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Author: Devon Bowker
Dispatches From Somewhere #10: The Golden Silk
Trichonephela clavipes, or The Golden Silk Orb-weaver, may be huge but they look a lot tougher than they act. They’re not aggressive and only bite if handled roughly, and they’re super clumsy outside of their web!If you listen to the podcast, you might remember us discussing these with @shakiguani on Tainted Love Part 2! A single thread…… Continue reading Dispatches From Somewhere #10: The Golden Silk
Dispatches From Somewhere #9: False Turkey-Tail
This is not a Turkey-tail. It’s a false one! Stereum ostrea, or False Turkey-tail, is a plant pathogen and wood decay fungus. The species name, ostrea, comes from Oyster in reference to its shape. It really is a pretty little fungi 🍄
Grid-Scale Storage
The wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine—and not always equally or consistently. Even in the sunniest of places, like deserts, “the amount of sunlight can vary from minute to minute.” (The Economist, 2014) On the flipside, demand itself is also irregular, and times of highest demand won’t always match with highest…… Continue reading Grid-Scale Storage
Looking for Direction
Hey, there wonderful human beings. First, an update on The Wild Life: I am currently wrapping up production on an episode with Rhiannon Kirton on Deer which I absolutely love. After that, I have an episode to finish on Horseshoe crabs and then on Whale Evolution. So, that’s good! On the Science People side of…… Continue reading Looking for Direction
Dispatches From Somewhere 8: American Nursery Web Spider
Fairly certain this is an American Nursery Web Spider (Pisaurina mira). This was one that caught me super off guard while rummaging through a portion of priory while leading a Tiny Nature hike with @hikehoppers. P. mira is most well known for its sexually cannibalistic behavior and extensive use of the silk web in mating. Before…… Continue reading Dispatches From Somewhere 8: American Nursery Web Spider
Dispatches From Somewhere #7: Pitcher Plants
Weird plants are the best finds. On a camping trip this August with my brother, we came across a bunch of Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) in a bog! Similar to the Venus Fly Trap, it too is a carnivorous plant, trapping insects inside its pitcher. One of my favorite things about them actually is,…… Continue reading Dispatches From Somewhere #7: Pitcher Plants
Dispatches from Somewhere #6: The Indo-Pacific Rock-Boring Urchin
One of my favorite finds from our trip to #Oahu, an Indo-Pacific Rock-Boring Urchin (Echinometra mathaei).
Giraffes Need Friends, Too
Giraffe Social Circles and What They Mean for Conservation November 14th, 2021 Photo Credit: Steven Gerner CC BY-SA 2.0 What do Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Gilmore Girls, and Giraffes have in common? The women are the stars of the show. Despite being one of the most popular animals on Earth, giraffes are not studied as…… Continue reading Giraffes Need Friends, Too
Let the Sun Shine
In February of 2014, 40 minutes outside of Las Vegas, the Ivanpah solar-thermal plant made its debut. Able to deliver 377 MW of power to 140,000 southern California homes, it’s “a sea of 347,000 mirrors, reflecting the rays of the desert sun on to boilers mounted on three 460-foot towers”. (The Economist) It’s an astoundingly…… Continue reading Let the Sun Shine
Making some changes
After nearly 5 years of podcasting and blogging, I’m forging a new path. I don’t know how it will look. I don’t know what to tell you to expect. What I do know is I’ve thrown out a lot of the fluff that was eating up my bandwidth and adding to my stress. What remains?…… Continue reading Making some changes
The Crown-of-Thorns Starfish & a Genetic Trojan Horse
The Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish may not look like much, but their impact is inarguable.
Protecting Wolves with Dr John Vucetich
Today on The Wild Life, why protections were ended, what’s happened since, why hunting wolves is viewed by many as unjustifiable, their social nature and disruptions, the why behind anti-wolf rhetoric, and how protections can be put in place once again.
No Fracking Way
Short for hydraulic fracturing, fracking was introduced into the oil and gas industries in the late 1940s as a method of extracting petroleum or natural gas. Nowadays, it is estimated that “90% of the natural gas wells in the United States” (Dunlap, 2019, 97) employ fracking as a method of extraction. To put it simply,…… Continue reading No Fracking Way
Why is Renewable Energy So Expensive?
Any major socioeconomic transition is going to have its costs and trade off’s, and renewable energies are certainly no exception. A major argument regularly used against renewable energies is their high cost in comparison to their more traditional, fossil fuel-based counterparts. Many of these costs, however, are not so much an artifact of the cost…… Continue reading Why is Renewable Energy So Expensive?
Putting a Price on Carbon: Who Pays, and How?
It’s not uncommon that a Carbon tax or Cap-and-Trade is dismissed as some sort of scheme, just another example of the government taking the people’s hard-earned money. Thing is, this simply isn’t true, and both options carry some serious weight in terms of the impacts they could have on reducing pollution. For one, neither a…… Continue reading Putting a Price on Carbon: Who Pays, and How?
