BioScience Talks Episode #1: Coupled Human and Natural Systems

Episode #2: Transgenic Fish on the Loose?: Fast-growing transgenic salmonids are currently being developed for eventual human consumption. Dr. Robert Devlin and his team seek to evaluate the ecological threats posed by these GMO fish. In this discussion, he outlines the uncertainty inherent in the by BioScience Talks

22 min listen

Episode #12: Current Methods Cannot Predict Damage to Coral Reefs: The potentially devastating effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs are well known, but the methods used to evaluate the threats are often focused on individual species, viewed in isolation, and often in a laboratory. For this episode of BioScience by BioScience Talks

26 min listen

Episode #11: How to Save Aggregate-Spawning Fish: Globally declining fish populations are a frequently cited ecological and commercial calamity, but relatively little attention has been paid to the specific threats faced by fish that gather and spawn in large groups. Because they gather in such large g by BioScience Talks

23 min listen

BioScience Talks Episode #1: Coupled Human and Natural Systems: In our first episode, we discuss the concept of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) with Dr. Jiquan Chen, of Michigan State University, who studies CHANS on the Mongolian Plateau. The CHANS concept enables the quantification of interacting human and by BioScience Talks

22 min listen

Episode #3: Extracellular Vesicles Everywhere: Extracellular vesicles (EVs; article here) are one of the biggest stories in biology. These tiny "packets" are released by cells and constitute a previously misunderstood means of intracellular communication -- and their implications are huge. In humans, by BioScience Talks

22 min listen

Episode #4: Fire in the Amazon: Human-caused fires have the potential to hugely alter tropical forests—and the world at large. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Jennifer Balch, of the University of Colorado–Boulder. She discusses a long-term experiment in which she and her team deliberate by BioScience Talks

21 min listen

Preview of BioScience Talks Episode 1: This episode previews BioScience Talks' upcoming first episode on coupled human and natural systems, to be released on 10 June. Stay tuned! by BioScience Talks

1 min listen

Episode #20: Eucalypts Spotlight Biosecurity Failures: For more than 100 years, eucalypts—woody plants that range in size from shrubs to trees—have been transported from their natural ecosystems in Australia to plantations across the globe. This unique history provides a novel lens for viewing the spread of by BioScience Talks

29 min listen

Episode #7: Contact with Nature May Mean More Social Cohesion, Less Crime: Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of contact with nature for human well-being. However, despite strong trends toward greater urbanization and declining green space, little is known about the social consequences of such contact. Netta Weinste by BioScience Talks

20 min listen

Episode #5: When Tree Planting Hurts Ecosystems: "Forest restoration" is a common conservation theme, often promoted as a means of repairing degraded landscapes and boosting carbon storage. But when the planting areas are poorly chosen, these initiatives have the potential to eradicate ancient grassland by BioScience Talks

19 min listen

Gene Drive Technology: Where is the Future? (Bonus Episode): Gene drives have the potential to revolutionize approaches to major public health, conservation, and agricultural problems. For instance, gene drives might one day prevent mosquitoes from spreading a variety of deadly diseases, including Zika virus, mal by BioScience Talks

32 min listen

Episode #13: Landscape Ecology and its Role in Policymaking: The world faces unprecedented environmental transformation. Successfully managing and adapting to a rapidly changing Earth requires the swift action of well-informed policymakers. In a State of the Science report for BioScience, Audrey Mayer of Michigan by BioScience Talks

28 min listen

Episode #6: A Successful Intervention Boosts the Gender Diversity of STEM Faculty: Eighty-one percent of US science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) university faculty members are men. The relative dearth of women in the field is a long-recognized problem—but it's one that may be on its way to a solution. Using a three-step int by BioScience Talks

18 min listen

Bonus Episode: Complex Data Integration: The integration of data from two or more domains is required for addressing many fundamental scientific questions and understanding how to mitigate challenges affecting humanity and our planet. In March 2015, AIBS convened a workshop that brought together by BioScience Talks

13 min listen

Episode #8: Preventing Midwest Grain Failures: Across the United States, record quantities of corn and soybeans have been harvested in recent years. However, according Dr. David Gustafson of the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation, this trend may soon change. The combined and un by BioScience Talks

23 min listen

Urban Mind: Measuring the Benefits of Nature in Real Time: The positive mental health effects of nature exposure in urban environments are well known, and the literature on the subject is growing fast. However, many previous studies have relied only on cross-sectional data that offer coarse measurements of the p by BioScience Talks

