USFWS/NCTC Thoughts From Home: Your Conservation Podcast from the National Conservation Training Center

NCTC is always looking for ways we can minimize our impact on the environment, and we ensure that we operate our campus in a sustainable fashion. We'll be sharing several podcasts on NCTC's sustainability practices and how you can incorporate these methods of sustainability into your life. In the first episode, listen to a fun conversation about bird-friendly coffee with Mike McAllister and Tracy McCleaf. They discuss how it is naturally grown in dense rain forests, which protect many neotropical migrating birds. And you’ll hear how you can switch to bird-friendly coffee for your morning cup of joe to help preserve critical habitats for birds and wildlife, fight climate change, and protect biodiversity.

NCTC is always looking for ways we can minimize our impact on the environment, and we ensure that we operate our campus in a sustainable fashion. We'll be sharing several podcasts on NCTC's sustainability practices and how you can incorporate these methods of sustainability into your life. In the second episode, Tracy McCleaf and Mike McAllister discuss composting and how it’s good for the planet, saves us money, reduces waste that goes to the landfill and provides a chemical-free solution for nourishing the plants we eat. Hear them discuss NCTC’s current practices and how you can compost, too!

In Part 2 of the Scientific River Diving series, Dr. Jim Siegel talks with Ryan Hagerty, FWS Regional Diving Safety Officer, and Matthew Patterson, FWS Certified Diver, about their scientific river dives. As a FWS photographer and videographer, Ryan talks about his experiences capturing mesmerizing images in the depths of rivers and other dark places! Matthew talks about his experiences diving for the coolest animal ever, freshwater mussels! Sit back, relax, and enjoy visualizing the depths of these waters through the experiences of our FWS divers!

When we think of scuba diving, our minds go to clear water and marine life. That is not always the case and in this two part podcast series, Dr. Jim Siegel talks with Ryan Hagerty, FWS Regional Diving Safety Officer, and Matthew Patterson, FWS Certified Diver, about their scientific river dives. As a FWS photographer and videographer, Ryan talks about his experiences capturing mesmerizing images in the depths of rivers and other dark places! Matthew talks about his experiences diving for the coolest animal ever, freshwater mussels! Sit back, relax, and enjoy visualizing the depths of these waters through the experiences of our FWS divers!

Ticks! They seem to be in abundance this year! Have you found one on you? Would you know what to do if it attached? In this episode of "Thoughts from Home," listeners hitch a ride with the Podcast team to talk about what ticks are, how they get on you, how to get them off you and the diseases they can carry. Learn interesting facts about this animal and hear tips on how to keep yourself safe from ticks this summer season.

The NCTC is celebrating its 25th Anniversary! In this podcast, Steve Chase, NCTC Director, and Mark Madison, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Historian, reflect on the past and speculate the future of NCTC’s next 25 years.

The USFWS Library is celebrating 60 years of Silent Spring! This April, we're reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the classic that launched the environmental movement for America's Wild Read. Conservation hero Rachel Carson (1907–1964) was a renowned author and one of the first female biologists to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She became one of the most celebrated and beloved science writers in America, but it is easy to forget how controversial Silent Spring was when it was released despite now being a classic of conservation literature.

Some creepy crawly and misunderstood wildlife, like spiders, bats, and raccoons offer a lot of benefits to our environment and we'd like to shed some positive light on those important ecoservices. In Part 1 of the Creepy Crawly and Misunderstood Wildlife podcast, the team talks about spiders, bats, and raccoons. Spiders are hardy builders, using their cable-like silk to create intricate webs to catch up to 14 times their own weight in insect prey. Bats are a unique species, flying mammals that navigate their environment via echolocation and most North American bats are entirely insectivorous, with some individual bats consuming up to 4,500 flying insects per night. Raccoons are important predators of wasps nests, but they also eat wild fruits, crayfish, and mice.

Some creepy crawly and misunderstood wildlife offer a lot of benefits to our environment. In Part 2 of the Creepy Crawly and Misunderstood Wildlife podcast, the team talks about skunks, opossums, and snakes and their important ecoservices. Skunks, opossums and snakes are some of the most efficient and effective natural pest controllers! Snakes keep prey populations in balance. The skunk's charm is in their adaptive and versatile diet, which includes insects, grubs, mice and more. Killing up to 5,000 ticks in a season, opossums are friends in eradicating ticks!

Ever wonder what the Native Youth Community Adaptation and Leadership Congress (NYCALC) is all about? In this podcast you'll learn about NYCALC and hear participants' reactions to the program.