Nerdy About Nature

By Nerdy About NatureScience Nature

Nerdy About Nature episodes

March 15, 2024 Closed-door deals & lies from the Ministry of Forests, and how we can reimagine our broken systems | Thoughsnacks

Oo hot goss’ alert!

A new leaked map shows that while the top scientists on the Oldgrowth Technical Advisory Committee panel were picking out the best remaining old growth forest to protect in BC, the Ministry of Forests was actively undoing all that work, changing the borders on the deferral areas to include more low productivity forest while making the best forest left in the bioregion available to be logged by industry. You heard that right - government and industry blatantly working in hand in hand behind the peoples backs.

Despite all the protests, the phone calls, the letters and the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, the BC NDP smiled to your face and lied, while working behind closed doors with the logging industry to make sure that they could continue to log old-growth, just as they always had.

It’s clear that those currently running our government are beyond ethically and morally corrupt, as they willfully ignore the demands of the people they were elected to serve, in order to line their pockets and continue to pander to a wealthy, established, power-hungry colonial capitalist resource extraction industry.

So how do we create change in a system so determined to keep things as they are?

Why do we spend so much time trying to fix those stagnant, broken systems that refuse to change, when we could be creating new systems altogether?

What if we abolished the Ministry of Forests, created a Ministry of Ecology, and fundamentally changed the way we operate on these lands and in our communities?

Let’s think differently to create a different outcome than this repetitive disappointment and corruption.

Drop your ideas in the comments, engage in some constructive conversation, and let’s find a way to move forward together.

Nerdy About Nature is a passion project whose primary goal is to provide free access for all to education about this world so that people can enjoy it more, build connection and fall in love with it, and ultimately work in ways to steward it for future generations to enjoy. We do this through short and long form videos all over social media @NerdyAboutNature, as well as this podcast you’re listening to now, and it’s all made possible thanks to support from folks like yourself. If you’re enjoying the content we’re creating, you can help keep it going by supporting us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature⁠⁠⁠⁠, or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠nerdyaboutnature.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.
11 min
March 05, 2024 Undercurrents - Good news special! | 3.5.24 - Oceanic nutrients, forest cover temps, plastic bag reduction and using your voice works!
Undercurrents is a podcast series from Nerdy About Nature where we discuss recent studies, reports and news from the world of environment, ecology and climate which all impact our understanding of the world and the way we relate to it. In other words, it’s all the unseen things that happen without much notice that impact the direction or flow of our society and the world we all share.

This episodes topics:
Olivine Disintegration - https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/20/4669/2023/bg-20-4669-2023.pdf
Reforestation Not So Cool - https://www.newscientist.com/article/2418595-climate-benefits-of-planting-forests-might-be-overestimated/
Eastern US Forest Cooling - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023EF003663
Plastic Bag Reduction - https://grist.org/solutions/plastic-bag-bans-have-already-prevented-billions-of-bags-from-being-used-report-finds/
https://publicinterestnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Plastic-Bag-Bans-Work-January-2024.pdf
Kananaskis Logging Pause - https://thenarwhal.ca/kananaskis-clearcut-logging-pause/

Produced by Ross Reid
Hosted by Ross Reid & Julia Huggins

Nerdy About Nature is a passion project whose primary goal is to provide free access for all to education about this world so that people can enjoy it more, build connection and fall in love with it, and ultimately work in ways to steward it for future generations to enjoy. We do this through short and long form videos all over social media @NerdyAboutNature, as well as this podcast you’re listening to now, and it’s all made possible thanks to support from folks like yourself. If you’re enjoying the content we’re creating, you can help keep it going by supporting us at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature⁠⁠⁠, or at ⁠⁠⁠nerdyaboutnature.com⁠⁠⁠.

