Join us on a field trip to explore the world of wild edible and medicinal plants! Debaran Kelso is invited to the wild gardens of herbalist Nancy Slick to speak about some of her favorite medicinal plants (part 1 of a two-part program). (Airdate: July 10, 2024)

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!

Nourish your curiosity about the natural world around us. Join Nan Evans as she talks with Kelly Brenner, Seattle author, artist and urban naturalist, about projects and experiments you can do around your home to explore the hidden worlds of life that share our spaces. (Airdate: June 26, 2024)

Learn more:
Kelly Brenner
Kelly's suggestions for a naturalist's field kit
The Naturalist at Home: Projects for Discovering the Hidden World Around Us
Slime molds are gorgeous (you just never knew it!) from Oregon Public Broadcasting
Macroinvertebrates Of The Pacific Northwest: A Field Guide
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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 all familiar with Washington's state flower, the native Pacific Rhododendron. Did you know there is a classification for that ecosystem – it's called the Rhododendron forest. Remnants of the Rhododendron forest are on the Toandos Peninsula in Puget Sound and are technically part of a "globally imperiled plant association". This forest type has been confirmed by botanists with the Department of Natural Resources' Natural Heritage Program. Over the past decade biologists have mapped this globally rare type of forest which represents the largest occurrence of its type left in the world. Although this native forest type was once common west of the Cascades in Washington state, it has largely been eliminated by conversion to tree plantations and development. Join Jackie Canterbury as she talks with Peter Bahls, Director and Biologist for the Northwest Watershed Institute, and Heidi Eisenhour, Jefferson County Commissioner, about their collaborative efforts to protect this globally rare remaining Pacific Rhododendron forest. (Airdate: June 19, 2024)

Learn more:
Northwest Watershed Institute
WA DNR Seeks Public Comment on Expansion of Dabob Bay Natural Area until June 28
Rare Rhododendron Forests by Peter Bahls in the Natural History Society Newsletter
WA DNR Natural Heritage Program

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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 and Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens continue to explore the weird world of plankton. Did you know some plankton can make water go bad? Cyanobacteria can produce a wide range of toxins poisoning waters and threatening humans and other animals (part 2 of a two-part program). (Airdate: May 29, 2024)

Watch Dr. Stephen Bollens' and Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens' lecture: The Mysterious World of Plankton: Cascading Migrations in a Fertile Fjord.

Learn more:
Aquatic Ecology Lab at WSU Vancouver
Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, and Controls in Aquatic Ecosystems
The Secret Life of Plankton from TED-Ed
Why Are Plankton the Most Vital Organisms on Earth? from BBC Earth

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!

Host Debaran Kelso delves into the amazing world of secretive wetland birds with guest Cindy Easterson from the Puget Sound Bird Observatory. She is program manager for the Regional Wetland Secretive Bird Monitoring Project and shares details on this grand new research effort in our region. (Airdate: May 22, 2024)

Learn more:
Puget Sound Bird Observatory
The Wetland Secretive Bird Monitoring project

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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 welcomes back Ric Brewer to continue their "snail tales" conversation with a discussion of the native snails and slugs of the Pacific Northwest. Our moist temperate climate is just right for these gastropods (that means "stomach-footed"). And, for a final conversational treat, consider eating snails (i.e., escargots) on your pizza or pasta (part 2 of a two-part program). (Airdate: May 8, 2024)

Join Ric on a Gastropod Gallop, a guided walk exploring the inhabitants that dwell at ground level: snails and slugs.

Learn more about:
Little Gray Farms
Meet the Snail Farmer – Ric Brewer
Jefferson Land Trust
Native Northwest Snails by Ric Brewer

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!

During a 2-mile walk, host Jackie Canterbury talks with John Goldwood about the history and nature of Teal Lake near Port Ludlow. As a resident of Port Ludlow, John shares his knowledge about the history and complications of living at the interface between timber country and residential development. He engages us about the Teal Lake trail, the trail system in Port Ludlow, the surrounding forest, the local geology, and the plants and birds of the area. (Airdate: May 1, 2024)

Learn more:
Nature out of balance in Port Ludlow

Books:
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!

Join host Debaran Kelso and puma specialist Dr. Mark Elbroch as they continue to explore both mountain lion ecology and how we might learn to share our world with this large successful predator (part 2 of a two-part program). (Airdate: April 24, 2024)

Learn more about the Jefferson Land Trust's 2024 Conservation Breakfast.

Learn more about Panthera's Olympic Cougar Project.

Learn more about the work of Mark Elbroch and his field guides and books, including The Cougar Conundrum.

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!

Ancient bacteria, single cells and long strands of strange little plants, plus minute single-celled animals and weird fantastical animal larvae – these are the members of the Earth's massive and hugely important planktonic ecosystems. Come with Nan Evans as she talks with Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens about this strange world and its significance to global ecology and human well being. Consider eutrophication, the world's biggest threat to water quality, or cyanobacteria, one of the causes of toxic algal blooms such as the ones in our local Anderson Lake (part 1 of a two-part program). (Airdate: April 10, 2024)

Watch Dr. Stephen Bollens' and Dr. Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens' lecture: The Mysterious World of Plankton: Cascading Migrations in a Fertile Fjord.

Learn more:
Aquatic Ecology Lab at WSU Vancouver
Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, and Controls in Aquatic Ecosystems
The Secret Life of Plankton from TED-Ed
Why Are Plankton the Most Vital Organisms on Earth? from BBC Earth

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!

Dr. Virginia Armbrust, Director of the University of Washington School of Oceonography, joins host Nan Evans to continue the conversation about the weird world of microscopic organisms that populate the world’s oceans, and why we should know about them and even care (part 2 of a two-part program). (Airdate: August 15, 2018)

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to 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!