Tag: #citizen-science — 14 segments on Living on Earth
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April 03, 2026:
A Citizen Science Bioblitz
The City Nature Challenge is an international contest known as a bioblitz: a brief, intensive survey of biological diversity over a set area and time. A few years back Host Aynsley O'Neill met up with the Boston BioBlitz Initiative for Girls during a trip to Thompson Island in Boston Harbor, where a group of teens practiced their observational skills for the competition. And anyone can participate in this year’s bioblitz.
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December 26, 2025:
A Green Message for the Next Generation
Tem Blessed, an environmentally and socially-conscious hiphop artist, sat down with host Steve Curwood to discuss how contemporary music can communicate the importance of the environment and sustainability to young audiences. He illustrates this with two of his own pieces: “I am the bee” and “Now is the time.”
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October 10, 2025:
Science Note: Clever Cockatoos use Drinking Fountains
After observing sulfur-crested cockatoos using a drinking fountain, Australian researchers reported that most of the local population of cockatoos attempted to use the fountains, and around half were successful. Living on Earth’s Don Lyman reports on the research findings and hypotheses for why these clever cockatoos have developed this habit.
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August 15, 2025:
Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. Jenni Doering walks Host Steve Curwood through moments from the mushroom cooking adventure, which didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
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August 15, 2025:
Growing Shiitake Mushrooms in Your Own Backyard
With a few tools and a fresh log, you can grow delicious mushrooms in your backyard that will come back year after year. Hosts Jenni Doering and Aynsley O’Neill team up to inoculate a log with shiitake mushroom spawn.
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May 30, 2025:
Listening on Earth: California Coast and Crows
This week, sounds sent in by Living on Earth listeners include the crashing waves at Point Lobos near Monterey Bay on the California coast, and a crow in downtown San Francisco.
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April 11, 2025:
Listening on Earth
At Living on Earth we encourage listeners to share glimpses of their world through audio recording. We feature a collage of different audio recordings from across the country.
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January 24, 2025:
Ice Visions
As winter settles in over the northern hemisphere people find creative ways to get outside and enjoy nature. For environmental journalist and photographer Erik Hoffner, winter is a time for ice skating, a passion which gave rise to some unusual art, now 20 years in the making.
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December 27, 2024:
Befriending An Octopus
Octopuses may have small brains, but scientists believe they are intelligent creatures with distinct personalities. Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood and environmental writer Sy Montgomery went behind the exhibits at the New England Aquarium and wrapped their arms around Octavia, a giant Pacific octopus.
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November 22, 2024:
Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. Jenni Doering walks Host Steve Curwood through moments from the mushroom cooking adventure, which didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
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October 11, 2024:
Conversations with Dogs
New research into word comprehension in dogs suggests that with training and special equipment, man’s best friend can in fact understand specific words and reply. Senior author Federico Rossano is a cognitive scientist at UC San Diego and joins Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood to explain why motivation appears to be one of the most important factors driving this ability for dogs to converse in human speech.
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April 26, 2024:
The "Green Flash
On rare occasions a green “flash” can appear on the horizon at sunrise or sunset. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender has been lucky enough to catch it more than once.
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June 02, 2023:
Curbside Capture of Desert Rain
Thirty years ago, a neighborhood group in Tucson started harvesting local rainwater by directing runoff into street-side basins filled with native, food-bearing plants. Co-founder Brad Lancaster joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to tell how “planting the rain” improves neighborhoods, builds climate resilience, and helps the desert bloom.
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January 20, 2023:
Listening on Earth: Dolphins Talk
Bottlenose dolphins can use clicking noises for echolocation and navigation, and they speak to each other using special whistles. Wild Quest recorded these dolphin noises in the Bahamas.