Natures pretty neat, ya know - let’s keep it that way!
1 hr 23 min
February 20, 2024 Undercurrents | 2.20.24 - Changing Ocean Currents & Temps, Herbarium Shut Downs, Forest Composure & Droughts, and OGMAs
Undercurrents is a podcast series from Nerdy About Nature where we discuss recent studies, reports and news from the world of environment, ecology and climate which all impact our understanding of the world and the way we relate to it. In other words, it’s all the unseen things that happen without much notice that impact the direction or flow of our society and the world we all share.

This episodes topics:
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Collapse
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/09/atlantic-ocean-circulation-nearing-devastating-tipping-point-study-finds
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2416631-atlantic-current-shutdown-is-a-real-danger-suggests-simulation/
Global Ocean Temps
https://www.wired.com/story/ocean-temperatures-keep-shattering-records-and-stunning-scientists/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2416231-hottest-january-on-record-sees-the-world-reach-1-7c-warming-mark/
Closure of Duke University herbarium
https://www.science.org/content/article/tragic-mistake-decision-close-duke-university-s-herbarium-triggers-furor
Forest composition affects drought resistance
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01374-9
OGMA’s not actually Old Growth
https://www.todayinbc.com/news/less-than-13-of-bcs-old-growth-management-areas-are-old-growth-watchdog-7312857
"Old growth" antarctic moss beds as biological archives
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9826052/

Produced by Ross Reid
Hosted by Ross Reid & Julia Huggins

Nerdy About Nature is a passion project whose primary goal is to provide free access for all to education about this world so that people can enjoy it more, build connection and fall in love with it, and ultimately work in ways to steward it for future generations to enjoy. We do this through short and long form videos all over social media @NerdyAboutNature, as well as this podcast you’re listening to now, and it’s all made possible thanks to support from folks like yourself. If you’re enjoying the content we’re creating, you can help keep it going by supporting us at ⁠⁠patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature⁠⁠, or at ⁠⁠nerdyaboutnature.com⁠⁠.

Natures pretty neat, ya know - let’s keep it that way!
1 hr 15 min
February 13, 2024 Thought Snacks | What is a Bioregion, and why do they matter?
What the heck is a bioregion, what does that mean and why does it matter?
Well, I’ll tell ya, because thinking bioregionally is a key component of recognizing the ground underneath your feet and the role it plays in the broader systems of earth to create a better future for us all.
A bioregion is an area of land that is defined by physical properties or boundaries like coastline and mountain ranges that contain a similar mix of biota, or plant and animal species throughout, and interdependent hydrological patterns of flow that unites the region. No matter where on this planet you live, you are part of a bioregion, and what happens in one part of the world has literal trickle down impacts to another, and beyond into the oceans that unite all these different bioregions.
Everything is interconnected beyond our myopic, linear way of human-thinking, and once you’re able to see this, it affects your values and thus the choices you make. From big to small, every choice we make and actions we take impacts those around us, and thinking bioregionally allows one to realize that many of the issues we talk about in silos are not limited to one little region or community, that they have bigger cross-border implications that impact the quality of lives we all live.
Thinking at a bioregional scale helps contain and quantify the impact one has as a stepping stone to thinking about our global impact. It put our actions into perspective so that we can make changes that when compounded, really can make a difference. Support people and businesses in your bioregion that operate with the health of both their and your communities in mind, take action against developments that threaten the interconnections you rely on, and let’s work to break down those arbitrary lines of division to realize that at the end of the day, we’re all in this together.

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5 min
February 06, 2024 Podchat 23 | Geomorphology of the Cascadian Bioregion w/ Pierre Friele - IE, how our land was formed
Do you ever stop to think about the dirt under your feet, or in this case the rock, and wonder how it got there? Well the answer is...complicated, but basically billions of years of intense geological and mechanical processes from erosion to volcanism and everything in between.

In this episode, I sit down with Pierre Freile, an award-winning geoscientist based in Squamish BC to chat all about how the landscape of North America and the Cascadian Bioregion in particular were formed, from the macro-scale actions of continents moving and colliding with one another, to the localized impacts of landslides that took place thousands of years ago, and rockfalls in our neighbourhoods just a few years ago.

