Nature's Archive

Long time listeners know that I’m a huge fan of iNaturalist. Their app literally changed my life by dramatically improving my relationship with, and knowledge of nature.
And iNaturalist is much more than just a nature identification app. When you use iNaturalist, yes, you get a helping hand in identifying plants, animals and fungi. But you’re also contributing to perhaps the largest community science dataset on Earth, which starts to get to the heart of iNaturalist’s mission.
After our Jumpstart Nature episode on iNaturalist, I received many questions about how iNaturalist works - just how does it know how to ID so many organisms? How are sensitive species, such as rare plants that are subject to poaching, protected?
And with the increased concern about the environmental impact of certain types of AI, how does iNaturalist’s AI, called Computer Vision, compare?
So who better to answer those questions than Scott Loarie. 
And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out the Jumpstart Nature Podcast! Episode #5 profiles three creative and inspirational uses of iNaturalist!
Be sure to check out the iNaturalist blog and newsletter as well!
FULL SHOW NOTES
LINKS
California Academy of Sciences
iNaturalist, their blog, and their newsletter
Jumpstart Nature Episode 5 profiles inspiring uses of iNaturalist
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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

What comes to your mind when you hear “Salt Lake”? If you’re like many people, perhaps you think of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Or perhaps the Dead Sea or the Caspian Sea.
But there are over 100 perennial salt lakes around the globe, and hundreds of seasonal ones.
Each of these lakes have amazing histories and support unique ecosystems, making them a precious resource for biodiversity.
My guest today is Caroline Tracey, author of the new book “Salt Lakes - An Unnatural History”. Caroline’s book weaves a fascinating ecological story with her own personal narrative, unveiling one of Earth’s most overlooked ecosystems.
Today we discuss a few of these amazing stories, and look at the unique life that these lakes support. We also reveal the threats these salt lakes face, and how diminishing water levels not only put many species in peril, but threaten the health of people in nearby communities.
But there are success stories, in flight or emerging, for many of these imperiled lakes. You can find Caroline on her website, cetracey.com, on instagram @ce_tracey, and read more of her writing on her substack.
FULL SHOW NOTES
LINKS
Salt Lakes - An Unnatural History - publisher | bookshop.org | amazon
Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Some of the most consistent feedback I get about the podcast is the message of hope that rings through. Today’s episode takes the message of hope up a level by revisiting the folks at the Sunflower Star Lab.
Sunflower sea stars are amazing creatures - not your typical sea star. They can reach over three feet, live for decades, they are highly mobile, and function as keystone species in kelp forest systems. Just a little over a decade ago, there were 6 billion of these animals along the pacific coast of North America. Then, they vanished. And the consequences to kelp systems has been dire.
But thanks to innovative work at the Sunflower Star Lab, and the numerous partners that they’ve cultivated, things are looking up - and much more quickly than I ever imagined. 
So last December I made the short trip down to Moss Landing, California, and today I’m sharing my conversation with Reuven Bank and Andrew Kim from the Sunflower Star Lab. They’re here to tell us the full story of the Seastar and why things have taken this turn for the better. You might remember them from episode 104 - even if you listened to that one, I promise you today’s episode is well worth a listen.
Check out the Sunflower Star Lab at sunflowerstarlab.org and on Facebook and Instagram. 
FULL SHOWS NOTES
Links
Friday Harbor Laboratories
Jason Hodin
Kelp Watch
Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Imagine a creature that is born already pregnant with its own grandchildren. No mating, no waiting—just a continuous, telescopic unfolding of life. It sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but it’s likely happening on the underside of a leaf in your backyard. Today, we’re looking past the 'pest' label to discover the mind-bending biology of the aphid.

Our guest today is aphidologist Natalie Hernandez. If you are on iNaturalist, you might recognize her as one of the most prolific identifiers of aphids.

Today we learn about these incredible insects, including why ants tend to aphids like livestock, how telescopic reproduction works, and we investigate why aphids are incredibly important to ecosystems. While a few aphid species can be pests to agriculture, most are critical parts of the food web.

I’ve grown to love finding new aphid species when I’m out exploring, and I hope today’s episode will help inspire you to look under a few more leaves this spring and summer.

Find Natalie on iNaturalist and instagram! 
FULL SHOW NOTES
LINKS
Aphids on the World's Plants - excellent online resource for identifying aphids 

Thanks to Brook Neely for editing this episode.
Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Land stewards face a constant, high-stakes puzzle: Do you protect a single at-risk species, or do you optimize for total biodiversity? Do you fight to hold back the tide of natural succession, or do you step back and let nature take the lead?
Stewardship has always been about trade-offs, but climate change has shifted the very ground we stand on. It’s no longer just about maintaining what we have; it’s about navigating a target that is constantly moving. We are moving past the era of 'restoring the past' and entering an era of 'designing for the future.' In some cases, it may mean accepting that ecosystems we hold dear may permanently change —but it also means we have the tools to ensure they don't lose their soul, their function, or their life-sustaining power.
Joining us today is Dr. Zac Cannizzo, a specialist in climate-informed conservation across both marine and terrestrial systems. Zac is here to pull back the curtain on how we manage hope in a warming world. He’ll explain why these shifts are so hard for us to accept, and more importantly, he’ll walk us through the practical framework he uses to help ecosystems thrive, even when the climate says they shouldn't.
From the bleaching heat of coral reefs to the migrating treelines of Alaska, Zac shows us that while we can’t stop the wind from changing, we can certainly change how we set the sails.
FULL SHOW NOTES
Links
McHenry County Conservation District
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Climate Vulnerability Assessments
Press release about the threatened fish translocation
Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!