Susan Moran

Birds at Risk

Arvind Panjabi releasing a banded grasshopper sparrow in Chihuahua state, Mexico. Photo credit: Sujata Gupta

Birds: Risk and Resilience (start time: 5:55) What speaks of Spring more than the songs of American robins, yellow warblers, spotted towhees and other birds in the early morning? As we relish in these avians choruses, it’s also an important time to examine why bird populations in North America have, by and large, been plummeting in recent decades, due to multiple stressors, including climate change and habitat destruction. At the same time, some conservation efforts (including bipartisan legislation) on the federal, state and local levels, are bearing some fruit. And everyone can help give these winged creatures a hand, starting with their own gardens, and by getting involved in citizen science projects, such a bird-banding and bird-counting. In this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews Arvind Panjabi, a senior research scientist at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, a nonprofit organization devoted to the conservation of birds and their habitats. (Listen to Shelley Schlender’s sound portrait of five migratory birds that are visiting Colorado now (start time: 2:58).

Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Headline Contributors: Joel Parker, Shelley Schlender

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:33 — 37.8MB)

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Mutualism in Nature

Sweet in Tooth and Claw (start time: 0:59) Since the 1800s, science has been obsessed with the notion, stemming from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection, that only the “fittest” can survive and pass on their strong genes. As in, it’s a ruthless, violent world. And today, we humans find ourselves mired in a hyper-polarized society fixated on competition, disruption, and “If you win, I lose” thinking. A good time to take a look at a different way of living together–how a “kinder, gentler” approach also helps species evolve. In this week’s show, Susan Moran interviews journalist/author Kristin Ohlson, whose most recent book, Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World, was recently released in paperback by Patagonia Works.

Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:04 — 37.2MB)

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NEPA, Wildlife, Lands Under Threat

NEPA rollbacks, environmental impacts (start time: 6:25) Amidst a flurry of moves by the Trump administration to roll back environmental regulations, last month a White House agency proposed a rule to rescind a landmark law meant to protect wildlife, their habitat, and human communities from unchecked development, and to ensure that the public has a say in projects ranging from oil and gas drilling to wind and solar farms. The rule, if it goes into effect, would mean that the White House Council on Environmental Quality would no longer enforce how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is carried out. As a result, many infrastructure projects would not be subject to environmental review. A public comment period regarding this proposed rule ends on Friday, March 27. (Click here to submit any comments.) How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews Jim McElfish, a senior advisor at the Environmental Law Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit center working to strengthening environmental protection by improving law and governance.

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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:38 — 35.2MB)

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Tackling Landfill Methane Emissions

Tackling CH4 emissions from landfills (start time: 5:59) Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and its emissions have been rising recently in the U.S. The largest source of methane emissions is oil and gas production, followed by livestock farming. The third largest source of methane emissions is landfills. Food scraps, yard debris, paper and cardboard products and other carbon-based detritus that pile up in landfills release methane and other chemicals as they decompose in the soil. As part of the state’s goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is developing new, and stricter, rules that will require landfill operators to do more to monitor and capture methane emissions. KGNU host Susan Moran interviews Clay Clarke, director of the Climate Change Program at CDPHE; and Madison Hall, an associate with the Rocky Mountain Institute‘s US Program. For info on the Feb. 26 final public hearing on the methane rule, click here.

Show Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:09 — 37.3MB)

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Decarbonizing Cement Production

Tackling Cement’s Huge Carbon Footprint (start time: 0:58) It’s hard to imagine modern society without a key material that so many structures depend on–cement. Think of our houses, apartment and office buildings, hospitals, parking lots, bridges, and, increasingly, massive data centers of big-tech companies. But that societal glue of sorts comes with a big climate price tag. Cement production accounts for more than 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s way less than the amount from coal and oil & gas production, but roughly double the emissions from aviation. So, finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint of cement could go a long way toward curbing the momentum of climate change and its impacts. But some players in the industry, as well as in state and federal governments, are making strides to clean up the cement industry’s act. In this week’s How On Earth, host Susan Moran interviews Anish Tilak, a civil and environmental engineer who is a a manager of the Carbon-Free Buildings program at RMI (founded as Rocky Mountain Institute); and Cory Waltrip, a senior manager at the startup Sublime Systems, in Somerville, Mass.

