(Airdate: March 26, 2025) Please join Nature Now host Debaran Kelso as we welcome our special guest Peter Harrison. Peter is a world renown seabird expert, artist, and conservationist, and this week we will be speaking about writing and illustrating his beautiful new book Seabirds: The New Identification Guide. We end with exploring the world of the albatrosses, in anticipation of his upcoming public lecture sponsored by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center on March 30, 2025. This is Part 1 of a two-part program.

(Airdate: March 19, 2025) Envision a bird – any bird. What do you first notice? The feathers, of course. But, what do you really know about those beautiful and amazingly variable structures? Join Nan Evans and Christie Lassen to explore feather forms and structures, colors and patterns, and the incredible usefulness and functions of feathers.
(Part 1 of 2)

(Reprise Airdate: March 12, 2025) Please join host Debaran Kelso and puma specialist Dr. Mark Elbroch as we explore both mountain lion ecology, and how we might learn to share our world with this large successful predator. Part 1 of a two part program.

(Airdate: March 5, 2025) This week Nature Now hosts, Jackie Canterbury, Nan Evans, and Debaran Kelso, got together to share their best reads and top “wish list” books to read in the coming year. As naturalists, the choices include some great natural history picks. But their eclectic tastes range across poetry, philosophy, history, personal reflections of authors, and art. Tune in to hear their conversation and to share in the fun they all had doing this program.

(Airdate: February 26, 2025) Join Jackie Canterbury as she talks again with Brittaney Drake about science visualization and bird illustration techniques. In Part I we talked to Brittaney about teaching nature at the Pearl Remote Democratic High School in Seattle, Washington, with focus on the democratic classroom. Today we will explore science illustration which is ‘art in service of science’ and discuss how bird illustration is used to teach art and nature in her democratic classroom. Brittaney uses a variety of bird illustration tools including black ink, gouache watercolor, colored pencil, and digital illustration to teach bird illustration.
Note: Nature Now provides credit for songs and calls of Pigeon Guillemot to xeno-canto, Thomas G. Graves, XC663793 http://www.xeno-canto.org/663793

(Airdate: February 19, 2025) Saving Ourselves and Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Are we dimishing our lives of the senses? Nan Evans talks with special guest Richard Louv, author of many books examining the crucial connections between the natural world and human physical, mental, social and even cultural health. Richard Louv first developed the concept of a nature-deficit disorder in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods. You will be inspired to get yourself and those you love outside to explore, play, watch and listen.

(Reprise airdate: February 12, 2025) Mary Robson and Gary Bullock share experiences while observing nature, basing their thoughts on Rachel Carson’s essay A Sense of Wonder.

(Airdate: February 5, 2025) Jackie Canterbury talks with Brittaney Drake about her work at The Pearl Remote Democratic High School in Seattle, Washington where she teaches about nature using a visual arts curriculum. Her teaching style follows the fundamentals of Dr. Art Pearl. Dr. Pearl developed the Democratic classroom in Eugene Oregon. He inspired the words Democracy and Education. “His message was about the primacy of democracy, the fragility of it, the assaults against it, how far we are from a nation that truly cherishes it and practices it — and the essential role of public education in any chance for a healthy democracy in the future.” The founder and director of the Seattle Democratic school is Dr. Robin Harwick who has served as a mentor to Brittaney. In this program we will talk about the importance of using the democratic process as a backdrop to teaching about art and nature. Globally and as a nation, we are now realizing the fragility of democracy. In today’s program Brittaney discusses how she uses a visual arts curriculum, particularly bird illustration, as a way to teach about nature and science. In Part 2 of this program she will focus on her bird illustration. Note: Nature Now provides credit to Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library for the recording of the Snow Bunting.

(Airdate: January 29, 2025) Buzzz….. Think of a bee. Do you see a honey bee gathering pollen and making honey
in its hive? Is it native to the Western Hemisphere? No! Think of another bee. Do you see a bumble bee? Perhaps a picture or a drawing? Think of another bee. Having problems? Do you know that there are over 600 native bee species in Washington? Join Nature Now this week as host Nan Evans talks with Dr. Karen Wright from the Washington Department of Agriculture to learn more about our native bees and the Washington Bee Atlas.

(Reprise Airdate: January 22, 2025) Join host Nan Evans as she heads into a local forest with another Nature Now host, Jackie Canterbury. Jackie will help Nan and listeners learn to better identify birds by ear and understand some of their special behavior.