Episodes 55
Avg. Duration 10m
Activity Dormant
Since Jan 2022
Latest Episode May 2025

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Weeks
Format
Episodic
Hosting
anchor.fm

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

This podcast is devoted to celebrating the natural world. Topics include discussions of specific organisms, natural phenomena, and actions to protect the natural world and our fellow travelers. As an aquatic ecologist, I often focus on life in freshwater. Many episodes will be based upon writings published in the last several years on biodiversity and the natural history of diverse organisms including invertebrates. The new cover art was designed by Lauren McCabe and is based on a calligrapha beetle. See more of Lauren's art here: https://www.instagram.com/lauren.mcc.photography/

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Recent Episodes

Cellar Spiders: Leggy Pest Control in Your Home or Mine

May 23, 2025 10m

Possibly the most common non-human resident in the average home is the long-bodied cellar spider. These innocuous beasties provide non-toxic, round-the-clock pest control for just the price of a…

Water Pennies: Flat as a Pancake

Apr 16, 2025 16m

I recorded this back in January and am finally getting around to launching it today. This episode features a fascinating little beetle larva that clings to rocks in rivers and in wave-washed lake…

Snowflake Declan?

Mar 05, 2025 10m

The winter season ha provided some wonderful snowflakes. IN this episode I discuss a Vermonter know as "Snowflake Bentley". Wilson Bentley attached a bellows camera to a microscope and made some of…

The Amazing Bug Road SHow

Oct 30, 2024 36m

Of late, I'm more frequently called upon to talk about bugs than ever. But to reduce the chances of rendering my audience comatose, I use live insects and hands-on demos to keep things moving. You…

LIfe, death, black flies, and independent bookstores

Sep 13, 2024 13m

Freshwater ecologists often group invertebrates based on how they eat. Black fly larvae filter particles out of the water and in one case, they managed to help put a murder behind bars. This time…

Nets, boots, macroinvertebrates, action: and an invition to a field trip 6/29/24 9:00AM in Danville Vermont

Jun 25, 2024 14m

Macroinvertebrates, or the invertebrates we can see, are sentinels of clean water monitored by professional biologists. They can also be a gateway drug for budding scientists young and young at…

Brainwashed by Worms and 2 Event Announcements

Jun 15, 2024 11m

Imagine a worm that enters the body of a different species, and then takes over its brain, altering its behavior to the benefit of the work and to the detriment of the host. Such is the story of the…

Cloudy With a Chance of Flies. And first book event announcement.

May 28, 2024 13m

In warmer weather, have you ever encountered a cloud of flies buzzing up and down near a water body? Chances are that you have encountered a swarm of midges. This episode gets into the biology of…

Carpet beetles, skin beetles, and hide beetles, oh my!

Apr 27, 2024 10m

It is entirely likely that you share your dwelling with some generally innocuous beetles that subsist in corners on dried crumbs, cat hair, or other dried organic materials. But, it can sometimes…

Spotted Lanternflies

Apr 15, 2024 10m

What sucks the juice out of many plants, leaves a sticky mess that promotes mold growth, and will lay its eggs ANYWHERE. The answer is the spotted lanternfly, a beautiful insect that hails from East…

Upside-Down Aquatics

Mar 21, 2024 9m

Scuba divers pump compressed air into or out of jackets to hang neutrally buoyant in the water column. Few insects can manage the same feat and must hang onto to plants or expend energy swimming. But…

Turning stones: how one guy wrote a book

Mar 08, 2024 20m

A friend and radio broadcaster in my home town asked me to record something about the process of writing and publishing a book. I suspect that each book develops on a unique trajectory, and mine…

Ice out and climate change

Feb 23, 2024 8m

We have dramatically changed our climate. It's easy to consider that the change is slight. After all, who can remember what our climate was like back in the 70s? Back when it was "normal"? But…

Ladybird? Ladybug? Fly Away Home

Feb 09, 2024 10m

Ladybugs, Ladybirds, or Lady beetles are familiar to all in art and in reality. These little munchers of aphids and other garden insects are common in many habitats. If the supply of soft-bodied…

Springs in winter

Jan 26, 2024 7m

In colder winters than we are currently experiencing in Vermont, small streams wear thick layers of ice. In the winter of 1997 I attempted to sample some streams year round. I was thwarted by ice so…

Green Long-Jawed Spiders

Jan 12, 2024 8m

With snow on the ground, you might not expect to find many invertebrates about, but there are some exceptions. Long-jawed spiders are among the most common invertebrates found clamoring about for…

Calligrapha beetles support the matriarchy. And a new logo

Dec 27, 2023 11m

Calligraphy beetles have beautiful patterns that appear to be inked onto their elytra with a fine-tipped black pen. Their larvae specialize on particular plant species before dropping into the soil…

Isopods, woodlice, sowbugs, or rollie polies? Isopods! And a book announcement.

Dec 05, 2023 13m

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" - Shakespeare said it best. The subject of this week's episode has many names just in English, but whatever you choose to call them, they are important…

Tree rings: time travel in the forest

Nov 15, 2023 14m

If you have seen a freshly felled tree, you may well have noticed the rings in the cross section that mark the passage of the years. But felling trees just as an historical exercise seems extreme and…

S4E3 Let's go Fishing

Oct 07, 2023 14m

Why do we fish and should we fish at all? When I fish, it is usually for recreation or education. I encourage others to fish because I believe that familiarity with the fascinating organisms in the…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Nature Snippets have?

Nature Snippets has published 55 episodes since January 2022, covering topics in Nature, Science.

Is Nature Snippets still active?

Nature Snippets is currently dormant with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 10m.

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