Host / Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:23 — 39.0MB)

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Tackling PFAS, From Wastewater to Tap Water

Tackling “forever chemicals” in tap water (start time: 6:11): In this week’s science show we discuss the scientific findings and societal implications of a new study showing of dangerous PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in treated wastewater that ends up in the drinking water of more than 20 million Americans. We also explore the public health risks of these cancer-causing and otherwise toxic compounds–found in so many consumer products, including water-resistant clothing–and what’s being done on the national, state and local fronts to protect source water and our health. Listen to host Susan Moran’s interview with Kate Dunlap, the drinking water quality manager for the City of Boulder; and Bridger Ruyle, a research assistant professor of environmental engineering at New York University and lead author of the new PFAS study.

Show Producer/Host: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:34 — 37.9MB)

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Plastic Pollution: Sources, Impacts, Solutions

Tackling Plastic Pollution (start time: 3:50) In this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews science journalists Fionna Samuels, an assistant editor at Chemical & Engineering News, a publication of the American Chemical Society; and Priyanka Runwal, an associate editor at C&EN. Along with other colleagues, they wrote cover articles in the November 28th issue of C&EN on the sources and impacts of plastic pollution. Indeed, plastics, mostly made from fossil fuels, are wreaking havoc on our environment and potentially our bodies. Although it’s still unclear precisely how much our bodies are accumulating tiny plastic particles, and to what effect, scientists are warning that nanoplastics could be altering our brains, our reproductive system, and our metabolism. Recently, representatives from many nations, including the United States, met to reach a first-of-its-kind United Nations global treaty to tackle plastic pollution. They failed. But outside the realm of treaties, a lot is being done, and far more can be done, to reduce the production, use, and waste of plastic.

Show Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Cohost/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:42 — 36.7MB)

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COP16 Biodiversity Conference

COP16: Hope & Hurdles (start time: 1:20) On this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews two conservation biologists at Colorado State University — Chris Funk and Liba Pejchar. They both recently attended the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP16, which is still underway in Cali, Colombia, and they share their experiences, perspectives, and optimism from the global gathering. Nearly 200 nations are attending the summit to negotiate targets aimed at slowing the alarming decline in plant and animal species and critical habitats around the world. The outcomes of the talks could determine the roadmap for the future of the planet (despite the fact that the United States has not been a signatory to the global biodiversity treaty). The stakes are high: Biodiversity is shrinking globally faster than at any time in history, with around 1 million plant and animal species currently threatened with extinction, according to an intergovernmental panel of scientists. Two years ago, the biodiversity conference, which convenes every two years, met in Montreal and hashed out a landmark agreement. Among the 23 measures in the accord is a commitment to place 30 percent of the planet, and 30 percent of degraded ecosystems, under protection by 2030. Some progress has been made, yet so far no nations have met their targets, and COP has no enforcement mechanism.

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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:25 — 37.7MB)

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Emotions, Beliefs, Politics

Beliefs, Perceptions, Decision-making (start time: 4:37) For many people if feels like our society, and our beliefs, have never been as polarized as they are now. Indeed, we are living in a politically polarized society. But it’s not as unique, or as extreme, as many think. In this week’s show we look behind the curtain of our beliefs and behaviors, and we discuss how emotions, far more than reason, determine our decision-making, including how we vote.
How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews Leaf Van Boven, a psychology professor at CU Boulder; and Drew Westen, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia, who is the author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation.

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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:39 — 36.6MB)

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The Carbon Footprint of Food

The Blue Plate in a Red-hot World (start time: 7:46) While adding cream to your morning cup of coffee, or digesting the hamburger that you grilled last night, you might not have been asking yourself, What’s the carbon footprint of these ingredients and meals? Understandable. Our guest today, ecologist Mark Easter, however, has pondered this question intensely for many years, when he grocery shops, plans his next meal, and researches. Easter is a so-called greenhouse gas accountant, one who measures the sources and sinks of GHG emissions from agricultural practices.
It’s a vexing and critical calculus. After all, agriculture generates more than 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Easter’s debut book, The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos (Patagonia), has just been published. It highlights not just the causes of our climate crisis, but also a growing number of farmers, ranchers and orchardists who are practicing low-carbon, soil-enhancing methods on their land, and as a result boosting their crop yields and revenues.

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

Listen to the show here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:46 — 25.4MB)

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