Gulf Streams

Ep. 103 Toxic Air in Our Homes

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, a slow moving public health disaster followed in the form of disaster recovery: the ubiquitous FEMA trailers that were quickly utilized by rebuilding families turned out to often have extremely high levels of formaldehyde in them. Dr. Nicholas Shapiro (UCLA) spent years following these trailers to understand the impacts of living in toxic environments. His new book, Homesick, offers lessons not only in disaster recovery but for how we continue to build homes (especially amid a housing crisis) and the risks of running to the fastest, cheapest solutions. Across our conversation we discuss ways to improve indoor air quality, as well as discuss how we can ensure healthy homes going forward as we continue to meet the rising demand for houses across the country. 

Ep. 102 Saving Animals and Writing to Save the World

On today's show, our junior researchers sit down with folks doing very different kinds of work to help protect our wildlife, natural resources, and planet. First, we speak with Nicole Rogers of Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary about their work saving wolves and wolf dogs. Then we talk to Tristan Ahtone at Grist about the importance of journalism and telling unheard stories for promoting climate awareness and protection. Finally, another in our series of urban explorer segments focused on local parks. 

Ep. 101 Can We Make It Rain?

Drought is increasing around the world, and with it desperate conditions for farmers and rural communities. Water shortages present major economic and political threats in the coming decades. One potential solution, much speculated on but less evidenced, is the controversial practice known as "cloud-seeding." Today we sit down with scientists and entrepreneurs to discuss how this practice is being deployed, what its effects are, and what its future might be.

Ep. 100 The Mineral Challenge to Electrification

Scientists agree that more electricity will be needed to power the world, and that we should use more renewable energy to meet that demand. But electrifying our world takes more minerals to build that infrastructure, especially lithium. How can industry keep up, and what are the risks and challenges in building out new mining facilities around the world? We sit down with Thea Riofrancos (Providence College) to discuss her new book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, all about these challenges. 

Ep. 99 How Urban Park Revitalization Took Over

Ever since the development of the High Line in New York, urban leaders have recognized the potential for unconventional spaces -- especially in economically marginalized areas or in deindustrialized spaces -- for new greenways. These spaces are often privately led, and explicitly aim for economic development as a goal of the new amenity. We sit down with Kevin Loughran (Temple University) to talk about his book, Parks for Profit, and the development of urban parks across the country, including Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston. 

Ep. 98 New Ways to Find Nature All Around

On today's show we have two segments both thinking through how to bring more natural solutions and greenery into the world. First is a conversation with the team at SPARK, a local non-profit that builds park spaces for students, and how they're thinking about green initiatives in parks. After that we learn about Nature's Burial, a new organization working to preserve local landscape while helping put loved ones to rest in planet healthy ways.

Ep. 97 Growing Green

Keeping a city's canopy thriving is hard work: the planting, growing, and replanting of trees takes constant effort. Today we sit down with Barry Ward (Trees for Houston) to talk all about the work of maintaining and growing Houston's tree canopy. Later in the hour our researcher Sophia talks to Robby Robinson (Buffalo Bayou Preserve) in a Critter Corner segment.

Ep. 96 Art and Conservation

Teaching the science of ecology and environment is an essential part of educating the next generation of environmental caregivers. But how we communicate those core ideas and help future scientists to understand the world around us requires finding ways of connecting and learning across science and nature. Artist Boat, a local nonprofit dedicated to science education through the arts, works to bridge that divide through artistic engagement and conservation work. On today's show we talk to their Karla Klay, their executive director, to learn all about how they marry art and science to help protect our environment.

Ep. 95 Writing the Gulf South

Our co-host Dr. Chaney Hill (Rice University) is joined by Christopher Nicholson (Rice University) to sit down with author Kent Wascom (author of such books as The Blood of Heaven, The New Inheritors, and his newest book, The Great State of Florida). Together, they discuss the role of contemporary fiction in telling the story of the Gulf South and better understanding our natural world through fiction. 

Ep. 94 Gardening for Resilience

Today we sit down with Austin gardener and designer Pam Penick, who tells us all about her newest book Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State. Over a career writing and thinking about garden spaces, Penick shares her insights into how gardens can survive and thrive even in the harshest of Texas environments.