Come Rain or Shine
Collaborative product of the USDA Southwest Climate Hub and the DOI Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. We highlight stories to share the most recent advances in climate science, weather and climate adaptation, and innovative practices to support resilient landscapes and communities. We believe that sharing forward thinking and creative climate science and adaptation will strengthen our collective ability to respond to even the most challenging impacts of climate change in one of the hottest and driest regions of the world. New episodes on the first Wednesday of each month. Sign up for email alerts and never miss an episode: https://forms.gle/7zkjrjghEBLrGf8Z9. Funding for the podcast comes from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded Sustainable Southwest Beef Project.
Episodes
We speak with the directors of two non-profit organizations who are turning problems into solutions by getting nutritious food that would normally go to waste back into our food system and into the hands of those who can use it - reducing waste, methane emissions, and fighting food insecurity all at the same time. Cover Image credit: USDA Photo by Lance Cheung
Relevant links:
Association of Gleaning Organizations
Continuing with our agriculture theme, this month we are joined by Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson (Hopi Tribe of Arizona) who discusses Indigenous agricultural knowledge, traditional farming, Indigenous participation in conservation programs, climate change, and more. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Relevant links:
Johnson, M.K., Rowe, M. , Lien, A.M.& Hoffman-Lopez, L. 2021. Enhancing Integration of Indigenous Agricultural Kn...
Kernza® is a small perennial grain with multiple environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration. We are joined by Nicole Tautges (Michael Fields Agricultural Institute) and Hana Fancher (The Land Institute) to learn more about the benefits and uses of Kernza®, as well as some of the challenges associated with growing this grain, and possible future directions. Photo credit: USDA
Relevant links:
“Old growth” is a term often associated with forests, however scientists are beginning to realize that this concept also applies to other types of ecosystems, including grasslands, which provide a host of important ecosystem services. We interviewed Dr. Katharine Suding, a researcher at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, to learn more about old growth grasslands. Image credit: USDA Photo by...
What’s behind the increasing size and severity of California’s wildfires? And if the trajectory continues, what does that mean for people living there? How has this trend already impacted residents? Three co-authors of a recent synthesis on drivers of wildfire in the Golden State share their main findings with us, as well as speculating on some possibilities for future solutions to living alongside increasing fire hazard. Photo cre...
The John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora, New Mexico, aims to advance the understanding of restoration activities on forested areas in New Mexico through multidisciplinary research, education, and partner collaborations. The Center also provides science-based solutions for private, tribal, state, and federal forest managers, who face the threat of catastrophic fires due to overgrown forests and the inability of post-...
Traditional burning, also known as cultural burning, is a form of under burning that has been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years to increase water runoff into streams, create habitats for plants and animals, recycle nutrients, and promote other ecosystem benefits. We interviewed Diana Almendariz (Maidu/Wintún/Hupa/Yurok), cultural fire practitioner, and Nina Fontana (Ukrainian and Italian), post-doctoral researcher ...
We often talk about Climate Hope on this show, but what about Climate Anxiety? Perhaps even Climate Despair? These are very real emotions that many of us feel when thinking about this planet we call home. We sat down with Dr. Sarah Ray, author of the book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet. Dr. Ray shared with us some of her tips and advice on navigating the complex landscape of climate chan...
Water scarcity solutions, especially those solutions that allow for continued food production while reducing water use, are a critical component of coping with reduced water availability now and into the future. We interviewed Dr. Manoj Shukla about a current research project of his using microgravity drip irrigation technologies from Israel on an experimental farm in Southern New Mexico.
Related Links:
We have been hearing a lot about biochar recently. Biochar is the charred material leftover after partially burning organic material, which is then used to improve soil health, remediate polluted soils, sequester carbon, and even improve soil water holding capacity and soil moisture. This month we spoke with Dr. Debbie Page-Dumerose and Dr. Nate Anderson, both with the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, to learn more about bioch...
The impacts of climate change are threatening the resources in our national parks, including many of the cultural resources within them. This month we interviewed Lauren Meyer, Program Manager for the National Park Service Intermountain Historic Preservation Services Office, and Dr. Gregg Garfin, former director of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center consortium and climatologist at the University of Arizona, to learn mo...
We always like to ask our guests on this show what gives them hope as they think about the future and our changing climate, particularly with regard to the systems they work in. For our first episode of 2023, we made a collage of some highlights from our guests’ responses to this question. As this new year begins, we hope you’re finding things to fuel your fire, and perhaps you might find some additional inspiration in the words of...
Ecological sites are the basic component of a land-type classification system that describes ecological potential and ecosystem dynamics of land areas. We interviewed Dr. Joel Brown, current leader of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s National Ecological Site Team, to learn more about ecological site descriptions, transitions and transformations, and some thoughts about rangeland ecology under a changing climate. Image C...
Science education is critical in responding to future challenges, both in building awareness in our community and also building the skills to respond to some of our most pressing climate-related challenges, such as drought and water scarcity, wildfire, and food production under climate extremes. In this episode we speak with Dr. Stephanie Bestelmeyer, executive director of Asombro Institute for Science Education in Las Cruces, NM, ...
Last month we heard from two experts on drought and aridity; this month we’re covering the other end of the spectrum and focusing on precipitation intensity and heavy downpours in the Southwestern US. Two hydrologic modelers, Dr. Dave Goodrich and Dr. Eleonora Demaria, discuss their research on intense precipitation events, as well as some of the implications of observed trends, associated challenges, and perhaps surprising opportu...
Megadrought is a term we’ve been hearing a lot of lately, with, as we find out from one of our guests, somewhat varying definitions. The term megadrought is generally used to describe the length of a drought, and not its acute intensity. A related term, aridity, is the degree to which climate lacks effective, life-promoting moisture. Simply put, aridity is permanent, while drought is temporary. But when drought extends multiple dec...
We interview Dr. Mike Hoffmann about climate change and the foods we love and need. Dr. Hoffmann is one of the authors of Our Changing Menu, a book published in 2021 about a complicated and nuanced topic – how climate change is impacting our food supply.
Relevant Links & Promo Codes:
Our Changing Menu website: https://www.ourchangingmenu.com/
Promo code for 40% off the book if ordered from Cornell Press: 09SAVE
Promo code for...
Warming temperatures can exacerbate forest drought stress, reducing defenses to bark beetle outbreaks, wildfire, and tree diseases. Concern about losses within the forests of the Navajo Nation due to these stressors led to a partnership between the Navajo Forestry Department and a diverse group of scientists to assess the vulnerability of Navajo forests to climate change and develop strategies to promote forest resilience to drough...
Dr. Carolyn Enquist and Dr. Dave Gutzler discuss the making of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, particularly the Working Group II section that presents an assessment of the impacts of, and vulnerabilities and adaptations to, climate change, of which both were authors. They share with us the scope and purpose of the report, applicability for resource managers and other decision-makers, wh...
Continuing our series on managing for ecosystem transformation, we sit down with Dr. Mark Schwartz, a plant ecologist at UC Davis, and Aviv Karasov-Olson, a PhD candidate at UC Davis, to discuss a new tool for assessing the biotic risks associated with a managed relocation project (also referred to as assisted migration). Managed relocation is the act of deliberately relocating, or translocating, a species outside of its historic r...
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
He’s a former Secret Service Agent, former NYPD officer, and New York Times best-selling author. Join Dan Bongino each weekday as he tackles the hottest political issues, debunking both liberal and Republican establishment rhetoric.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.