Nature Now

(Airdate: March 21, 2023) Host Debaran Kelso speaks with special guest Clare Manis Hatler about finding what came to be known as “The Manis Mastodon” on their farm in Sequim in 1977. It is still one of the most significant archaeological finds in North America!  Part 1 of a two part program.

(Airdate: March 15, 2023) Host Nan Evans talks with David Williams, a
Seattle-based naturalist about the concept of a “sense of place”. What does that mean? How can awareness of our own “sense of place” deepen our connections with the natural world? How can we use “sense of place” to work together to make the world a better place?

(Airdate: March 8, 2023) Join Nan Evans and John Calambokidis, whale scientist, as they discuss gray whale migrations from Baja California to the Arctic – how does that epic voyage benefit the whales? Recording the program from Mexico where she was visiting a gray whale breeding and nursery grounds, John helps Nan understand what she experienced. Plus, John and Nan ponder whether gray whales are actually friendly toward humans.

(Reprise Airdate: March 1, 2023) Ron & Rosemary Sikes invite Nature Now host Debaran Kelso & recorder Meg Amos to their backyard wildlife sanctuary in Port Townsend to discuss how to create and improve wildlife habitat in our own backyards (Part 1 of a two part program).

(Airdate: February 22, 2023) Nan Evans and Kathleen Dean Moore, a philosopher, writer and environment activist, explore moral and ethical perspectives on the earth’s climate crisis and the ongoing sixth great extinction of living species. And, what we are called to do in the face of these catastrophic forces.

(Reprise Airdate: February 15, 2023) Follow the historical and current use of western red cedar with tribal vice-chair Loni Greninger of Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and Nature Now host Mary Robson.

(Airdate: February 8, 2023) Host Debaran Kelso speaks with guest Dr. Fred Sharpe about the recent Cascade Prairie-Oak Partnership (CPOP) conference, and reviews various efforts at prairie and oak savanna habitat conservation in the PNW.

(Airdate: February 1, 2023) Beach grasses, once widely planted to keep sand dunes from human plans for such things as roads and residences, have become invaders, pushing out native species. Listen as Nan Evans explores dune ecosystems and the role of dune grasses with Dr. Rebecca Mostow. What’s more, learn about Dr. Mostow’s work characterizing a strange new hybrid species of dune grass that raises unanswered questions about ecological beach and dune systems.

(Airdate: January 25, 2023) Mary Robson and Gary Bullock discuss the most common woodpeckers seen locally,  using results from the Christmas bird count of 2022.

(Airdate: January 19, 2023) Get the latest on efforts to restore the endangered Pinto Abalone populations in the Salish Sea with Nan Evans and Josh Bouma of the Puget Sound Restoation Fund. Plus, think about how conservation scientists design species recovery plans.

(Airdate: January 11, 2023) Host Debaran Kelso speaks with guest Dr. Fred Sharpe about the recent Cascade Prairie-Oak Partnership (CPOP) conference, and reviews various efforts at prairie and oak savanna habitat conservation in the PNW.

(Reprise Airdate: January 4, 2023) In this show from early 2021, Nan Evans talks with Dr. Ron Thom, Staff Scientist Emeritus with the Pacific Northwest National Lab in Sequim, about coastal and estuarine ecosystem restoration and the concept and science of net habitat improvement.

(Airdate: December 21, 2022) Bob Jepperson and Mary Robson introduce the Anacortes Community Forest Lands, 3000 acres of undeveloped land where he has walked and photographed for over 11 years.

(Reprise Airdate: December 14, 2022) Host Debaran Kelso searches for migrating waterbirds with ecologist Geoff Hammerson as our guide (Part 2 of a 2 part program).

(Airdate: December 7, 2022) What is our relationship with time? If we were to “think like a geologist”, would that relationship change and how might that change how humans impact the Earth on which we all live? Explore geological evidence and understanding of the passage of time with Nan Evans and Marcia Bjournerud, Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin.

(Reprise Airdate: November 30, 2022) In addition to the value of being good stewards of the Earth for the health and well-being of all life and ecosystems, Nan Evans and Richard Tucker, Director of the Jefferson Land Trust, explore the documentable economic benefits of conserved and working lands on the North Olympic Peninsula.

(Airdate: November 23, 2022) Host Nan Evans and super-birder guest Monica Fletcher explore sightings and stories from the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Get inspired by this opportunity to be part of a hemisphere-wide citizen science effort that will occur in the Port Townsend area on Saturday, December 17.

(Airdate: November 16, 2022) The Dungeness River has a northwest 2-mile levee, altering the water flow and flood management. Hansi Hals from the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe describes it with Mary Robson.

(Airdate: November 9, 2022) Host Debaran Kelso is joined by entomologist Richard Lewis as they continue exploring the world of insects and plant galls at HJ Carroll Park. This is Part 2 of a two-part program.

(Airdate: November 2, 2022) Part 2 of Nan Evans’ conversation with geologists Michael Machetter and Jeff Tepper explores significant rocky outcropings and geology in Eastern Jefferson County. Part 1 focused on Tamanowas Rock, just west of Chimacum, and the volcanic history of our region. This second part will consider the impacts of glaciation and Peregrine Rock, a glacial erratic, a short hike from Tamanowas Rock. And, yes, East Jefferson County was covered by glaciers thousands of feet deep.

(Airdate: October 19, 2022) Mary Robson and Christie Lassen, owner of Birds Unlimited in Gardiner, review the biological structure of feathers and their effect on individual bird survival and behavior.

(Airdate: October 12, 2022) Fall is a great time to look for insect galls! Join entomologist Richard Lewis and host Debaran Kelso on a field trip to search for galls and learn about the insects that cause them to develop. This is part one of a two-part show.

(Airdate: October 4, 2022) Tamanowas Rock-What is it? Nan Evans explores significant rocky out-croppings in Eastern Jefferson County – Tamanowas Rock and Peregrine Rock just west of Chimacum – with geologists Michael Machette and Jeff Tepper. In Part 1, we learn how Tamanowas Rock was formed, what it can tell about the ancient landscape of our region, why it is important to indigenous peoples, and what is being done to protect it.

(Airdate: September 14, 2022) Please join Nature Now this week as we take a field trip to Anderson Lake State Park! Host Debaran Kelso is joined by one of our favorite local naturalists, Dr. Geoff Hammerson, on a late summer wander looking for amphibians and other natural wonders. This is part 2 of a two-part show.

(Airdate: September 7, 2020) Joe Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society returns to Nature Now to give Nan Evans an update on the sea star wasting disease that decimated the sea star population of the Salish Sea and much of the Pacific Coast in 2013.

(Airdate: August 31, 2022) Please join Nature Now this week as we take a field trip to Anderson Lake State Park! Host Debaran Kelso is joined by one of our favorite local naturalists, Dr. Geoff Hammerson, on a late summer wander looking for amphibians and other natural wonders.