I love discovering overlooked plants and animals that play outsized roles in the environment. I’m also fascinated by complex systems, especially when they’re easy to observe.

And nothing ticks all three of those boxes better than ants.

One estimate says that for every human on earth, there may be as many as 2.5 million ants. And these ants form complex societies with unique roles. They communicate in mysteriously complex ways, and can range in size from almost microscopic to an inch and a half long.

Ants can build colonies in acorns, hollow twigs, leaf baskets, massive tree branches, and of course, in the ground. The largest super colonies stretch for hundreds of miles - and by the way, you can find such super colonies in California and in southern Europe. They can farm fungi, and ranch aphids.

My guest today helped unveil all of this and more. Chloe Jelly is a graduate researcher at Cornell University in the Moreau lab. She particularly enjoys outreach, which made her an ideal guest for today’s episode.

People sometimes say that viruses and microbes rule the world, but after today’s discussion, you’ll see that ants aren’t very far behind.

Find Chloe on her website, at the Moreau Lab, and on BlueSky.

Check our Full Show Notes for photos and videos that were discussed today.

Links Discussed In The Show
Chloe's website, and Chloe on BlueSky

Chloe Jelley's papers (Google Scholar)

In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall

Moreau Lab at Cornell

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Do you love spiders and insects? Or perhaps you are more apprehensive of them - or even suffer from arachnophobia. In either case, today’s discussion is for you.

Join me for an enlightening journey into the world of insects and arachnids with Kevin Wiener. Kevin is an environmental educator and founder of the thriving 'All Bugs Go To Kevin' community. In this episode, Kevin shares his inspiring path from pest control to becoming a passionate advocate for arthropods. Explore the crucial roles insects play in our ecosystem, debunk common myths about animals like the Brown Recluse spider, and learn about sustainable pest control methods - including what you can do in your own home.

Kevin also discusses his experiences with arthropod pets, the importance of community support in overcoming fears, and the joys of integrating photography into environmental education and personal discovery. Whether you're a seasoned nature enthusiast or just curious, this episode offers fascinating insights and practical tips for fostering a balanced ecosystem in your own backyard. Don't miss this chance to transform fear into fascination and discover the often overlooked beauty of bugs.

You can find Kevin at allbugsgotokevin.com, and of course, if you’re on Facebook, consider joining the All Bugs Go to Kevin group. It’s one of the bright spots of social media.

FULL SHOW NOTES on jumpstartnature.com

LINKS
All Bugs Go To Kevin - website

All Bugs Go To Kevin - Facebook Group

Brown Recluse Spider by Richard Vetter

Travis McEnery’s Brown Recluse Documentary

Spiders of North America by Sarah Rose

Podcasts Mentioned
Kevin Wiener on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast
Jumpstart Nature's Cicada Episode (Kevin is featured)
Sarah Rose on Nature's Archive (spiders!)

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Today we’re discussing perhaps the most important 24 armed creature you quite possibly have never heard of before. Each arm has eyes, or more accurately, eyespots on the ends, and they have thousands of tube feet that they closely coordinate to move. It’s a keystone species which used to have populations around 6 billion. And in a matter of a couple of years, about 5 billion of those vanished, melting away, literally turning to goo. Or at least that’s how SCUBA divers and biologists described it. It almost sounds like an alien science fiction story, but I assure you, it’s real.

Maybe you’ve figured out what I’m talking about. And if you listened to my kelp forest interview with Tristin McHugh, we briefly mentioned this creature. It’s the Sunflower Sea Star, an amazing creature whose disappearance has caused havoc in marine systems.

I traveled 45 minutes from my house to meet with Reuven Bank and Andrew Kim from the inspiring and innovative Sunflower Star Laboratory in Moss Landing, California - right in the middle of the coast of the world famous Monterey Bay.

It’s a small bustling town full of marine research institutes, fishers, and ecotourism.

This episode has two parts rolled into one - it’s a sit-down interview, right on the Moss Landing Harbour. And then we go on a mini-field trip - a tour to learn how the Sunflower Star Lab is an important driver in recovering this incredible species.

As you’ll hear in the recording, we had a lot of…ambiance, from sea lions to raucous gulls patrolling the harbor, and the hums of pumps and water you’d expect in an aquaculture facility.

Yes, that’s my way of saying this was a bit of a challenging episode to record and edit. But despite a few rough spots, I think it turned out quite well.

Reuven is chairman of the board for the Sunflower Star Lab. He’s also an interpretive diving ranger for the National Park Service, though his work at the lab is independent from that. And Andrew is the lead aquaculture research technician at Moss Landing Marine Labs, a member of the Sunflower Star Lab board, offering his expertise on aquaculture to the lab. Oh, and we also had a brief discussion with Vincent Christian while he was working in the lab. As you’ll here, Vincent is the reason why the lab even exists.

Check the Sunflower Star Lab at sunflowerstarlab.org and on Facebook and Instagram.

FULL SHOW NOTES

LINKS
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Pycnopodia Recovery Working Group
Roadmap to Recovery for the Sunflower Sea Star
Sunflower Star Laboratory

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!