Jun 2, 2023

S1 E5: Predator Ecology with Aaron Wirsing

A hand in a black glove in the snow next to a paw print left by a wolf.

Ecologist Aaron Wirsing discusses his research in both terrestrial and aquatic systems, the ways that top predators, such as grey wolves and tiger sharks, shape their ecosystems and how humans affect predator-prey interactions through processes such as urbanization and climate change. Wirsing is a professor with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences studying predator-prey interactions. He is also Principal Investigator of the Predator Ecology Lab, which seeks to better understand how predators influence their surroundings by interacting with their prey, and endeavors to find solutions to the challenges of large carnivore conservation and management in the changing world.

May 25, 2023

S1 E4: Ecosystem Engineers with Laura Prugh

Laura Prugh, an associate professor of Quantitative Wildlife Sciences with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, shares about her pursuit to understand connections in the environment. On this episode of FieldSound, Prugh’s work with the critically endangered Kangaroo Rats is highlighted. Known as the “ecosystem engineers” of the Carrizo Plain National Monument in Southern California, Kangaroo Rats play a crucial, complex role in their environment.

Apr 26, 2023

College of the Environment launches FieldSound Podcast

We’re pleased to announce that FieldSound, the official UW College of the Environment podcast, will launch May 4, 2023! Through immersive, narrative storytelling, FieldSound explores the world of environmental science together with researchers at the University of Washington College of the Environment. Interviews and anecdotes connect listeners to the College’s global impact as guests share stories of their exciting, groundbreaking and influential discoveries.

Apr 20, 2023

S1 E3: Stuck on You with Chelsea Wood

A microscope view of a schistosome cercariae, the larval stage of the parasitic flatworm responsible for the second most devastating socioeconomic disease on the planet next to malaria: schistosomiasis.

Chelsea Wood is an Associate Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. She is a leader in the ecology of parasites and pathogens in freshwater and marine ecosystems, the ecological drivers of parasite transmission, and human impacts on parasites in a changing world. Wood discusses the fascinating world of parasites, their “Rube Goldberg-esque” life-cycles, and her recent study – the world’s largest and longest dataset of wildlife parasite abundance – that suggests parasites may be especially vulnerable to a changing climate.

Apr 17, 2023

S1 E2: Field Detectives with John Marzluff

John Marzluff is a professor of wildlife science in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and renowned researcher studying the relationships between birds and humans. In 2022, Marzluff was named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, honored for advances in our understanding of how humans impact birds, and for communicating the importance of birds to the public.