Just the Zoo of Us

Join Ellen & special guest, science communicator and Certified Bug Friend Emily, for a review of the tiny little bugs that fly around your nearest kitchen sink. We discuss what Big Pest doesn’t want you to know, convergent evolution between bugs and fish, the drain gods, secret spy languages that only bugs can read, and so much more.

Links:

Follow Emily on Instagram, YouTube, and more!

Learn more about the Entomology Box!

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Ellen goes on a journey through time and space with Triops, the tadpole shrimp. We discuss book fairs, vernal pools, whether saltwater or freshwater came first, trips to space, prehistoric scampi, surprise guests at Burning Man, and so much more.

Sources:

"Ontogenetic sequence comparison of extant and fossil tadpole shrimps: no support for the “living fossil” concept" - Philipp Wagner et al., Paläontologische Zeitschrift, August 2017

“Survival of dormant organisms after long-term exposure to the space environment” - N. Novikova et al., Acta Astronautica, June 2010

“From antibiotics to yeast: Latest student science heads for space” - NASA, Science Daily, July 2014

“Hundreds of three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge after Arizona monsoon” - Laura Geggel, LiveScience, October 2021

“What are the three-eyed ‘dinosaur shrimp’ resurfacing after Burning Man?” - Faiza Saqib, The Independent, September 2023

They Might Be Giants song “Triops Has Three Eyes”

“Adult Triops cancriformis (Pancrustacea: Notostraca) mediates the hatching rate of its resting eggs” - Alžbeta Devánová et al., Hydrobiologia, March 2022

“Tadpole Shrimp Are Coming for Your Rice” - PBS Deep Look

Links:

For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!

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Join Ellen & special guest artist and reptile keeper Lyn for an up close and personal look at a little snake with a big appetite. We discuss how it feels to handle a snake, stress dreams specific to pet owners, gastoning it, spine teeth, snacktivities, how snakes flirt with each other, and so much more.
Links:
Check out Lyn's art and comic on Instagram! 
Denver folks, check out Lyn's upcoming snake shed jewelry & painting workshop!
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!

Ellen takes things slow with the iconic banana slug. We discuss mobile slip 'n' slides, recreationally poisoning yourself, liquid crystals, oobleck, robosnail, slime trains, moisture farming, apophallation, college mascots, and so much more.
Works Cited:
"Banana Slugs: Secret of the Slime" for Mallory Pickett, KQED, February 2015
"Mechanical Devices for Snail-like Locomotion" - Brian Chan et al., Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, February 2007
"Tough adhesives for diverse wet surfaces" - J. Li et al., Science, July 2017
"Emerging biotechnology promises to transform the materials we use to work and live" - L.G. Blanchard, University of Washington Magazine, September 1993
"She studies slug sex by the seashore: UCSC researcher works to unlock secrets of banana slug sex" - Elise Overgaard, Lookout Santa Cruz, June 2023
"Our Mascot: Sammy the Banana Slug", UC Santa Cruz (uscs.edu)
Links:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
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Join Ellen & special guests, power couple Shannon Hackett and John Bates from the Field Museum, here to talk about the intersection of science, history, and of course, birds in a love letter to the natural history museum. We discuss working alongside SUE the T. rex, specimen pickles, harlequin romance novels, and explore bigger questions like how museum collections can reveal evolution happening around us right now in real-time and help us look into the future, what the average everyday person can learn about themselves and what science actually looks like from a museum, and the hotly contested debate as to whether grey vireos are interesting or not.
Links:
Check out Birds of a Feather Talk Together on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Instagram!
Learn more about the Field Museum on their website!
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!