How On Earth

Black-footed ferret Photo credit: Richard Reading

Protecting Wolves, ferrets, prairie dogs, vultures, etc. (start time: 3:39) How effective are Colorado’s efforts to preserve vulnerable species – wolves, black-footed ferrets, bears, prairie dogs and others? And what ingredients make it possible, including throughout the U.S. and the world, for wild animals and humans to get along when their homes overlap? Today How On Earth host Susan Moran continues her conversation with our guest from last week, wildlife ecologist Dr. Richard Reading, Chair of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, about Colorado’s most recent Wildlife Action Plan, and about other effort...

Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Wolves, bears, prairie dogs and more (start time: 7:12) A couple of months ago, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency released a plan to support biodiversity and guide how the state conserves some of the state’s most vulnerable species and habitats. Everything from iconic bears, wolves and prairie dogs, to tiny humble invertebrates and even plants. The 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan ( the first in 10 years ) has been met with  both praise and crticism. And it raises big evergreen questions, such as, How can we humans thrive while allowing for other species to thrive in the...

In this week’s show Beth speaks with science writer, educator, and scientist Dr. Lisa Gardiner about her recent book Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival. Lisa studied the fossil remains of ancient coral reefs, which also suffered from environmental challenges. In our conversation, you’ll hear about how the past shapes the present, and future, of these amazing invertebrates that are keystones in ocean ecosystems. Her book describes the risks the current environment pose to these amazing organisms and the ecosystems they create, but also much much more of the significance and elegance of the cora...

Credit: Harper

The Force of Wind (start time: 7:10)  For those living here on Colorado’s Front Range, you’ve likely had close encounters with wind — whether you’ve witnessed in fear branches snapping off trees in a windstorm, or simply looked up to marvel at the UFO-like lenticular cloud formations created by fast westerly winds. Love it or hate it, wind is one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, forces that shape our world. In this week’s show, host Susan Moran, along with cohost Joel Parker, interview Simon Winchester about his just-published, book,   The Breath of the Gods: The History...

On today’s show, Beth speaks with award-winning science writer Jennifer Frazer about her upcoming book: The Slime Mold’s Guide to World Domination: A Natural Mystery. The book is a funny natural history of slime molds that’s also a mystery that asks: how can a giant crawling cell possibly be intelligent?” Jennifer has degrees in biology and plant pathology from Cornell University and in science writing from MIT, AND has blogged about the natural history of neglected organisms for nine years for Scientific American. Get ready for an eye-opening visit to the peculiar world of slime molds, not the...

Elizabeth Holley cc Colorado School of Mines

Critical Earth Minerals  Hiding in Plain Site – Colorado School of Mines professor Elizabeth Holley shares  how the US could break its dependency on critical earth mineral imports, and lead the world in environmentally safe ways to do it.

Show Producer/Host/Engineer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

Todd Bandhauer with heat pump – cc CSU

Great Steam . . . from a Heat Pump (starts 1:00)  Time Magazine named CSU Engineer Todd Bandhauer one of 2025’s top climate innovators.   His heat pump makes steam better than fossil fuel steam boilers.  Interview thanks to Rocky Mountain Community Radio and Aspen Public Radio.

Dust Storm in Texas in the 1930s

Dustbowl Days Today (starts 5:00)  Colorado State University grasslands scientist Melinda Smith explains the study she conducted with the grassroots help of nearly 200 scientists around the world. Their research indicates grasslands are vulnerable to Megadroughts, which climate change is making more common.  Just 4 years of drought in a row may trigger Dust Bowls on the scale of the Midwestern dustbowls of the 1930s.  Smith explains why and what can be done to save regions around the world from dustbowls.

Hosts: Abby O’Brien, Lorraine Healy, Mac Hebebrand
Show Producer/Engineer: Shell...

The physiology of deciduous trees (start time: 11:09) For many people living in places with four distinct seasons, such as here in Colorado, a favorite pastime at this midpoint in autumn is watching the faded leaves fall from their branches, and listening to the crackling sound while raking up the dried leaves. In this week’s How On Earth show, we explore questions like, Why do the leaves of aspen, ash and other deciduous trees “change” color in the fall?  (Spoiler alert: They actually reveal their true colors.) Why do they shed their leaves every fall? And what happens to the nak...

Five years ago, Beth spoke with Dr Marc Bubbs about his best-selling hardcover book, PEAK: THE NEW SCIENCE OF ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE. Since then, Bubbs has been on the leading edge of new developments in the physiology and psychology of athletic performance. Bubbs helps athletes and other clients in Canada and England cope with metabolic diseases, Bubbs is also the performance nutritionist for the Canadian men’s national basketball team, In addition, he consults with teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB. On this week’s show, Beth talks to Marc about his revised edition of the book, just publ...