World traveler and marine biologist Jessica Pate dives into what it takes to pursue her dream project: studying manta rays. From the hills (literally Chapel Hill) of North Carolina, to studying sea turtles on Costa Rican, Florida, and Ghana beaches, this scientist found her calling in the nearshore waters of Palm Beach County in the form of a large, winged m ... Show More
Jun 2025
Taylor Cunningham: Shamu Dreams, Underwater Photography, and Swimming with the Sharks
Taylor Cunningham is a trained marine biologist and shark diver. Growing up ten minutes from Sea World shaped what she wanted to do in life– and that was to train Shamu. In this episode, we dive into the controversy around aquariums and animals in captivity, the importance of kee ... Show More
1h 28m
Jun 2025
112. Shane Gero: Sperm Whales, the Importance of Culture, Decoding Animal Language, and Project CETI: Using AI in Science
Shane Gero is a marine biologist who studies whales. Growing up in Canada, Nature captivated him at an early age, and a childhood love for orcas grew into a career studying their cousins, the sperm whale.In this episode, Shane shares his path to working with the whales in Dominic ... Show More
1h 2m
May 2025
111. Alan Weisman: The Magic of the Swamp, Eating Fancy Trash Fish, Poking Your Nose in People’s Business, and Hope Dies Last
Our world is in a state of change, and my guest today is asking the questions: What comes next? How do we adapt? And who is finding the solutions?Alan Weisman is an award-winning journalist whose reports have appeared in national outlets including The Atlantic Monthly and NPR, am ... Show More
53 m
Jun 2025
Aquaculture Ecology (SUSTAINABLE OCEAN FOODS) with Ben Halpern
<p>Farmed versus wild. Basement shrimp hustles. Mangrove drama. Anthropology. Animal welfare and plant-based diets. Climb aboard to meet UCSB’s super cool dude, researcher and Aquaculture Ecologist, Dr. Ben Halpern. You’ll hear about sustainable food sources, land vs. sea farming ... Show More
1h 25m
Jun 2024
Shark Biomimicry and a SharkMan Mega Soldier
FACT: Many products today are inspired by sharks, from medical research to Olympic swimsuits. FICTION: In the 1940s, the military created a shark-man mega soldier by injecting shark DNA into its bravest recruits. Kasha unpacks biomimicry with the help of her guest, Steve Kessel, ... Show More
18m 27s
Jun 2025
Tim Coulson on how predators shape ecosystems and evolution
As a young man, traveling in Africa, Tim Coulson - now Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford - became seriously ill with malaria and was told a second bout would probably kill him. Aged only 20, this brush with his own mortality led him to promise himself he would writ ... Show More
28m 36s
Nov 2022
Advocating for Sharks and Other "Scary" Creatures
From a young age, Rachel Graham was interested in all kinds of marginalized animals, from snakes to bats. But when she went on a dive trip and experienced a real-life sharknado, it became clear that her future would be inextricably tied to sharks. This marked the beginning of her ... Show More
52m 50s
Sep 2025
Nidhi Mahajan, "Moorings: Voyages of Capital across the Indian Ocean" (U of California Press, 2025)
Moorings: Voyages of Capital across the Indian Ocean (U of California Press, 2025) follows sailors from the Gulf of Kachchh in India as they voyage across the Indian Ocean on mechanized wooden sailing vessels known as vahans, or dhows. These voyages produce capital through moorin ... Show More
1h 4m
Jul 2024
How does a snake climb a tree?
Snakes are often seen as slithery, slimy and scary. But these intriguing non-legged creatures have made CrowdScience listener Okello from Uganda wonder how they move – more specifically, he wants to know how they climb trees so easily, and so fast. Presenter Caroline Steel meets ... Show More
27m 29s