Japan’s Solar Surge + How Solar Works
30% of Japan’s energy comes from nuclear reactors, at least it did until March 11th, 2011 when an earthquake lead to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. 11 others shut down that day. Within a year, the countries remaining nuclear power plants all shut down in order to make upgrades and undergo…… Continue reading Japan’s Solar Surge + How Solar Works
To Keep Living a Wild Life
Hey readers! Lots of exciting things are happening, some I am able to discuss and others not so much…yet. In fact, I’ve redesigned the website to better feature new content, and just put out another new episode with another coming this week. I am finishing production on a Horseshoe Crab Episode, Deer, and Whale Evolution…… Continue reading To Keep Living a Wild Life
Behind the SCiENcES with Dr Gilad Bino
Before you sit down with us to learn all about platypuses, join us for a glimpse Behind the SCiENcES with Dr Gilad Bino. Dr Bino is passionate about conservation and science. He seeks to address the ongoing biodiversity crisis by understanding the underlying processes that shape biodiversity at multiple spatial and temporal scales to inform…… Continue reading Behind the SCiENcES with Dr Gilad Bino
Series Preview: Why Us?
First, an ask: please excuse the audio quality, and focus on the content 🙂 Devon Bowker here, I wasn’t originally going to post this. This was a recorded conversation that we had when talking about the reasons behind our upcoming series ‘Us’, an ongoing series examining our connections and impact on the environment, sustainability, and…… Continue reading Series Preview: Why Us?
To Keep Things Going
Hey readers, If you’re a regular follower you may know that I have just been admitted into a biology graduate program beginning this August. I am incredibly excited about this opportunity, admittedly nervous at how my work-life balance will look as I continue to teach full-time, but excited. Here’s the honest truth, though. It’s going…… Continue reading To Keep Things Going
Dispatches from Somewhere #5| American Alligator
This is one of my favorite shots I’ve ever managed to capture. I snapped this in 2015 at one of my all-time favorite parks, @brazosbendstatepark near Houston, TX. It sorta looks like she’s lunging forward, but in reality, she was sitting in a quickly flowing stream with her mouth open against the flow, presumably to catch fish…… Continue reading Dispatches from Somewhere #5| American Alligator
Dispatches from Somewhere #4| Antheraea polyphemus
Admittedly, this photo isn’t from any time recently. I took this during the summer of 2014 at Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, MN. It was while I was working for a nonprofit organization called Tree Trust building a 180-foot swamp foot boardwalk with local high school students. It was also my first time seeing one…… Continue reading Dispatches from Somewhere #4| Antheraea polyphemus
TWL NEWS| Wildlife Weekend Update: August 3, 2021
Vermont’s 25th annual rabies bait drop to begin Thursday On a similar note, Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Fun Run Pro Am Race for the Cure will be taking place this Friday Beginning on Thursday, technicians will begin distributing 450,000 quarter-sized blister packs containing a rabies vaccine that will…… Continue reading TWL NEWS| Wildlife Weekend Update: August 3, 2021
Time to Meet our New Cohost, Courtney Downing!
It’s time to meet our new cohost, Courtney Downing! This has been one we’ve wanted to share for quite some time, so it feels great to finally share it with you all. Next week? Platypuses with Dr Gilad Bino!
Bears! with Brogan Holcombe
Get to know Brogan Brogan is a Master’s Student working in the Wildlife Habitat & Population Analysis Lab at Virginia Tech She’s also the one behind #SundayScientistShoutout on Twitter which she does every week for scientists or STEM activists from underrepresented groups. Follow Brogan @Brogan_Holcombe or look up her #bearseyeview for awesome bear videos! GET…… Continue reading Bears! with Brogan Holcombe
A Significant Announcement
4 years ago, I started a blog and eventual podcast called The Wild Life. Last June, I started a nonprofit organization with the hope and intent of using the existing platform of The Wild Life to accelerate the work towards fulfilling the mission of inspiring hope of a green and just future for all through…… Continue reading A Significant Announcement
Carnivore Ecology with Dr Mariela Gantchoff
In this episode, Devon sits down with Carnivore Ecologist Dr Mariela Gantchoff to talk about What defines carnivoresHow their population sizes compare with those of their preyHow carnivores impact their ecosystem and what would their ecosystems look like without their presence, specifically bears and cougarsBasic biology, diet, and behavior Impacts on populationsHow there behavior in biology…… Continue reading Carnivore Ecology with Dr Mariela Gantchoff
Behind the 𝗦𝗖i𝗘𝗡c𝗘𝗦 with Dr Mariela Gantchoff
Meet this week’s guest before the episode airs! She is an ecologist at the intersection of theoretical and applied ecology, currently working on landscape and quantitative ecology in relation to the conservation and management of terrestrial wildlife. A lot of her current research involves working to understand wildlife use of natural and developed landscapes, range…… Continue reading Behind the 𝗦𝗖i𝗘𝗡c𝗘𝗦 with Dr Mariela Gantchoff