Naturally Speaking

Join Summer Naturalist Intern Cecily Hansen for the second part of her interview with Scott Weidensaul. When we left off, Scott was explaining some adaptations birds have to help them migrate long distances. In this episode, learn about how birds navigate on their journeys, how climate change has impacted migration patterns, and how people can help migratory birds in their everyday lives. 

Join Summer Naturalist Intern Cecily Hansen as she speaks with Scott Weidensaul, a renowned naturalist and author whose work focuses mainly on migratory birds. In this episode, learn about how new technology has changed the way bird migration is studied, ways community members can be involved in large-scale data collection, and some of the physical adaptations birds have to enable their incredible journeys!

In this podcast, join Nature Up North Project Manager Dan French as he sits down with the co-founder and President of the Thousand Island Divers Alliance (TIDA) Todd Keister. Over the course of 35 minutes, Todd and Dan discuss the three pillars of TIDA's mission; safeguarding the ecological integrity, cultural heritage, and recreational value of the St. Lawrence River. Learn a bit about diving in the St. Lawrence River, the unique conservation work that TIDA is doing, and a couple of shipwreck stories from the local community. All this and more in this episode!

In this podcast, join Nature Up North Digital Media Intern Brooklyn Phillips as she speaks with Aileen A. O’Donoghue, Professor of Physics at St. Lawrence University and North Country astronomer, Tyler Karasinski, an astrophysics PhD candidate at Arizona State University, and Vincent Ledvina, PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, aurora photographer and educator, known as “the aurora guy.”

Together, they discuss what causes the northern lights, what they are, how scientists study them through atmospheric and space physics research, and how we can find them!

Hear what we have coming up in season 6 of Naturally Speaking!

In this podcast, join Digital Media Intern AJ DiFranco as he speaks with local farmer Kia Beth-Bennett of the Bittersweet-Milkweed Collaborative Farm and master horticulturist Erica LaFountain from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County. Learn more about the hidden world of pollinators living in the North Country, the threats facing them, and the things we can do to help make the North Country a more welcoming place for our pollinators. 

When we left off in Part 1 with Kaitlin Lawless, she had just finished telling us about Birch Boys Incorporated, her path to the vice presidency, and what it takes to be a sustainable harvester of chaga and other mushrooms here in the North Country. In Part 2, we're going to continue that conversation by getting into the habitat that these mushrooms rely on, what impact the short-term changes in weather are having on that habitat, and what the outlook is for the health of these mushrooms and the longer-term trends of climate, and what Birch Boys Incorporated is doing to help with their harvesting practices to alleviate that pressure.

This is part one of a two part podcast with the Vice President of Birch Boys Inc. Kaitlin Lawless. Birch Boys is a local business based in Tupper Lake on the sustainable harvest and manufacture of various mushroom-based medicines. In this part, join Project Manager Dan French as he picks Kaitlin’s brain about how Birch Boys got started, how they picked their selection of mushrooms, and how they’ve sourced their mushrooms in the past and present.

In this podcast, join Nature Up North Summer Naturalist Will as he talks with St. Lawrence University professor Sue Wilson, an ornithologist, about the fall bird migration taking place in the North Country. Listen carefully for notes about bird species to keep an eye out for, their peak migratory times, tips and tricks on identifying some of these birds, and some of the threats these birds face as the fly through our part of the world. Sue even shares a few tips for helping them out.

In this episode of Naturally Speaking, Zakithi explores the growing threat of invasive water chestnut in Northern New York’s rivers and lakes. Joined by researchers Brad Baldwin and Peyton Robbins, and Megan Pistolese-Shaw from SLELO PRISM, we dive into how this plant spreads, its impact on local ecosystems and communities, and the ongoing efforts to control it. Whether you're a paddler, angler, or nature lover, find out how you can help protect our waters. Get involved with SLELO PRISM at sleloinvasives.org/events, or sleloinvasives.org/pledge-to-protect. You can also learn more about the DEC’s Protect Our Waters work at https://dec.ny.gov/nature/invasive-species/aquatic/prevent-spread-of-aquatic-invasive-species