Nature's Archive Podcast

01/16/2025

Our latest Jumpstart Nature production landed this week!

There's a silent invasion happening across the world, even in your neighborhood. Invasive plants and animals are taking over, reducing nature's productivity, and hurting biodiversity.

Sometimes, we're unwitting co-conspirators, transporting plants, seeds, and insects when we travel, garden, hike, boat, or camp. Many common exotic garden plants easily escape the confines of your yard - plants like English ivy, tree of heaven, and more. Invasive plants and animals can threaten biodiversity, food supplies, and everything from baseball bats to wine. They can also increase wildfire risk and intensity.

It's overwhelming - but you CAN make a difference, and it is not as hard as you might think.

Learn how in the latest Jumpstart Nature podcast episode, featuring , Dr. Sara Kuebbing, Emelie Swackhamer, and of course, as your host.

01/15/2025

‼️NEW EPISODE ALERT ‼️

Two topics in one today: Acorn Woodpeckers and Acorn Masting!

Did you know that Acorn Woodpeckers can fly catch? They fly from a perch and catch insects on-the-wing. But they are perhaps best known for caching huge quantities of acorns.

But there is much more to this bird than that - they have a complex social structure, a wide variety of vocalizations, and much more that make them fascinating ecosystem engineers.

And if one discussions Acorn Woodpeckers, its impossible to avoid the topic of acorns. Have you ever noticed that some years oak trees produce huge quantities of acorns? This is called masting, and 2024 was a mast year in much of California.

Our guest in the latest podcast is perhaps the world's leading expert on Acorn Woodpeckers, and he studies the science of masting as well. Hear from Dr. Walt Koenig in the last Nature's Archive episode!

12/17/2024

Today I Learned...there is a World Magnetic Model that is periodically updated.

Of course, this makes sense. It's well known that Earth's magnetic field meanders constantly, and sometimes even flips entirely! That's right, the North and South poles can switch.

Evidence in the magnetic alignment of sub-sea rocks show that this happens roughly every 200,000-300,000 years. It has been 768,000 years since our last reversal. But don't read too much into that. Sometimes it takes millions of years to flip.

And a magnetic model is important for GPS and other navigation. Check it out:
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/world-magnetic-model

One other thought - I've often wondered about what natural and man-made disruptions such a flip might cause. Will birds still migrate efficiently? The magnetic field helps deflect certain solar radiation - what happens when the poles are meandering through the middle latitudes? Some of these are answerable questions, but perhaps this would make a good Nature's Archive episode to explore in more detail.

11/14/2024

This is a lot of fun to look at. 150 countries, 7000+ cities reached with Nature's Archive in the last several months! Still a surprising number of people listening through the website.

Thanks to all of you for listening to and sharing Nature's Archive!

11/11/2024

Dr. Wilson was on my podcast earlier this year, discussing velvet ants. But, he's also a bee researcher, and mentioned this study in the episode. Watch the video. It's another considering in building wildlife-friendly roadways.

11/04/2024

🕷️🐞 Insects and arachnids...friends with special benefits. 😂

Learn about the amazing way these creatures help our gardens, homes, and the environment in general with our guest Kevin Wiener of !

Kevin's journey from pest control to bug advocate is packed with myth-busting insights and practical tips on overcoming fear and sustainable pest control. Discover how we can all transform fear into fascination with the bug world. 🌍✨

🎧 Listen now to dive into the amazing lives of insects and arachnids!

And be sure to join the All Bugs Go To Kevin Facebook group - a fun, informative, and bright community on Facebook. All Bugs Go to Kevin

10/21/2024

The glassy surface, tumbling waves, and calming sounds of the ocean hide a harsh reality. In just a couple of years, an incredible and vital sea creature, the Sunflower Sea Star, started to melt away, with nearly 5 billion disappearing. 🌊🌟

The result: a keystone species gone from their preferred kelp forest habitat.

While the causes of the mysterious Seastar Wasting Syndrome is still not fully understood, work is already underway to re-establish Sunflower Stars. And championing a huge part of this effort is the Sunflower Star Lab in Moss Landing, California.

Great progress is already being made, and the latest is an onsite interview with the some of the volunteers of the Sunflower Star Lab, - Reuven Bank and Andrew Kim.

Learn what it takes to raise sea stars in a lab, why sunflower stars are so fascinating AND important, and what the future may hold.

10/17/2024

Come see us at Griffith Park in the Los Angeles metro area on Saturday! The P-22 Day Festival is full of great entertainment and dozens of booths from great organizations from around the region.

