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Nature and Science Podcast
Nature and Science Podcast
Author: Don Murphy
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© 2026 Nature and Science Podcast
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Our podcast explores nature and science by following the personal journeys of individuals who have dedicated their lives to nature and science. We talk with theoretical physicists, park rangers, conservation biologists and anyone who loves nature and science.
79 Episodes
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Send a text Will a vaccination give you your life back? Doctor Y Bruce Lee is a writer, journalist, professor, systems modeler, computational and digital health expert, and entrepreneur. He will attempt to answer this question and more. He has over two decades of experience developing mathematical and computational models. The models assist a wide range of decision makers in health and public health. Currently, he is a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the City Un...
Send a text “Debbie Friedman adds a bouyant new element to history, introducing the strong and brave women who battled ocean waves and stinging sexism to become the first ocean lifeguards on the California coast. GUARDED combines tender memoir and heart-pounding rescue scenes. Friedman captures the salty grit of her fellow guards as they smash through boundaries and risk their lives.” —Elaine Weiss New York Times bestselling author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote The book...
Send a text Sustainable Farming Brings Healthy Food To Your Table is what this podcast is all about. Shawn and Lindsay and their three children work to provide you with healthy food through practicing permaculture and raising their farm animals in a humane way. Their pigs are pastured raised meaning they are allowed to roam free and forage on the land. They will tell the story of how they built their farm and business through a love for the land, a passion for farming and just pla...
Send a text This is the story of how a young man fell in love with the beauty and mystery of the desert and translated that love into a career as ranger protecting that desert. Vic Maris began his career with California State Parks, working at Red Rock Canyon in 1974. He served throughout the State during his 30-year career working as a park ranger, supervising ranger, and superintendent. His favorite job was working as Superintendent of the Mojave Sector, protecting seven parks including Red...
Send a text Welcome to my third memoir about my unusual trajectory in the world of medicine. In my first memoir, “Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert,” I shared with readers my profoundly life-changing and eye-opening time on the Navajo Reservation as a young schoolteacher in the early 1970s. Many years later, I returned to the Navajo people to serve them as a medical doctor in Cuba, New Mexico. The second memoir, “From Mountains to Medicine,” takes the reader on a spellbinding, ten-year...
Send a text Hello everyone, I'm your host of Nature and Science Podcast, Don Murphy. In the episode I am interviewed by our producer, Anna Murphy to discuss, how my two time failure in chemistry ultimately led to the founding of Ky'Orda. The mission of Ky'Orda is to eliminate the fear and failure in learning complex subjects for everyone by creating an education app with a personal guide that uses behavioral science and adaptive technology. I think many of you out there can identi...
Send a text Scientific research at Yellowstone and other National Park has yielded many useful discoveries benefiting humanity. One of the most important was the discovery of the thermophilic bacterium, Thermus aquaticus. Later an enzyme was purified by a team led by Dr. Henry Erlich, which led to the practical use of the PCR test in covid detection and many other uses. Science in parks is a crucial tool for the advancement of humanity. However, if it were not for the early effort...
Send a text This episode explores the mystery of a cellular organelle known as the vault and how unlocking the secrets of nano vaults could revolutionize Disease Cures. Though its structure is well know and its protein composition well established, its function remains a mystery. Joining us to explain this mystery is its discoverer, Dr. Leonard Rome. Dr. Leonard H. Rome is a cell biologist, biochemist and part-time dean involved in research, teaching and administration at the Univ...
Send a text This episode is all about deep fakes. It is getting more difficult everyday to tell what is real and what is fake, especially on social media and even on TV networks. In this episode we will explore, the war thats raging between creation and detection of deep fakes. So what exactly is a deep fake. Joining us to answer that question is Dr. Ilke Demir. She’s on the front lines of this battle. Dr. Demir is a curious research scientist, working on topics ...
Send a text On this episode we speak with Dr. Jesse Goodman about the spread of the H5N1 virus. We will discuss what a virus is, how viruses migrate from animal populations to humans and assess the chances for a new pandemic. Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., directs Georgetown COMPASS, which focuses on science based policy and research to address unmet public health needs with an emphasis on product development and access and antimicrobial resistance and stewardship. Until February 2014 ...
