How On Earth

CU COVID Testing Update // Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever & Climate Change

Inside a Manhole - photo credit BIOBOT — Inside a Manhole – photo credit BIOBOT

CU COVID TESTING UPDATE (starts 1:00) We join CU Engineering Professor Cresten Mansfeldt as he and his students open a sewer manhole and do maintenance on their wastewater COVID early warning system. We also get an update on COVID status at CU Boulder.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER & CLIMATE CHANGE (starts 11:15) Brown dog ticks that carry Rocky Mountain Spotted fever usually bite dogs. But they prefer to bite people over dogs when temperature rise to 100 degrees. UC-Davis scientist Laura Backus explains her new study and its implications in a time of climate change.

Host: Shelley Schlender
Producer:Shelley Schlender
Engineer:Sam Fuqua
Additional contribution: Music from Lynn Patrick
Executive Producer:Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:37 — 25.3MB)

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The Reindeer Chronicles: Stories of Environmental Regeneration

This week on How on Earth, Beth interviews author Judith Schwartz. In her new book, the Reindeer Chronicles, she takes the reader on a tour of some of the most wounded places on earth, and stories of how a passionate group of eco-restorers is leading the way to their revitalization. This optimistic book describes solutions to seemingly intractable problems that can restore local water, carbon, nutrient, and energy cycles.

Host: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Sam Fuqua
Additional contribution: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:27 — 26.0MB)

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It’s All in Your Mouth: Exploring Holistic Dentistry

In this week’s show Beth talks to Dr. Dominik Nischwitz about his new book, It’s All in Your Mouth, to learn more about the relationship between our mouths and the rest of the body. Many European dentists have practiced holistic dentistry for decades. The practice is now becoming more common in the US. This idea is that many common chronic conditions—obesity, inflammation, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer, among others—often have their origins in the mouth. And by treating the mouth, the body too can benefit. To learn more, you can follow the links above or check out Dr Dom’s Instagram feed.

Host: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:54 — 28.3MB)

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Andrea Tilstra – Deaths of Despair – or not

CU-Boulder Sociologist Andrea Tilstra discusses how this decade’s reduction of lifespan in the US ties closely with two factors 1) easier access to painkillers and opioids, and 2) the obesity epidemic and the related health problems that come with it. Tilstra also explains the quesitons a social scientist/demographer asks when examining the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 Boulder County local tracking of the pandemic, and the human factors to consider as people face the stresses of social distancing and trying to stay connected.

Producer and Host: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Executive Producer: Jill Sjong
Additional Contributions: Music from Lynn Patrick

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:11 — 24.9MB)

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Clean – The New Science of Skin

How clean is “clean”? How do you get clean, and how important is it…could it actually be advantageous to your skin and general health to not try to get too clean? We talk with medical doctor and author Dr. James Hamblin about his new book “Clean: The New Science Of Skin“.

Hosts: Chip Grandits, Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Jill Sjong
Show Producer and Engineer: Joel Parker
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:21 — 25.0MB)

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The Shale Revolution: Weld County’s Golden Goose- Part Two

Left: Image courtesy of EcoNation, NZ. Right: Map of active oil and natural gas wells in Colorado.

In Part Two of the Shale Revolution, we look at the environmental concerns associated with hydraulic fracturing, particularly the air quality along the Front Range. We interview Detlev Helmig, an atmospheric scientist, who monitors the air quality along the front range. We also discuss why well setbacks are such a contentious issue in Colorado.

Producer and Host: Jill Sjong
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Executive Producer: Jill Sjong

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:19 — 28.3MB)

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The Shale Revolution: Weld County’s Golden Goose- Part One

This week on How on Earth, we look at the shale industry, which has transformed this country in ways we could not have imagined a decade ago. How did this happen? Where do experts think the fracking industry might be going? In this two-part series, we consider why Wall Street and environmentalists are becoming strange new allies.

We interview Paula Noonan from Colorado Watch, the platform for tracking Colorado Legislature. We also listen to excerpts from Bethany McLean, author of Saudi America: the Truth about Fracking and how it’s Changing the World.

Host/Producer: Jill Sjong
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:02 — 32.0MB)

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COVID-19 CU-BOULDER – OFF CAMPUS PARTIES – SUPERSPREADERS

In this final show in our four-part series on CU Boulder & COVID, we look at how CU Boulder Contact Tracing and CU data collection has revealed that the biggest spreader of COVID-19 on CU Boulder’s campus is students “socializing” in risky ways, particularly in off-campus parties at sororities, fraternities and large student apartment buildings on “The Hill” near CU Boulder. In contrast, attending in-person classes on CU is not a spreader of COVID-19, and neither are the residential halls. This show features news from the CU Chancellor’s office about a stronger call to reduce the spread, the leader of CU Contact Tracing Matthew McQueen, and Boulder County Spokesperson Chana Goussetis, explaining Boulder County Covid Data.

Producer: Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions: Angele Sjong
Engineer: Maeve Conran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:07 — 25.8MB)

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Testing wastewater for COVID-19

PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES IN COVID-19 TESTS (starts 1:00) Beth Bennett reviews the years progress and challenges in COVID-19 Tests, including the latest tests at CU Boulder.

CU UPDATE ON COVID-19 (starts 4:15) CU Media Relations spokesperson Candace Smith gives an update on the CU COVID-READY DASHBOARD including progress on getting the Sawyer Lab ultrafast test back in action at CU-Boulder.

WASTEWATER TESTING AT CU DORMS (Starts 9:50) CU Environmental Engineer Cresten Mansfeldt explains how and why CU Boulder is testing for evidence of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 with daily checks of wastewater coming from CU dorms.

Producer: Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:57 — 24.7MB)

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Keeping Indoors COVID-Safe – CU Aerosol Experts Shelly Miller & Jose Luis Jimenez

Graduate student Teyha Stockman, right, shows off her homemade bell cover made from medical mask material that helps decrease aerosol spread on her clarinet to mechanical engineering professor Shelly Miller in MillerÕs mechanical engineering laboratory on the CU Boulder campus. The two researchers have been studying how aerosols spread with vocal and instrument performance. (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado) — Graduate student Teyha Stockman, right, shows off her homemade bell cover made from medical mask material that helps decrease aerosol spread on her clarinet to mechanical engineering professor Shelly Miller Photo courtesy CU.

Ultrafast COVID Test Update (starts 1:00) Sara Sawyer’s ultrafast COVID saliva test might be an option sometime soon for allowing visits inside senior care facilities.

CU COVID-READY DASHBOARD (starts3:35) CU Media Relations spokesperson Candace Smith gives an update, and How on Earth’s Beth Bennett shares comparisons with other university successes and failures at opening up.

KEEPING INDOORS COVID-SAFE (Starts 9:25) CU Aerosol Experts Shelly Miller & Jose Luis Jimenez have become world-renowned for their expertise in how to reduce the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID-19, plus how CU Boulder is working with them to increase the safety of in-person CU Classrooms from COVID-19 for more, see. CU Boulder Covid Research Strategies Webinar

Producer: Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions: Angele Sjong, Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:20 — 25.1MB)

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