This one may be a doozy of an information blast, but I promise you it's worth it, and it will give you a profound appreciation for the lands on which we live, and the forces that shaped them into what they are. Buckle up tight and hang on for the ride, cuz it ain't over yet!

Each episode of Nerdy About Nature makes a donation to a non-profit of the guests choosing using funds from Patreon supporters, and in this episode Pierre decided to send his donation to ⁠The Dogwood Society!

Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you. If you’re enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the Patreon family for 1$ a month or more! - ⁠https://www.patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature⁠
Got Questions? Want Stickers? Want community? Wanna engage? Do it all as a Patreon member, it’s easy!
You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at ⁠www.NerdyAboutNature.com
1 hr 27 min
January 30, 2024 Undercurrents | 1.30.24 - Saving Bats, Plants Having Less Sex, How Tardigrades Survive, and an Incredibly Hot Planet
Undercurrents is a podcast series from Nerdy About Nature where we discuss recent studies, reports and news from the world of environment, ecology and climate which all impact our understanding of the world and the way we relate to it. In other words, it’s all the unseen things that happen without much notice that impact the direction or flow of our society and the world we all share.

This episodes topics:
Saving Bats -
https://thenarwhal.ca/endangered-bats-fake-old-growth-trees/
Plants Evolving to have Less Sex -
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19422
How Moss Piglets survive -
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295062
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2412569-we-finally-know-how-tardigrades-can-survive-extreme-conditions/

https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2023-hottest-year-record
Produced by Ross Reid
Hosted by Ross Reid & Julia Huggins

Nerdy About Nature is a passion project whose primary goal is to provide free access for all to education about this world so that people can enjoy it more, build connection and fall in love with it, and ultimately work in ways to steward it for future generations to enjoy. We do this through short and long form videos all over social media @NerdyAboutNature, as well as this podcast you’re listening to now, and it’s all made possible thanks to support from folks like yourself. If you’re enjoying the content we’re creating, you can help keep it going by supporting us at ⁠patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature⁠, or at ⁠nerdyaboutnature.com⁠.

Natures pretty neat, ya know - let’s keep it that way!
1 hr 3 min
January 18, 2024 Undercurrents | 1.18.24 - Antarctic heatwaves, deep sea mining, dying matriarchs, and forest restoration, destruction and fire resilience.
Undercurrents is a podcast series from Nerdy About Nature where we discuss recent studies, reports and news from the world of environment, ecology and climate which all impact our understanding of the world and the way we relate to it. In other words, it’s all the unseen things that happen without much notice that impact the direction or flow of our society and the world we all share.

This episodes topics:
Norway Seabed Exploration:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00088-7
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605320000277
Forest Restoration in WA:
⁠https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13004
Orca Matriarch Death:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-biggs-killer-whale-wake-presumed-dead-1.7074033
- Citzen Science for Whale ID: https://happywhale.com/
Lack of Oldgrowth in ON & QC affecting Caribou: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/1/6
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/world/canada/canada-boreal-forest-logging.html
Lack of Oldgrowth left in QC:
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/01/10/news/push-protect-rare-old-growth-forests
Antarctic Heatwave and Atmospheric River:
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/37/3/JCLI-D-23-0175.1.xml
Forest Fire Resilience in CA:
https://forests.berkeley.edu/sites/forests.berkeley.edu/files/The%20Fire%20and%20Fire%20Surrogate%20Study%20Summary_2.pdf

Produced by Ross Reid
Hosted by Ross Reid & Julia Huggins

Nerdy About Nature is a passion project whose primary goal is to provide free access for all to education about this world so that people can enjoy it more, build connection and fall in love with it, and ultimately work in ways to steward it for future generations to enjoy. We do this through short and long form videos all over social media @NerdyAboutNature, as well as this podcast you’re listening to now, and it’s all made possible thanks to support from folks like yourself. If you’re enjoying the content we’re creating, you can help keep it going by supporting us at patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature, or at nerdyaboutnature.com.