Send a text The next episode will explore how to avoid the devastating psychological impacts of disasters. A native of Long Island, New York, Dr. Katz attended Harvard College and went on to Columbia University where he obtained his medical degree, completed his psychiatric residency training and served as chief resident in psychiatry. He subsequently completed a fellowship in forensic psychiatry at NYU. Dr. Katz has a private practice in general and forensic psychiatry in Manhattan and is a ...
Send a text On this episode we speak with Dr. Jonathan Zehr. He and his colleagues discovered an example of evolution in action. Dr. Zehr will share with us how such a revolutionary discovery was made. Jonathan Zehr is the distinguished professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Institute of Marine Sciences. He and his colleagues have discovered the possibility of a complex cellular organism with a nitrogen-fixing organelle derived from endosymbiosis with a nitro...
Send a text Human beings have been breeding and cross-breeding plants for thousands of years. We have done this to increase yield, taste, growth rate and in modern times shelf life in grocery stores. With the discovery of the gene editing tool, CRISPR, plant breeding has risen to a whole new level; a level that has the potential to end world hunger, respond to the negative impacts of climate change, and even make it easier to eat black berries. Dr. Tom Adams co-founded gene edit...
Send a text In this episode we will explore the truth and consequences of the firing of National Park Service seasonal employees. Joining us is former national park seasonal ranger, Rosanne McHenry Rosanne has worked as a National Park Ranger and a California State Park Ranger in many different locations over the years, including the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mt. Rainier National Park, Auburn State Recreation Area, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, and Death Valle...
Send a text Moral bankruptcy threatens to destroy national parks under the guise of government efficiency. The firing of many national park service employees is illegal. Why illegal? Not because some codified law is being violated, rather because a higher moral law is violated. That law is rooted in the human responsibility of stewardship. The care and love for our natural and cultural resources seeks to resolve what E.O. Wilson called the great paradox. T...
Send a text Dr. Traill Dowie discusses how Early Childhood Attachments Can Influence Mental Health. He is an Associate Professor of Psychotherapy, Research Fellow, clinician, and clinical supervisor with dual PhDs in Psychiatry and Philosophy. As a respected voice in the field of trauma, attachment, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, he bridges clinical practice with deep theoretical inquiry, bringing cutting-edge insights into the treatment of complex psychological conditions. https:/na...
Send a text Are we alone in the Universe. Are aliens or extraterrestrial beings already here on earth, or are they watching us from afar with technologically advanced probes? It has been decades since the search for aliens began in earnest with SETI, the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence. So why haven't we made contact? What is the Fermi paradox and the Drake Equation and what do they tell us about he existence of ET? Why does the former chairman of the board at SET...
Send a text Joining me on this episode is Tom Shunenman to discuss climate change, the anthropocene, the ambitious 30X30 initiative that seeks to preserve 30% of the earth’s biodiversity by the year 2030. Tom will also share what happened recently at the COP29 meeting, the 29th conference of the parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We will take a deep dive into the question of whether human activity eventually destroy the earth. We will also take a...
Send a text Joining me on this episode is Jessica Ostheim. Jessica is a clinical dietician at the University of North Carolina Rex Cancer Care. She received her Masters in Nutrition Sciences from Arizona State University and her Bachelors degree in Nutrition Sciences from Penn State University. She specializes in helping oncology patients with their dietary needs during cancer treatment. We will explore: What inspired you to become a nutritionist? Why is nutrition important ...
Send a text Can a Cancer cure overcome evolutionary pressures? Human evolution is possible because of the extreme tendency for DNA to mutate. This same tendency is what leads to mutations that cause cancer. This episode takes an in depth look at cancer care from the point of view of two oncologist. Dr. Robert Wehbie and Dr. Roger Anderson. You will hear them discuss how human evolution and cancer are inextricably bound together. We will explore the many typ...























