Jackie Canterbury talks with Kurt Hoelting about his new book, Apprentice to the Wild. Kurt's work asks a timely question: what might the wild still have to teach us? Today we reflect on his life from early encounters with wildness to his embrace of Zen practice. At a moment when many of us feel increasingly disconnected from nature, from country, even from ourselves, wildness is a poignant topic. (KPTZ airdate: April 15, 2026)

Learn more:
Apprentice to the Wild by Kurt Hoelting
Kurt Hoelting
Virtual Conversation: Apprenticing to the Wild with Kurt Hoelting and Stephen Posner

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Come with Nan Evans and Carolyn Woods, from the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, on an audio winter tide pooling trip at NIGHT. In the winter why are the really low tides at night and during the daytime in summer? Why can we see different animals at different tide levels? What might we see during a winter nighttime low tide that we wouldn't see during a summer low tide? Would an ultraviolet or black light be a cool thing to have? Get excited about tide pooling! (KPTZ airdate: April 1, 2026)

Learn more:
Puget Sound Tide Pooling Guide
Marine Shoreline Ecosystem
NOAA Tide Chart for Port Townsend
Field Guide Brochures to take with you
Between the Tides in Washington and Oregon: Exploring Beaches and Tidepools by Ryan P. Kelly, Terrie Klinger, and John J. Meyer
The New Beachcomber’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest by J. Duane Sept

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Debaran Kelso speaks about the importance of wetlands with wetland biologist Donna Frostholm while they wander through the Winona Wetland just west of Port Townsend on a beautiful Spring afternoon (part 1 of a two-part program). (KPTZ airdate: March 25, 2026)

We dedicate this program to our dear friend Dixie Llewellin, a tireless advocate for wetlands, and prairies, and all things of beauty.  She died suddenly, and much too soon, in November 2025.

Learn more:
Quimper Wildlife Corridor
What Is A Wetland?
Washington Native Plant Society
Mystery sound recording: Dave Herr, ML130725, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Music by Rick Bauer

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Nan Evans talks with Emily Buckner from the Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group about research goals, collaboration, and challenges involved in studying Dungeness crab populations in the Salish Sea. (KPTZ airdate: March 18, 2026)

Learn more:
Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group
Dungeness Crab 101
Puget Sound Restoration Fund
Music by Rick Bauer

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

We're taking a fascinating dive into the tiny yet complex worlds of bees and birds. On the surface, these creatures couldn't be more different — one flits through the air with delicate wings, the other buzzes industriously from flower to flower. But when it comes to brains and behavior, both are masters of their environments in surprising ways. Jackie Canterbury and beekeeper Colleen Ebken uncover what makes these creatures' brains tick and their behavior so remarkable. (KPTZ airdate: March 11, 2026)

Learn more:
The Mind of a Bee: An Exploration of the Intelligence of Bees with Lars Chittka
Why bees are essential to people and planet
Washington Bee Atlas Volunteers
Beginning Beekeeping Course
Closing sound: Frederick Dunn

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Jackie Canterbury talks with Paul Koberstein, award-winning environmental journalist and the co-author of the book "Canopy of Titans: The Life and Times of the Great North American Temperate Rainforest", to weave together the relationship between salmon and our coastal temperate rainforest. The Pacific Northwest was built on the relationship between salmon and forests. The big takeaway: salmon don't just swim through our forest streams, salmon feed the forests, year after year, century after century. (KPTZ airdate: February 18, 2026)

Learn more:
Canopy of Titans: The Life and Times of the Great North American Temperate Rainforest by Paul Koberstein and Jessica Applegate
Audiobook preview of Canopy of Titans
The Forest That Fish Built
BioScience Talks: Canopy of Titans, with Paul Koberstein
Greenwashing and the North American Temperate Rainforest with Paul Koberstein
Mystery sound recording: AUDEVARD Aurélien, XC1046353, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1046353. License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Debaran Kelso speaks with Washington Butterfly Association members Regina Johnson and Dan Dunphy about our native butterflies (part 1 of a two-part program). (KPTZ airdate: February 11, 2026)

Learn more:
Washington Butterfly Association
Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest by Robert Michael Pyle and Caitlin C. LaBar
Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Washington by Caitlin C. LaBar
Mystery sound recording: The Jungle Diaries
Music by Rick Bauer

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

The bluffs of Fort Worden loom over any walks along North Beach. Lift your eyes away from the sea and up to the bluffs or across the waters. The geological stories of our area are laid out in front of you and on the horizon. Can you read or imagine those stories of deep past times and more recent glacial periods? Join Nan Evans as she talks with Tim Lawson, Port Townsend geologist, to explore clues and knit the patterns together. (KPTZ airdate: February 4, 2026)

Learn more:
Jefferson Land Trust Natural History Society outing to explore the bluffs of North Beach on Saturday, Feb 21, 2026
Detailed Report on the Geology of the North Beach Bluffs (Quimper Geology Society)
Geology of the Olympics
Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline by Ray Troll and Kirk Johnson
Mystery sound recording: The Port Townsend Leader
Music by Rick Bauer

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Nan Evans talks with local naturalist Steve Grace about recent efforts to protect a very special old forest on the Quimper Peninsula. (KPTZ airdate: November 27, 2019)

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Nan Evans talks with Steve Grace, a local author and marine science educator, about a "Lost Wilderness" he found on the Quimper Peninsula and efforts to protect this treasure. (KPTZ airdate: February 27, 2019)

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and can support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!