One way to understand climate change is by climbing to extremes. In this episode of Unfold, co-host Kat Kerlin trekked up some of the highest peaks in the Sierra Nevada range with UC Davis forest ecologists with the goal of finding the highest altitude Jeffrey pine trees. Their presence can reveal a lot about our warming planet. We’ll hear about her trip – and how a little bird “gardener” can play a large role in reshaping California’s forests.

In this episode:

Hugh Safford, UC Davis forest ecologist

Sachi Srivastava, UC Davis graduate student

Mike Mahoney, UC Davis doctoral student

Nick Parker, UC Davis undergraduate 

Read “An Extreme Tree Hunt in the Sierra Nevada Mountains” to learn more about the research.

Valley fever can infect both humans and dogs. In the second and final installment of our series examining valley fever, you’ll hear the story of Cooper, a boxer mix from California’s Central Valley. He nearly lost his life to the fungal infection. In this episode of Unfold, we’ll talk to UC Davis scientists working across medicine and veterinary care to study valley fever. You’ll hear not only about one dog’s fight for survival but how dogs may hold the key to predicting valley fever’s spread in humans.

In this episode:

Dr. Jane Sykes, small animal veterinarian at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine with a special interest in infectious diseases

Dr. Glynn Woods, Veterinarian, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Omar and Rosemary Rios, owners of Cooper, a dog with valley fever

Read an in-depth In Focus feature on valley fever in both humans and dogs at https://www.ucdavis.edu/health/news/valley-fever-spreading-across-arid-west

A single breath and a single spore. That’s all it takes for the fungal infection called valley fever to take hold. For most people, it’s a blip — a treatable illness. But for some, like Rex Dangerfield and Kyleigh Cooyar, it can cause debilitating symptoms. Climate change is creating ideal conditions for the fungus to spread beyond the West. It’s popping up in places where people have never heard of it. In this Unfold episode, we hear how valley fever altered the lives of Rex and Kyleigh, and we hear from UC Davis Health scientists searching for new ways to understand, treat and one day prevent the infection.

In this episode:

Read an in-depth In Focus story on valley fever in both humans and dogs.

This time of year, you’ll hear any number of oinks, neighs and bleats from livestock on show at county fairs. But in California, cock-a-doodle-doos are missing from that chorus. Bird flu has shut down poultry exhibitions. That’s upended life for 4-H members who normally raise chickens and competitively show them at fairs. In this episode of Unfold, guest host Caroline Champlin with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources visits the Orange County Fair to see how young 4-H-ers are adapting. And we’ll hear from a UC Davis/UC ANR expert on how the virus is adapting to new hosts, including dairy cattle. Is bird flu here to stay?

In this episode:

Maurice Pitesky, associate professor, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension specialist

You can read a full article on how bird flu is upending life for 4-H-er's at UC ANR's Green Blog. 

Processed food is everywhere—and chances are, you're eating more of it than you think. In this episode of Unfold, we go beyond the ingredient list to uncover the science and public perceptions of processed and ultra-processed foods. Are these foods addictive by design, unsafe or just misunderstood? With insights from food scientists and cultural experts, we’ll examine how modern food manufacturing may be shaping our health, our public policy and even our understanding of what food is.

In this episode:

Alyson Mitchell, professor and food chemist, UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology

Charlotte Biltekoff, professor in UC Davis Departments of Food Science and Technology and American Studies

Read our In Focus story: “What to Know about Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods.”  

Learn more about processed foods from nutritionists and food scientists in our “Ask the Experts” article.

Read Biltekoff’s latest book, Real Food, Real Facts: Processed Food and the Politics of Knowledge

Consumers once complained about the short range of electric vehicles, but not so much anymore. Now, finding reliable public charging has become the top concern for EV drivers. Chargers can be broken, slow or just inaccessible for multiple reasons. In this episode of Unfold, we talk to UC Davis researchers studying public charging woes and tag along as they drive all over California to test thousands of chargers.

In this episode:

Alan Jenn, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies

Gil Tal, director, Electric Vehicle Research Center at the UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies

If you’ve perused grocery store shelves lately, you may have noticed a trend – food and beverages labeled probiotic or prebiotic. It’s even on sodas! Labels claim the products “support gut health” or “help boost your immune system.” But is this proliferation of probiotics and prebiotics just marketing or are these microbes really good for you? In this episode of Unfold, a UC Davis microbiologist separates hype from health.

In this episode:

Maria Marco, microbiologist and professor in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology

Learn more about probiotics, prebiotics and friendly microbes in this Q&A and test your knowledge with a fun quiz! Go to our website at www.ucdavis.edu/unfold to find links.

Some call it fake meat – but the burgers of the future could come from a lab, a fungus, a plant or a hybrid that combines animal meat with alternative proteins. UC Davis researchers are looking at ways to bring these proteins to market on a large scale. Experts say it may be the only sustainable way to meet the world’s demand for meat. In this episode of Unfold, you’ll learn more about alternative proteins and the challenge of getting meat eaters to embrace them.   

In this episode:

David Block, director of the Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein at UC Davis

Ruihong Zhang, professor, UC Davis Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering

Anna Denicol, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Animal Science

Lucas Smith, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior

Cody Yothers, UC Davis graduate student researcher, co-founder Optimized Foods

Zane Starkewolfe, CEO of Optimized Foods

Doni Curkendall, executive vice president of operations, Better Meat Co. 

Moran Farhi, executive vice president of technology, Better Meat Co.

Learn more about the Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein in our multimedia feature story, also available at ucdavis.edu/food.

A tiny songbird called a black phoebe is trying to adapt to city life – and it’s not an easy job. They didn’t naturally evolve in the city, and they face different threats than they might in their natural habitat. Black phoebes may encounter tougher predators, more chemical pollution and hotter temperatures in the city. In this episode of Unfold, we’ll talk to researchers hoping to find a way for humans and the backyard bird to happily coexist. What they learn could help us understand how to protect other bird species whose habitat is threatened by urban sprawl.

In this episode:

Sage Madden, UC Davis ecology Ph.D. student

Jacob Johnson, UC Davis animal behavior Ph.D. student

Ian Haliburton, UC Davis master’s candidate in animal behavior

Learn more about Project Phoebe by visiting our webpage, www.ucdavis.edu/unfold.

The world’s largest dam removal project is underway along the 250-mile Klamath River in California and Oregon. By the end of 2024, four of the river’s six dams will be demolished. UC Davis scientists are studying whether it will help salmon populations rebound. The fishes’ ear bones could hold clues to their future. In this episode of Unfold, host Amy Quinton discusses the topic with co-host Kat Kerlin, who has written a multimedia feature story about whether restoring the river to its natural state will also restore decimated salmon populations.

In this episode:

Rob Lusardi, aquatic ecologist, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Beth Rose Middleton Manning, professor, UC Davis Department of Native American Studies

Barry McCovey, director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department