How do biologists strike a productive balance between descriptive natural history and manipulative experiments in the lab or field? Should we bring back species to areas where they’ve gone extinct and what values do we use to make these decisions? What is wildness and how do we cultivate it?

On this episode, we talk with Harry Greene, a herpetologist and adjunct professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, whose distinguished career has spanned decades. Harry is an E.O. Wilson Award recipient and also received the PEN Literary award for his book, Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. In the episode, we talk with Harry about the importance of natural history to biology. We also tackle the topic of rewilding, a type of biological restoration that involves translocating species where they still occur to regions where they no longer are found, in order to restore ecosystem function. Harry talks about how his views on rewilding have changed over time, including how rewilding ourselves could improve our health and happiness

Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

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