Field Stories

In this episode of Field Stories we catch up with co-host Chris Ketola who has just returned from a very successful research expedition in Uganda. Chris shares his experience and stories about the trip, including one story in particular that involves volunteers up a tree and charging buffalo! Chris and Michela also discuss how the current political climate in the USA is impacting conservation across North America and the entire world, with examples from our backyard all the way the way to Uganda. This episode covers a lot of ground, so sit back and enjoy!Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcastHosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos)Theme Music:"Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons:By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

And we’re back from another hiatus and are excited to introduce our guest, Jasmine Mancuso for episode 38 of Field Stories! Have you ever wondered who monitors our freshwater ecosystems? What happens when a body of water becomes unsuitable and hazardous with Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) ?? Jasmine, an Aquatic Ecology Research Analyst, dives into her world of aquatic ecology. Her work focuses on understanding the cause and effects of harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes, some of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world! 🌎 Jasmine shares her journey as an Aquatic Ecologist, from rivers to lakes, where she met our cohost Michela in grad school! Today, we really highlight on the need for outreach, education, and connection between scientists and our local communities. When it comes to saving our freshwater ecosystems, not just for our animals but for our own health too, it’s important to have aquatic ecologists like Jasmine to listen and learn from! 🐟 Jasmine also shares her field story of running into problems with birds out on Lake Erie! Don’t miss this new episode, and we are all excited to be back and rolling! Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcast Hosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos) Theme Music: "Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/

Today we were joined by wildlife artist and lover of turtles, Matt Patterson, for episode 36 of Field Stories! Have you ever wanted to get into wildlife art as a job but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you are already a wildlife artist and you just want to know how to get out into the field, and acquire some conservation experience! Matt Patterson’s work has spanned far and wide, from illustrating a book about fish with his dad, to assisting in the field with turtle conservation in Madagascar and Belize! Matt has recently illustrated and was a character of a non-fiction book called, “Of Time and Turtles”, by Sy Montgomery and is currently working on a new book about a very beloved snapping turtle named Fire chief! 🐢 His passion and love towards turtles truly is personified in his artistry and personality, which is such a beautiful thing to witness. Thank you so much for joining us today Matt, we learned a lot from you and got to see inside the mind of an artist! We hope you enjoy this episode! Streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Like, subscribe, share and leave a comment down below with any questions from this episode 💜!

This week we welcome back Nick as a special guest/host to discuss his summer in Suriname and Uganda. We hear about the conservation differences from country to country as well as some of the main reasons Gorilla trekking is a viable option in Uganda 🇺🇬 Nick tells two field stories with a more in depth look at a disastrous adventure in the Amazon rainforest involving a dog… as well as playing football with a rather large opposition player 👀 Guests to return for next week but we hope you enjoy this special episode where two hosts can discuss important matters... Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcastHosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos)Theme Music:"Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons:By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

On this episode of Field stories, the three co-hosts are FINALLY all back together! This week sit down with Jamie Clark (@seaturtleager instagram), a Sea Turtle Biologist who is working towards her PhD at the Unviersity of North Carolina Willmington. Today we dive into Jamie’s PhD work, which investigates size-at-age relationships and population dynamics of various fish and sea turtle populations using skeletochronology - Fourier Transform Near InfraRed (FT-NIR) and DNA methylation methods. Being a sea turtle biologist is one of the toughest fields to get into, and Jamie discusses her career path and advice for future young scientists of how to get into the field, stressing on her passion for inclusion and equality in the field of stem. We wrap up this episode with a good laugh from Jamie’s field story and we hope you enjoy this episode just as much as we did! Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcast Hosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos) Theme Music: "Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/

