A IS FOR ANTHROPOCENE: Living in the Age of Humanity

An exploration of the tiny but powerful, from viruses to snails. Plus, Tim Pearce, TikTok celebrity and beloved mollusk curator.

Meet Grant Ervin, Pittsburgh's Chief Resilience Officer, and Dr. Nicole Heller, the world's first Curator of Anthropocene Studies.Listen to “Whose Garden Was This” by Tom Paxton here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msKYLHwqvW4

And we're … back? Meet some of the new podcast team as they discuss this even newer age of humanity (from home) and learn what kind of vital work remains when a museum with a collection of 22 million items is closed to the public.

Eric and Sloan discuss the enduring inspiration of Walden Pond, ecotourism, and a potential new biofuel. Mason Heberling, the museum's curator of botany, shares his recent work and what Thoreau's journals reveal about the effects of climate change on wildflowers.

Ray Gastil, Director of Carnegie Mellon University's Remaking Cities Institute, joins the podcast, and Eric and Sloan discuss sustainable cities and species that are no longer extinct.

Declining bird populations, species and habitats that are recovering, and what you can do for birds (hint: coffee). Jonathan Rice, the museum's Urban Bird Conservation Coordinator, joins the podcast.

Eric and Sloan address eco-anxiety, discuss innovative green sewage solutions, and interview Jennifer Sheridan, Carnegie Museum of Natural History's curator of amphibians and reptiles, right before she boards a plane for an expedition to Borneo.

Welcome to our very first episode! Hosts Eric and Sloan recap the climate strike, find inspiration in Generation Z, and welcome our listeners to the Anthropocene. Later, Sloan discusses the borders of art, nature, and science with acclaimed artist and photographer Catherine Chalmers.