusses his research in both terrestrial and aquatic systems, the ways that top predators, such as grey wolves and tiger sharks, shape their ecosystems and how humans affect predator-prey interactions through processes such as urbanization and climate change.

The Predator Ecology Lab seeks to help better understand how predators influence their surroundings by interacting with their prey and seeks solutions to the challenges of large carnivore conservation & management in the changing world.

https://www.predatorecology.com/

Aaron Wirsing’s research has received support from the Seeley Fund for Ocean Research on Tetiaroa to establish and maintain a marine laboratory on the Tetiaroa atoll, the Save Our Seas Foundation and the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

Laura Prugh is a wildlife community ecologist with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Research in her lab use a combination of intensive fieldwork, modeling, meta-analyses, and interdisciplinary approaches to study the response of wildlife communities to global change.

Recently, Prugh was lead author on a study published in the journal Science. Researchers at the University of Washington, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Spokane Tribe of Indians found that bobcats and coyotes were more than three times likely to die from human activity than from the claws and jaws of cougars and wolves, illustrating how humankind’s growing footprint is changing interactions among other species.

On this episode of FieldSound, Prugh discusses her pursuit to understand connections in the environment, and highlights her work with the critically endangered Kangaroo Rats - the “ecosystem engineers” of the Carrizo Plain National Monument in Southern California.

Laura Prugh is the current holder of the John C. Garcia Term Professorship. Prugh Lab research is supported by the Wildlife Dynamics and Conservation Research Fund.

http://prughlab.com

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

Chelsea Wood is an Associate Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. She is a leader in the ecology of parasites and pathogens in freshwater and marine ecosystems, the ecological drivers of parasite transmission, and human impacts on parasites in a changing world. Wood discusses the fascinating world of parasites, their “Rube Goldberg-esque” life-cycles, and her recent study - the world’s largest and longest dataset of wildlife parasite abundance - that suggests parasites may be especially vulnerable to a changing climate.

https://chelsealwood.com/

Chelsea Wood is W.M. Keck Foundation grant recipient for her work with historical reconstruction of infectious disease prevalence in wildlife.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

John Marzluff is a professor of wildlife science in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and renowned researcher studying the relationships between birds and humans. 

On this episode of FieldSound, Marzluff discusses the intelligent, enigmatic and culturally-significant crow, the shared knowledge of crow communities, and the ways local habitat fragmentation and increased urbanization affect corvids (and corvids affect humans).

In 2022, Marzluff was named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, honored for advances in our understanding of how humans impact birds, and for communicating the importance of birds to the public. Marzluff's research is supported by the Marzluff Bird Research Fund, and he is the current holder of the James W. Ridgeway Professorship in Forest Resources. 

Through immersive, narrative storytelling, FieldSound explores the world of environmental science together with researchers at the University of Washington College of the Environment.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

Shima Abadi is Director of the Ocean Data Lab and an associate professor at the UW School of Oceanography. She also holds a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Program at UW Bothell's School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM).

Abadi’s intricate research primarily focuses on ocean acoustical signal processing, noise propagation in the ocean, machine learning in analyzing ocean ambient noise, and developing algorithms for analyzing large data sets collected by underwater networks.

In this episode, Abadi discusses ocean acoustics and analyzing data to understand the soundscape of underwater environments.

Rachel Aronson holds an M.M.A. from the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and leads the Quiet Sound program. As a student, Aronson received support from the Linda J. Maxson Endowment in Marine Policy and the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs Graduate Student Fellowship Fund.

In this episode, Aronson shares about the collaborative program dedicated to reducing noise impacts to Southern Resident Killer Whales from large commercial vessels in Puget Sound.

Orca recordings courtesy of nps.gov.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

FieldSound, the official UW College of the Environment podcast, launches May 4, 2023!

Through immersive, narrative storytelling, FieldSound explores the world of environmental science together with researchers at the University of Washington College of the Environment.

Interviews and anecdotes connect listeners to the College’s global impact as guests share stories of their exciting, groundbreaking and influential discoveries. FieldSound entertains and educates listeners while kindling personal connection to the world around them.

Tune in to FieldSound on May 4, 2023 when our first episode drops, and be sure to like, share and subscribe to catch a new episode every week.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast