NaturallyScott

Send us Fan Mail Every spring, billions of birds move across North America — and for a brief moment, one place becomes the center of it all. In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with Kimberly Kaufman, Executive Director of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, to explore The Biggest Week in American Birding — one of the most important and accessible birding events in the world. Held along the shores of Lake Erie in northwest Ohio, this 10-day festival brings together tens of thousa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with Debi Shearwater — one of the most iconic figures in seabirding and pelagic birding anywhere in the world. Often called the “Queen of the Seas,” Debi has spent more than four decades leading pelagic trips off the California coast and across the globe, introducing thousands of people to the magic of seabirds, marine mammals, and life on the open ocean. From her early days as an Army wife to launching a life-changing pelag...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with raptor biologist Bryan Bedrosian, Conservation Director at the Teton Raptor Center, for a wide-ranging conversation about birds of prey, applied science, and what conservation looks like when research is paired with action. Bryan shares his journey into raptor biology and describes the work of the Teton Raptor Center across research, rehabilitation, and education. The conversation explores cutting-edge projects ranging ...

Send us Fan Mail In this 50th episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with Chad Nelson, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, to talk about a coastal conservation organization that doesn’t just educate and inspire — it organizes, advocates, and fights for practical outcomes. Surfrider’s work spans five core fronts: plastic reduction, ocean protection, beach access, coasts and climate, and clean water. Chad explains how a movement that began with surfers trying to protect beloved breaks ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with ecohydrologist Emily Fairfax of the University of Minnesota to talk about an animal that quietly reshapes entire landscapes: the beaver. What begins as a conversation about hydrology and water quickly becomes a deep look at how beavers function as true ecosystem engineers. Emily explains how their dams slow water, restore wetlands, create wildlife habitat, and even build natural resilience to wildfire. Scott and Emily a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with author David Gessner, a writer who never wanted to be called a nature writer — and yet became one of the most important voices helping us understand why wild places and birds matter. David is the author of Return of the Osprey, Soaring with Fidel, Leave It As It Is, and The Book of Flaco, among many others. His work explores raptors, wilderness, obsession, humor, grief, and the deep human pull toward the natural world. ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with Scott Black, Executive Director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, to explore the small creatures doing the biggest work in nature: insects and other invertebrates. Scott Black breaks down what “invertebrates” really are, why pollinators matter far beyond gardens, and how conservation shifts when you start paying attention to the species without backbones. Along the way, he explains a surprising truth ...

Send us Fan Mail Rewilding isn’t about nostalgia — it’s about scale. In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with Dr. Jodi Hilty, President and Chief Scientist of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), to explore one of the most ambitious conservation visions on Earth: reconnecting 2,000 miles of wild landscape from Yellowstone National Park to the Yukon. Dr. Hilty explains why isolated parks are no longer enough, how wildlife corridors, overpasses, and private la...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris is joined by Lisa T. Ballance, Director of the Marine Mammal Institute, for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from personal history to some of the most consequential marine science of the past half-century. Ballance explains how her career in ecology and conservation biology led her into the heart of the tuna–dolphin controversy in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, where massive purse-seine fisheries once killed millions of do...

Send us Fan Mail From growing up in Hawai‘i and Washington, D.C. to spending decades on the Farallon Islands, Peter Pyle has lived at the intersection of birds, science, and curiosity. A founding figure in modern bird banding and the author of the definitive guides to bird molt and plumage, Peter joins Scott Harris for a wide-ranging conversation about how feathers shape everything we think we know about birds. Together, they explore what molt really is, why it matters, how birds replace thei...

Send us Fan Mail Today, I’m joined by Dr. John van Wyhe, historian of science at the National University of Singapore and one of the world’s leading experts on Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. We break open the myths, misunderstandings, and surprising truths behind Darwin’s life, the Voyage of the Beagle, the long road to the theory of evolution, and why the Galápagos were not the eureka moment you've always heard about. John walks us through how scientists in the 1830s actually unde...

Send us Fan Mail In E34, Scott sits down with Michael Goergen, President & CEO of the American Chestnut Foundation, for a powerful and deeply hopeful conversation about restoring one of America’s most important lost trees — the American Chestnut. The American Chestnut once made up 25% of the Appalachian forest, feeding wildlife, sustaining communities, and anchoring entire ecosystems. Then a blight brought from overseas wiped out nearly every adult tree within a single human lifetime. Tod...