Aired 12/8/2025. For the final episode of 2025, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by Kendahl Chergosky (and bird friend Winona) from the World Bird Sanctuary. For the news, three cover how a volcanic eruption caused the Bubonic Plague, deep sea mining for green technologies, and a satellite company's ambitious plan to control sunlight. After the break, we talk all things birding, including the ecological importance of birds, bird watching, services of World Bird Sanctuary, bird counts, and how citizens can protect birds in their communities.
Aired 11/10/2025. On a plant themed episode of That Science and Nature Show, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by international student and Bovard Fellow at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Derek John V. Baganoc. News covers James Watson's death, why scientists don't know why leaves turn red, how climate change is causing roofs in Paris to overheat, and have researchers studying trauma cope. Topic of the show covers all things plants, discussing their importance, classification of plants, how plants differ with climate, invasive plants, the important work the Missouri Botanical Garden does, and have scientists and community members can help with plant conservation.
Aired 10/13/2025. For a crime themed episode, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by PhD candidate Ellie Lyne in the criminology and criminal justice department. The three discuss news of Jane Goodall's passing, how creative hobbies can age your brain slower, teenagers use of AI as romantic partners, and green turtles bouncing back from conservation initiatives. Topic of the show covers all things crime: types of crime, theories behind it, how society views it, misconceptions, and our obsession with crime based media.
Aired 9/22/2025. For the new season premiere, Jeremy is joined by brand new cohost Kiley Chernicky, along with guest Addy Yoder to kick things off. The three discuss tattoos and cancer risk, wildfire smoke and health risks, and prisoners helping with wildlife rehabilitation in the news. Topic of the covers social behavior, encompassing lots of subtopics, like the social groups we are a part of, animal behavior and sociality, taboos and cultural norms, famous social psychology experiments, social media, and social contagions.
Recorded 7/25/2025. For the second summer special of 2025 and season finale, Jeremy is rejoined by Soren Johnson and Erik Johnson for another rendition of Stories from the Field, where they share funny and interesting tales of things that have happened to them while doing field research.
Recorded 6/20/2025. For the first summer special of 2025, Jeremy is joined by Webster Heffern and Ketra Oketcho for a discussion of Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation". The book presents the problem of how kids are now having "phone-based childhoods" instead of "play-based childhoods", and this is causing a lot of problems in society because of this newer change in children's development. The three discuss their thoughts on the major points of the book, including the solutions that Haidt provides in tackling the problem.
Aired 5/6/2025. For the final podcast episode of this Spring, Jeremy is rejoined by Soren Johnson, as well as UMSL staff member and campus photographer Derik Holtmann. The three cover lab grown teeth, chess player always using the same opening moves, and why mosquitoes bite some people more than others in the news. Topic of the show covers caving and cave biology, with Soren and Derik bringing their expertise on cave as ecosystems, their importance, and how to get into caving recreationally.
Recorded 4/22/2025. This week on the podcast, Jeremy is joined by James Faupel from the Bellefontaine Cemetery, along with Jenn Voss and Ariel Alan from UMSL Sustainability. News this week covers possible life on a marine planet many light years away, how community nature programs can treat mental health, and pumping carbon out of the ocean as a tactic to fight climate change. In honor of Earth Day, topic of the show this week covers Urban Ecology. Our discussion talks about how cities are unique ecosystems, the good and bad urban areas can do for plants and animals, and how we can support wildlife in cities as we expand.
Recorded 4/8/2025. This week on the show, Jeremy is joined by Dr. Morgan Farnworth and Casey Johnson from UMSL Addiction Sciences team. The three discuss a new type of pacemaker, lightening safety tips, and some recovered cameras designed to capture the Loch Ness monster from the 1970's. Topic of the show is all about addiction and Dr. Farnworth and Casey's work with Addiction Sciences in relation to substance use.
Aired 3/18/2025. This week on the 50TH episode of That Science and Nature Show, Jeremy is once again joined by the microbe master, Webster Heffern. News this week includes a potential cancer vaccine, how language interjections are shared across different languages, and a musician that specializes in making music through mushrooms. Topic of the shows covers celebrities in science, which includes talking about how how scientific celebrities came to be, examples of famous scientists, the good and bad of being famous in the scientific community, the ethics of being a famous scientist, and if regular scientists should try and break into celebrity status.
Aired 3/4/2025. This week on the podcast, technical guru Ray Kannenberg returns to the show to discuss news items of virtual reality tasting, tickling, studying projectiles for athletic training, and the latest measles outbreak. Topic of the show covers probability, how it feeds into our lives, how people view probability through good and bad luck, cultural views on luck, and how people can use probability to better their lives.
Aired 2/25/2025. For the first episode of the Spring semester, Jeremy is joined by grad student guests Sarah Willen-Nelson and Erik Johnson. The three discuss bandages for plants, hospital sink drains, and the drone strike at Chernobyl in the news. Topic of the show covers Citizen Science, including its importance, our experiences with it, different kinds of projects there are, the credibility of these projects, and suggestions for how people can get involved.
Recorded 1/17/2024. For a Winter Break episode and fun way to kick off 2025, it's another round of trivia! Returning guests George Todd and Soren Johnson answer very flowery worded biology trivia questions from Jeremy for a shot at the trivia crown.
Recorded 12/2/2024. For our final episode of 2024, Jeremy is rejoined by fellow grad student Ketra Oketcho. The two discuss dinosaur poop, stem cell research on individuals living to 100, and sustainable Christmas trees. Webster joins for topic of the show on sleep and dreams, where the three discuss the meaning of sleep, our experience with sleep, what we think about dreams, and a lot of weird dreams we have had.
Recorded 11/18/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy and Webster are joined by guest and fellow biology grad student Soren Johnson. The three talk about artificial whale poop, CRISPR tomatoes, and the cultural significance of turkey in the news. Topic of the show is on shopping and consumer behavior, including factors that affect how we shop, what types of shoppers we are, our thoughts and feelings on advertisements, things that get us to buy things (or not), and if people are too materialistic in today's society.
Recorded 11/4/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy is joined by nutrition professor Jilian Bueltmann. The two discuss robot dogs playing fetch, bird flu infecting swine, and clay houses for wildfires in the news. Topic of the show is on nutrition, covering why it's important, where we learned about nutrition, diet culture, ultra processed foods, challenges of eating healthy, and connections between mental health and diet.
Recorded 10/21/2024. This week on the show, Jeremy is joined by special guest Dr. Rebecca Polich, who discuss news on the origin of meteorites, new research on skin cells, and a conspiracy theory around the recent hurricane Milton. Webster Heffern joins after the break for discussion on topic of the show: death and dying.
Aired 10/7/2024. This week on That Science and Nature Show, it's a two man show with Jeremy and Webster. The two discusses the recently imprisoned wildlife racketeer of the Montana Mountain King, bionic limbs, a found Ghost ship, and the fruit fly brain being mapped in the news. Topic of the show is all about research ethics and fraud.
Recorded 9/23/2024. For the start of a brand new school year (and season), Jeremy Howard and Webster Heffern are joined again by James Ott from UMSL Sustainability. The three discuss new info on the origin of Covid-19, subway cars being used for ocean habitat, and the IG Nobel Awards in the news. Topic of the show is all about water and water conservation.
Recorded 8/10/2024. On the last special of summer 2024, Jeremy is rejoined by Becky Hansis-Oneill and alumni Sebastian Forward for another round of Stories from the Field. Join us for funny, wacky retellings of mishaps that have happened during field research in Ecuador, Costa Rica, New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and more.