20 min listen

Bonus Episode: Bear Behavior and the Recent Montana Grizzly Mauling: Most interactions between humans and bears result in no harm to either party. However, aggressive bears can occasionally pose a serious threat to human well-being, such as occurred in a recent attack in the Montana backcountry. In this bonus episode, be by BioScience Talks

27 min listen

Low Oxygen in Chesapeake Bay: Each year, low oxygen levels, known as hypoxia, strike the deep waters of Chesapeake Bay. Arising from a combination of human-induced and natural factors, low oxygen levels have profound effects on fish and other important ecosystem players. Writing in B by BioScience Talks

28 min listen

Episode 14: Hydroelectric Dams Kill Insects, Wreak Havoc with Food Webs: Hydropower dams generate more energy than all other renewable sources combined. However, they can also produce dire environmental consequences, including the devastation of aquatic insect populations and the food webs that those insects underpin. A pract by BioScience Talks

30 min listen

Episode #17: Big Data and Good Science: Scientists have long debated the best methods to achieve sound findings. In recent decades, hypothesis-driven frameworks have been enshrined in textbooks and school courses, with iterative and inductive approaches often taking a back seat. However, the a by BioScience Talks

35 min listen

Episode #10: Nitrogen's Threat to Biodiversity: Habitat destruction and the direct exploitation of species often occupy center stage in discussions of biodiversity perils. However, indirect harms, such as that posed by nitrogen pollution, remain underappreciated and poorly understood despite playing by BioScience Talks

19 min listen

Episode #9: Plague-Afflicted Prairie Dogs and Modeling Animal-Borne Disease: Animal-borne diseases have ruled the news cycle recently—from Zika and Ebola to SARS and MERS. However, little is known about the spread of these diseases in their animal hosts. More perplexing, the mechanisms that lead to human outbreaks remain elusive. by BioScience Talks

20 min listen

A Waterway Bounces Back following the Passage of the Clean Water Act: Although the aims of environmental legislation are well known, measuring the effects of regulation is often a difficult task. Inadequate data for baseline conditions and the recovery period can hamper efforts to quantify the effects of a regulation. In a by BioScience Talks

21 min listen

Episode #15 - Marine Citizen Science: Room for Growth: The burgeoning field of citizen science offers the public an opportunity to participate directly in research and data analysis—and it offers scientists access to robust data sets that previously would have been impossible to collect. Unfortunately, resea by BioScience Talks

31 min listen

Episode #19: Microbial Biodiversity in the Environment Can Alter Human Health: The science of human microbiomes is advancing at an incredible pace. With each passing day, more is known about the vast suite of microorganisms that inhabit human bodies—and about the important role that they play in maintaining our health. In this epis by BioScience Talks

30 min listen

Episode #18: Reservoirs Are a Major Source of Greenhouse Gases: Over 1 million dams exist worldwide. These structures have numerous environmental effects, and there is no shortage of research on the various ecological consequences of dams. But there is another major threat arising from dammed waters: the release of g by BioScience Talks

26 min listen

One Thing Leads to Another: Causal Chains Link Health, Development, and Conservation: The linkages between environmental health and human well-being are complex and dynamic, and researchers have developed numerous models for describing them. The models include attempts to bridge traditional academic boundaries, uniting fields of study und by BioScience Talks

27 min listen

Damming and Its Effects on Fish: Fish that migrate between freshwater and sea ecosystems play a multitude of ecological roles. In the centuries since Europeans first colonized the Americas, damming and other disruptions to river connectivity have greatly decreased the migration opportun by BioScience Talks

36 min listen

Understanding River Thermal Landscapes: River temperatures have long been an area of study, but until recently, the field has been hampered by technological constraints. However, a suite of new technologies and methods, driven by inexpensive sensor technology, are enabling new insights, with s by BioScience Talks

22 min listen

Episode #16: Hardened Shorelines Are a Threat to Ecosystems: The installation of structures to protect against coastal threats, called shoreline hardening, is a common practice worldwide, with many coastal cities having 50% or more of their shores protected against floods and erosion. Despite increasing evidence o by BioScience Talks

35 min listen

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BioScience Talks Episode #1: Coupled Human and Natural Systems

BioScience Talks Episode #1: Coupled Human and Natural Systems

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