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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Boulder Cardiologist Nelson Trujillo – Extended Version
May 12, 2025
Show notes
Nelson Trujillo – Boulder Heart
This is an extended version of our interview with Boulder Cardiologist Nelson Trujillo. For the broadcast version, go here.
Producer: Shelley Schlender
GoldLab Founder Larry Gold – Extended Interview
May 12, 2025
Show notes
This is Shelley Schlender’s extended interview of Larry Gold, founder of the GoldLab Symposium. For the broadcast version, go here.
Producer: Shelley Schlender
Larry Gold
2025 Graduation Special (part 1)
May 06, 2025
Show notes
With graduation season upon us, today’s edition of How on Earth is Part 1 of our annual “Graduation Special”. Our guests in the studio today are scientists and engineers who have or will soon receive their Masters or Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in a STEM-related field. They talk about their thesis research, their grad school experiences, and what they have planned next.
Gautam Kavuri – Physics Topic: Wringing the Bell: Implementations of Cryptographic Protocols Based on Bell Non-locality
Dhyey Bhavsar – Aerospace Engineering Topic: Shape Diameter Computation on Surface Meshes and A Review of Shape Regularization Methods in Level-Set Topology Optimization
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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De-funding NIST’s Atomic Spectroscopy Group
Apr 22, 2025
Show notes
Alexander Kramida – NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Group – phote from NIST
Federal cutbacks have led the National Institute of Standards and Technology to shut down a long-running, highly prized information center used by scientists around the world, for projects ranging from searching for exoplanets, to making better microchips, to detecting atomic missiles. Atomic Spectroscopy Database Manager Alexander Kramida explains the purpose of the Atomic Spectroscopy Group, the impact of losing it, and what’s next, now that federal budget cuts mean NIST is shutting it down.
Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America.
Apr 08, 2025
Show notes
Poisoning the Well (starts 2:00) Boulder science writer Sharon Udasin discusses her new book, Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America. The book chronicles how these chemicals have ended up in our soil , drinking water, our bloodstreams . . . including in Colorado. She also explains what we can do about these sometimes useful, but far too often, health-endangering chemicals.
Producer and Host: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Joel Parker
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April Foolish Science
Apr 01, 2025
Show notes
Today is April Fools’ day, when jokes and pranks are played, sometimes among friends and family, sometimes on a more public scale. But why is there such a day for culturally-accepted foolishness? To delve into the origins and history of April Fools’ Day, we talk with Dr. Angus Kress Gillespie, folklorist and professor of American studies at Rutgers University.
Producer and Host: Joel Parker Additional contributions: Beth Bennett Executive Producer: Joel Parker
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NEPA, Wildlife, Lands Under Threat
Mar 25, 2025
Show notes
oil and gas rig Image courtesy of USGS
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