Natures pretty neat, ya know - let’s keep it that way!
1 hr 11 min
January 14, 2024 Undercurrents | New Series Introduction
The first introduction episode to a new podcast series I'm starting here called 'Undercurrents'

Every couple of weeks, I'll be connecting with Julia Huggins (PHD, huge nerd) where we'll share interesting articles, studies, and news from the world of environmental science, ecology, climate, and everything in between!

The goal here is to be able to provide you all with more consistent, steady educational content to keep you up to date with the science and happenings of today, because as our understanding of the world around us changes, our relationship to it changes. This series is all about the subtle, unseen but often felt shifts in the undercurrent of our society that influences the direction we all flow.

Looking forward to releasing the first episode in just a couple of days, so stay tuned!

Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you. If you’re enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the Patreon family for 1$ a month or more! - ⁠https://www.patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature⁠

Produced by Ross Reid
Hosted by Ross Reid & Julia Huggins

Got Questions? Want Stickers? Want community? Wanna engage? Do it all as a Patreon member, it’s easy!
You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at ⁠www.NerdyAboutNature.com
15 min
December 19, 2023 Podchat 22 | Politics for a Better Future with Sonia Furstenau
At a top level, the lives we live are governed by political systems which control regulations, policy and set enforcements for how we treat each other not only within our human societies, but they can heavily impact the way our societies interact with the grander, more interconnected natural world that we all share. In order to create lasting change for the better in the world today, it ultimately has to happen on a political level to officially set the direction of society…a daunting task, for sure.

I sat down with Sonia Furstenau, the leader of the BC Green party, to get her perspective on this whole system we have established in Canada, it’s strengths and shortcomings, and some of the most glaring issues we faced that still need to be addressed. Honestly, the political landscape these days can often leave me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, but chatting with Sonia gave me great hope for the future in that people like her are working hard every day to help create that better world.

Sit down with us outside the Parliament building in Victoria BC to learn all about the inner workings of policy and how they translate to on-the-ground protections for things like old growth forests and Northern Spotted Owls, the convoluted wedge politics of different parties that hinders collaboration, how we can humanize the politics and indigenize the institutions, and how every day folks like you and me can get involved for change.

Learn more about Sonia & the BC Green Party

Each episode of Nerdy About Nature makes a donation to a non-profit of the guests choosing using funds from Patreon supporters, and in this episode Sonia decided to send her donation to The Mother Tree Project!

Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you. If you’re enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the Patreon family for 1$ a month or more! - https://www.patreon.com/nerdyaboutnature
Got Questions? Want Stickers? Want community? Wanna engage? Do it all as a Patreon member, it’s easy!
You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at www.NerdyAboutNature.com
1 hr 14 min
October 30, 2023 Podchat 21 | Everyday Microbes & Life on Life on Life with Julia Huggins
On every surface of every single thing, there are tiny microbial forces at work creating the world we live in. From oily sheens on pond water to streaks of red mud, the evidence of these little microbes is more obvious than you may think - you’ve just gotta know where to look, and what to look for!

Back for her third appearance, Julia Huggins takes us deep into the world of everyday microbes to share fun facts all about the life on life on life that surrounds us! We learn about the power these little living beings have on the bigger planet we all share, which brings us to some pretty interesting conversation regarding what life is, and what it may look like on other planets. Enjoy!

Each episode of Nerdy About Nature makes a donation to a non-profit of the guests choosing using funds from Patreon supporters, and in this episode Julia decided to support The Last Stand Legal Defence Fund.

Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you. If you’re enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the Patreon family for 1$ a month or more!
Wanna ask a question? Want community? Wanna engage? Do it all as a Patreon member, it’s easy!

You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at www.NerdyAboutNature.com
1 hr 27 min

About Nerdy About Nature

From the publisher's feed

Hosted by Ross Reid, Nerdy About Nature is a passion project that creates fun, educational content with the aim of inspiring folks to engage with the outdoor world, to fall in love with it, and to advocate on it's behalf so that we can create a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and just future for us all.