This week we speak to bat ecologist and researcher Jessica Dangerfield! Jessica spoke to us about bat conservation in England and why it’s arguably the most bat crazy country in the world! Her extensive work with bats includes monitoring and research projects in addition to bat rehabilitation. She also shared stories about some of her exciting international projects, including a doozy of a field story involving the rainy season in Malawi and spending a night with colleagues inside of a stuck truck in the middle of the Savannah! Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcast Hosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos) Theme Music: "Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons:By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This week sees the return of an OG guest, several field stories and an in person chat at Snake Patrol Suriname about all things snakes and Suriname live from the country 🇸🇷 Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcastHosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos)Theme Music:"Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons:By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Michaela is born and raised in Beverly, MA and has been involved in whale conservation since 2016. Starting as an intern on a whale watch, she found all sorts of channels to get people excited about whales!! Currently she is working for a UK based whale and dolphin charity called ORCA where she lives aboard passenger ships to take data on whale and dolphin hot spots and critical habitats while hosting lectures and workshops relevent to the species and locations visited. When she is home she works for a company called The Whale Mobile - a life sized inflatable whale called Nile, who travels around the states to share the importance of whales with kids who might not get the opportunity to see whales in their habitats :) Basically just a dork about whales who loves any excuse to talk about them and inspire potential whale dorks out there Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcast Hosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos) Theme Music: "Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/

This week we speak to Jody Allair! Jody is the Director of Community Engagement at Birds Canada. Through fieldwork and educational initiatives, Jody has been dedicated to bird conservation for the past 20 years. Jody and Chris spoke about the important role of environmental education and how it has evolved over the last decades. Jody also gave his insights into how young people with a passion for wildlife can contribute to conservation and find a successful career path. Finally Jody shared his field story involving an unfortunate skunk and Great Horned Owl, and needless to say you can almost smell the skunk in his story while listening! Follow Jody: Instagram - @JodyAllair X - @JodyAllair Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcast Hosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos) Theme Music: "Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/

This week we speak to Liliana Tobar González. Lili is a Mexican biologist who specializes in ornithology, with a focus on two pretty distinct groups: grassland and pelagic birds! In addition to her fieldwork, Lili is also very active on social media through her @bioloversdelmundo IG account. We spoke to Lili about why she is so passionate about promoting environmental science education in Spanish and in Latin America. She also shared very personal insights into the state of the environment in Mexico and the very complicated challenges facing conservation efforts there. A great episode with one of the most passionate and energetic guests we have had to date! Instagram - @bioloversdelmundoYouTube - @Biolovers Follow Field Stories - Instagram - @field_stories_podcastHosted by Chris (@chrisketola), Michela (@michiganbiologist) and Nick (@nick_smith_wildlife_photos) Theme Music: "Honey Bee" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/

This week we speak to Zak Cole! Zak is a Marine biologist and wildlife filmmaker from Florida, with a background is in Sharks and Marine mammals. Straight out of college he plunged into the depths of commercial fish stock assessment as a fisheries observer in New England. After a back injury in the field, he transitioned to a protected species observer for wind farm projects. While repeated issues with his back prevented him from continuing work offshore, he now focuses on films about Scientists and Conservationists in Florida and their work related to local wildlife, while working full time in film production. Zak and our hosts discussed his transition into wildlife filmmaking and the ethical challenges of this field of work. Zak then shared some crazy stories about his early days as a marine biologist! Zak was a super engaging guest and we can't wait for the personal tour of Florida he promised Chris, Nick and Michela....

Welcome back to field stories - today we speak with Emma who is a self proclaimed Orangutanologist and wow was it an interesting episode! Following on from our chat about the famous Orangutans with Jonah in a previous episode we get the insights from another perspective as we slowly transition into an "Orang" only podcast... Thanks a lot too Emma for the great podcast and top notch work in the field completing her PHD and we wish you all the best, if you enjoyed this episode, like, comment and share for more weekly episodes!

The Field Stories Podcast is back! After a brief hiatus, Chris and Michela are back in action, while Nick is off on an exciting adventure in France. On this week's episode, we have a special treat for you as we sit down with Ethan Tapper, a distinguished Forester, author, and educator hailing from Vermont, USA. Join us as Ethan delves into the rich history of the forests of New England. Ethan shares his insight on the vital work foresters are undertaking to break stigmas on silviculture and restore these forests, helping them adapt to our rapidly growing society. Plus, get ready to be captivated by a compelling tale pulled straight from Ethan's recently published novel, 'How to Love a Forest,' guaranteed to ignite your imagination and leave you inspired. Don't miss out on this fascinating episode!