Author: Susan Moran

Tackling PFAS, From Wastewater to Tap Water

Credit: USEPA

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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Plastic Pollution: Sources, Impacts, Solutions

Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium

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

Image credit: Brown University

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

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Why Do Animals Talk?

Animal Communication Science (start time: 2:57)  Whether you own a dog or horse, or have listened to dolphins, wolves, chimpanzees or other wild animals, you’ve probably wondered what they’re saying when they communicate vocally – and why do they communicate the way they do? Our guest, zoologist Arik Kershenbaum, explores recent scientific discoveries in animal vocal communication in his new book Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication (Penguin Press). His exploration of wolves howling, dolphins whistling, gibbons warbling, and far more, poses more questions than answers about the natural world, including our place in it. In this week’s science show (listen here or download the podcast) host Susan Moran interviews Dr. Kershenbaum, a lecturer and fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge, where he is a member of the Bioacoustics Research Group. Previously he wrote the book The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy.

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

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:18 — 36.1MB)

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Curious Patterns of Chickadees

Photo credit: Jeff Mitton

Clever Chickadees on the Front Range (start time: 4:20) Many of us wake up these days to a chorus of songbirds, including mountain and black-capped chickadees. Host Susan Moran interviews Scott Taylor, an ecologist at CU Boulder and director of the Mountain Research Station near the Continental Divide, about a multi-year study, the Boulder Chickadee Study, in which the Taylor Lab team is learning about the interbreeding and food-storing behaviors of these two closely related species.

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

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“Compostable” Product Truths & Lies

Making “Compostable” Products Truly Compostable (start time: 0:56)  You’ve probably wracked your brain at some point trying to figure out whether the compostable-labelled clamshell or the green-tinted plastic cup you got at a restaurant is truly compostable.  Many products contain misleading and outright false claims, leaving consumers confused about how to do good by the planet.  Indeed, tons of food and yard waste, as well as organic food-packaging products, end up in landfills, where they decompose under anaerobic conditions and generate methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent, if shorter-lasting, than carbon dioxide. Organic waste from landfills and wastewater is the third largest source of human-related methane emissions, after livestock and oil and gas emissions, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute.
On this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews Dan Matsch, the director of the Compost Department at Eco-Cycle in Boulder; and Nora Goldstein, editor and publisher of BioCycle, about a new  product-labeling law in Colorado and other efforts to hold product manufacturers accountable, and to clean up the waste stream.
(Click here for the Compostable Labeling Complaint Form in Colorado. And listen to our recent “The Dirt on Composting” show.)

Host/ Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineers: Jackie Sedley, Greta Kerkhoff
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:24 — 36.3MB)

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The Dirt on Composting

Photo credit: CU Boulder

Composting for Human, Soil and Climate Health  (start time: 4:39) It’s late spring, when many people are out gardening, planting vegetables, and spreading compost on the soil to give those veggies a leg up. Composting also benefits the planet.  If dumped into landfills, organic waste breaks down and releases methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent, if shorter-lasting, than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Municipal solid waste landfills are a major source of methane emissions. On this week’s show, host Susan Moran talks with two experts about the climate, ecological and human health benefits of composting, and some roadblocks to increasing the low rates of composting in the U.S., including Colorado.  Dan Matsch is the director of the Compost Department at Eco-Cycle in Boulder. He had been a commercial organic farmer for many years. Mark Easter is an ecologist focusing on the  carbon footprint of food and fiber. He worked for many years as a research research associate at Colorado State University. And Mark is the author of the forthcoming book The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos (September 2024, Patagonia).

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Headline contributor: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Shelley Schlener 

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

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Birds & Habitat Preservation

Birds of Spring, Habitat Preservation (start time: 3:08)  It’s springtime, when many of us are woken up at the crack of dawn by a chorus of chickadees or other songbirds outside. To celebrate these emblems of spring, and World Migratory Bird Day (May 18), How On Earth’s Susan Moran interviews two bird/nature experts about the state of affairs for the North America bird population , including threats to their survival, efforts to preserve their habitats, and how we humans can get outside and appreciate the natural world while helping to give birds, insects and other wildlife a leg up.  Terri Schulz is senior conservation ecologist at The Nature Conservancy Colorado, focusing on preserving habitats throughout Colorado.  Dave Sutherland is a naturalist in Boulder who worked for many years as environmental education coordinator at the City of Boulder’s Open Space Mountain Parks. He leads frequent nature hikes.

Host/Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer/Contributor: Shelley Schlender

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:31 — 32.6MB)

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