Author: Susan Moran

Complex Animal Networks (start time: 7:17) As humans, we’re all familiar with, as we live in and are members of, nations. But most of us don’t think of non-human species, be they tiny ants or beavers or bears,  in this context. But Ryan Huling does, and he hopes you will, too. In this week’s How On Earth, host Susan Moran interviews Ryan Huling about his just-published debut book, The Hidden Nations of Animals: A Grand Tour of Earth’s Wild Civilizations. The book is part travel and nature writing, part cartography, part  exploration of sophisticated communication and movement patterns among wild animal populations in the far corners of the Earth, and under our feet. Some of the central characters in the book, such as  red-crowned cranes, are thriving in places that are too dangerous for humans to live. Huling is a senior writer at the Good Food Institute Asia Pacific.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Headline contributors: Joel Parker, Shelley Schlender, Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:48 — 36.8MB)

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Climate Change & Action: From the Arctic to Colorado (start time: 2:33) Twenty years ago the Academy-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth was released in theaters nationwide. It sparked millions of people to ask themselves, How can I wake up and do something to help solve, not just contribute to,  the climate crisis?  The film helped form the modern climate movement, following the environmental movement of the 1970s. Two decades later, despite a rise in public awareness of and concern about the impacts of melting sea ice, and intensifying droughts, wildfires and hurricanes, the Trump administration has met the moment by calling global warming a hoax, rolling back environmental regulations, defunding climate science research,  and demanding more oil, gas and coal production.  Meanwhile, many Americans, besieged by soaring costs of gasoline and other commodities, and struggling to pay rent or mortgage, are more immediately concerned  about the economy and other issues than climate change per se. Yet despite shrinking federal support for renewable energy energy, the green electricity revolution is happening in many states and around the world.  In this week’s show, KGNU host Susan Moran interviews Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center; and science journalist Tom Yulsman, who until recently was the director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was also a journalism professor.

Host & Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Abby O’Brien
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:11 — 36.0MB)

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The Brain on Menopause (start time: 01:24) In this week’s show, we offer the finale of our three-part series on menopause and women’s health. We focus on a most precious organ: the brain. And we discuss how  hormones such as estrogen and cortisol affect brain health; on how experiencing stress during childhood can intensify perimenopause symptoms; and on what women can do to reduce risks as well as to take part in research. How On Earth’s Susan Moran and contributing host Meghan Rabbitt interview Dr. Christina Metcalf, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the CU Anschutz Department of Psychiatry Colorado Center for Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness.  Journalist Meghan Rabbitt wrote the recently published book The New Rules of Women’s Health: A Guide to Thriving at Every Age.
Information on how you can participate in CU Anschutz research studies:
* “Find a Research Study” tool lets people filter by category, 3 menopause-related studies currently recruiting.
*RAHH Lab (Resilience and Adaptation in Hormones and Health Lab)
-New menopause research study focusing on estradiol and the brain, called CEREBRA, starting in April 2026. Email cerebra-study@cuanschutz.edu.
    – Menopause stress reduction study (MENORISE, starting in September 2026. Email christina.metcalf@cuanschutz.edu.

Hosts:  Susan Moran, Meghan Rabbitt
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:56 — 35.6MB)

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Preserving prairie dog+raptor ecosystem (start time: 5:03)  Spring has just begun, even if winter hardly visited Colorado. On the plains, prairie dog colonies seem to be in full swing.  However, populations of these keystone species have plummeted, as the grasslands they and raptor predators rely on are being fragmented by urban development, as well as oil and gas, and to some degree solar and wind, development. In this week’s show we discuss the imperiled prairie ecosystem and efforts to further conserve them, with Dr. Rich Reading, vice president of science and conservation at the Butterfly Pavilion; and Dana Bove, founder of the nonprofit Front Range Nesting Bald Eagle Studies. Click here for information about and to register for their and colleagues’ upcoming Science and Conservation Symposium (March 31 and April 14) in Denver.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:17 — 37.5MB)

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Wolves, bears, prairie dogs and more (start time: 7:12) A couple of months ago, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency released a plan to support biodiversity and guide how the state conserves some of the state’s most vulnerable species and habitats. Everything from iconic bears, wolves and prairie dogs, to tiny humble invertebrates and even plants. The 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan ( the first in 10 years ) has been met with  both praise and crticism. And it raises big evergreen questions, such as, How can we humans thrive while allowing for other species to thrive in their native homes? And how to manage differing, often opposing, human perspectives? After all, some animals (take wolves) are deemed a nuisance to some people while a treasure to others. In this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews Dr. Richard Reading, a wildlife ecologist who serves as chair of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. He is also Vice President of Science and Conservation at the Butterfly Pavilion. His research has focused on conserving grassland and arid ecosystems, ranging from the Great Plains of North America, to the steppes and deserts of Mongolia.
Some volunteer opportunities in wildlife conservation in Colorado:
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Butterfly Pavilion

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:31 — 36.4MB)

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