Rat Island #205

March 22, 2013

This episode was recorded when Science for the People was called Skeptically Speaking.

This week, we’re looking at invasive predators, changing ecosystems, and the ethical questions raised by killing one species to save another. We’ll speak to science journalist Will Stolzenburg, about his book Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World’s Greatest Wildlife Rescue. And researcher and blogger Bug Girl returns to educate us about insect conservation.

Guests:

  • Will Stolzenburg
  • Gwen Pearson (Bug Girl)
Listen Now

Featured Book

Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World's Greatest Wildlife Rescue

Written by William Stolzenburg

Book Blurb Find On Amazon

Other Episodes About Conservation

Shark Matters

Sharks are fascinating, often misunderstood creatures, and many of them are threatened or endangered, and they definitely deserve our conservation effort. But conservation effort takes time, money, and focused attention: all things... Read More

August 22, 2022

Thieving Trees

The word "poaching" conjures images of elephants, tigers and pangolins. But there's a multi-billion dollar industry in poaching...trees. It might seem ok at first, trees grow back right? But it's so much... Read More

September 26, 2022

Brave the Wild River

In 1938, two botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, made an ambitious voyage down the Colorado River driven by the desire to chronicle the plant life of the American Southwest. In her... Read More

June 19, 2023

Other Episodes About Animals

What's wrong Colonel Sanders? Feeling chicken?

Give a cluck about chickens. The most popular meat actually has a 3,500 year history of cockfighting, backyard keeping, incubation invention, and a lot of scrambled eggs. And now, people are keeping... Read More

March 27, 2023

How birds go the distance

Birds carry out some of the most amazing feats of athleticism in the world. Hummingbirds cross the entire Gulf of Mexico, their tiny wings beating continuously for three days straight. A single... Read More

July 05, 2023

The Jewel Box

A lot of us learned basic ecology in primary school. Maybe we took a biology class in high school or secondary school and dug in a little more. We use terms like... Read More

July 31, 2023

Other Episodes About Bugs & Insects

Dissecting Bumble Bee Health

Yes, bumble bees are important pollinators. But they're also fascinating, cute and colorful. This week's episode can trace its origins to a flowery Sierra Nevada meadow where host Carolyn Wilke reported on... Read More

June 14, 2020

Time for the Gory Details

There are lots of things about the natural world many people like to avoid, or even pretend don't exist. Like the mites that are the same size and shape as the pores... Read More

April 16, 2021

Damsels and Dragons

We sit down for a whirlwind tour of the entomological world of dragonflies and damselflies with Evolutionary Biologist Dr Jessica Ware, Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural... Read More

October 20, 2021

Other Episodes About Controversies

Where Do Camels Belong?

This week, we're discussing ecosystems, biodiversity, and whether or not "invasive" outside species are really as bad as they're made out to be. We'll spend the hour speaking to Dr. Ken Thompson,... Read More

December 11, 2015

Medical Marijuana

This week, we're taking a closer look at the medical marijuana controversy. How effective is medical marijuana and for what conditions is it a suitable treatment? In our attempt to separate evidence... Read More

March 11, 2016

Too Hot To Handle

This week we're talking about sex education: why we started teaching it in schools in the first place, how it's changed over the years, and what it might – or should –... Read More

March 18, 2016

Other Episodes About Environment

The Devil’s Element

With fertilizers that supply phosphorus–what Asimov called “life’s bottleneck”– people broke the circle of life. Dan Egan’s new book The Devil’s Element traces the history of this essential element from curiosity to... Read More

April 24, 2023

Brave the Wild River

In 1938, two botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, made an ambitious voyage down the Colorado River driven by the desire to chronicle the plant life of the American Southwest. In her... Read More

June 19, 2023

Tenacious Beasts

In his book Tenacious Beasts, philosopher and writer Christopher Preston explores creature comebacks. Some of these stories highlight the evolutionary advantages that animals have racked up over millennia, while others are marked... Read More

August 14, 2023