Are you in the Los Angeles area? Come out to the P-22 Day Festival at Griffith Park on Saturday and see us! Jumpstart Nature has a booth, along with many other great organizations. And Griff Griffith will be on stage much of the day!

09/23/2024

Forensic wildlife biology is a fascinating field that is critically important for supporting endangered species and even fighting organized crime! What?! You'll have to listen to hear about that!

Learn about this incredible field with Ashley Bray of the Get Out Alive Podcast in the latest ! Definitely one of the more enjoyable interviews I've done - and I got to learn about !

09/05/2024

Sophie Osborn has helped reintroduce Peregrine Falcons, California Condors, and Hawaiian Crows during her time as a biologist. With these incredible opportunities have come stories of success and inspiration. Also, there are stories of challenges, and unique insights into how the challenges these birds face are often the same challenges we people face, too.

Sophie was kind enough to join me on the latest to discuss her insights, as well as her new book, Feather Trails, published by

This conversation was so insightful and we covered so much, it was really hard to put a few social media slides together that cover the breadth and depth Sophie offers. So please check it out in the usual podcast places. You know where to look!

08/21/2024

🍁 Why do two trees of the same species leaf out and drop leaves at different times? What does this tell us about their adaptability to climate change? 🌍 Turns out—quite a bit! Dr. Hanna Makowski has been studying tree leaf phenology at and shares her fascinating insights!

We had a fun, wide-ranging discussion that ties into fall foliage prediction, climate adaptability, genetics, and much more. Don’t miss it! Listen to Episode #101 of in al the usual places.

08/07/2024

A quintessential sight along central and northern California coasts! It's a group of California Sea Lions hanging out on the docks! They love to sun themselves, often pointing their heads towards the sky (like the one on the far right is doing).

Sea lions are awkward on land, but spectacular swimmers! I've read that they can stay underwater for 10 minutes at a time (one source claimed 30 minutes!), go as deep as 800 feet, and swim at speeds in excess of 25 mph! To put that in context, the fasted mile ever run by a human is just under 4 minutes, or 15 mph.

07/31/2024

During my trip to Costa Rica, I though about several times. I had the good fortune of interviewing the Save the Frogs founder Dr. Kerry Kriger on my podcast (episode 48 if you want to check it out!), and he helped open my eyes to the perils face by frogs across the globe.

That said, Costa Rica remains a frog paradise (though there are challenges there, too). This Strawberry Poison Dart Frog is one of the most striking frogs my group saw. My kids said it was wearing purple pants and had a red body. 🤣

07/24/2024

Honduran White Bats (sometimes called ghost bats) almost look like tiny cotton balls if you aren't looking too closely! This group was found roosting under a leaf in Costa Rica. Not wanting to disturb them, I crouched underneath, illuminated them (the biologist with us said it was OK), and snapped a couple wobbly photos pointing my camera rig straight up while in a deep squat.

We thought we were super lucky to see these uncommon bats, but actually stumbled upon two more about an hour later!

07/18/2024

Jake Davis is a renowned photographer and cinematographer, responsible for the incredible Snow Leopard footage in Planet Earth III.

In the latest Nature's Archive , we discuss how he was able to capture those amazing scenes (in the Gobi Desert nonetheless!), as well as several other amazing projects he's been part of. Jake reveals that one must thoroughly understand animal behavior to get the shots, and he discusses the technology, approach, influences, patience, and other aspects of his incredible shoots.

I really enjoyed our discussion and learned a ton! I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well.

Find Nature's Archive in the usual podcast spots - it's episode 99!

07/16/2024

This beautiful striped walkingstick, Stratocles costaricensis, was hanging out by the front door of my room on a rainy Costa Rican day last month. As far as I know, we don't get true walking sticks here in California (though California Timema is classified as a stick insect, I'm not counting it because it doesn't look like a classic stick).

Regardless, a very cool insect to see!

07/10/2024

While in Costa Rica last month, I got to witness a very rare event - a Three-toed Sloth actually climbing down from it's tree, crawling to a neighboring tree, and climbing back up! This entire process took about 10 minutes - what an amazing thing to witness!

Sloths are actually quite common and relatively widespread in Costa Rica, though they are usually tucked away and well hidden in the nook or canopy of a tree. They only come down about once a month to "use the bathroom", which is a hole they dig near their tree.

Who knows why this one decided it needed a new tree? Perhaps a change of scenery is sometimes important, even when you lead a slow paced lifestyle.

07/02/2024

The Red-eyed Tree Frog is an iconic species of Costa Rica, and this one behaved quite nicely for me.

As the name "tree frog" suggests, it lives in forested/arboreal areas. And despite its vibrant colors, it is not poisonous.