Blue Dot

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Blue Dot, named after Carl Sagan's famous speech about our place in the universe, features interviews with guests from all over the regional, national and worldwide scientific communities. Host Dave Schlom leads discussions about the issues science is helping us address with experts who shed light o…

Dave Schlom


    • May 30, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 51m AVG DURATION
    • 292 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Blue Dot

    Blue Dot: Restoring an ancient and important salmon habitat: Big Chico Creek in Northern California

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom and Producer Matt Fidler go out in the field and in the studio to learn about the story of a major restoration on Big Chico Creek in Chico, California's historic and precious Bidwell Park.

    Blue Dot: The challenge of California's growing wolf population

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2025 51:31


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by two University of California at Davis researchers and the state's gray wolf coordinator to learn more about how California's steadily growing wolf population is affecting cattle ranchers and communities in rural Northern California.

    Best of Blue Dot: Fire and ice: a look at the Cascade volcanoes

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by scientists from the United States Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington, for an overview of the iconic cones sheathed in snow and ice and the geologic hazards they represent.

    Blue Dot: Protecting invertebrate pollinators and endangered species with the Xerces Society

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 51:37


    Executive Director Scott Black joins host Dave Schlom for a brief history and overview of the Xerces Society.

    Best of Blue Dot: Elephants In The Hourglass: a conversation with author Kim Frank

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2025 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom visits with Kim Frank, author of the book, "Elephants in the Hourglass."

    Blue Dot: TV Meteorologist, surfer and all around chill guy Bill Martin

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with recently retired TV meteorologist Bill Martin. Bill grew up in Paradise, Calif., and went on to a legendary, Emmy winning career as a television meteorologist on KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland, Calif.

    Best of Blue Dot: The story of eggs and life on Earth: a conversation with Jules Howard

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2025 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom visits with UK-based author Jules Howard to discuss his book, Infinite Life: The Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution, and Life on Earth.

    Blue Dot: Clay and humanity—in conversation with author Jennifer Lucy Allan

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 51:37


    British journalist Jennifer Lucy Allan joins Blue Dot host Dave Schlom to discuss her new book, Clay: A Human History.

    Best of Blue Dot: The fascinating lives (really!) of chickens with author Sy Montgomery

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2025 51:39


    Host Dave Schlom visits with nature and wildlife writer Sy Montgomery, whose Soul of An Octopus was a National Book Award finalist, about her latest work, What The Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird.

    Blue Dot: Ocean science at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by guests from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of San Diego to profile the ocean science being done at one of the world's most important and historic places to study our blue planet.

    Blue Dot: New Sáttítla Highlands National Monument overview with Sam Davidson and Brandy McDaniels

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by Sam Davidson from Trout Unlimited and Brandy McDaniels from the Pit River Nation for an in-depth look at the newly designated Sáttítla Highlands National Monument.

    Blue Dot: The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2025 51:37


    Blue Dot continues its series of profiles for the United States Geological Survey's volcano observatories with a visit to the granddaddy of them all -- the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) on the big island of Hawaii.

    Blue Dot: Looking for life in alien oceans with Dr. Kevin Hand

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by NASA planetary scientist Kevin Hand for a fascinating, in-depth (pun perhaps intended) look at the search for life in the oceans of alien worlds like Jupiter's moon Europa and the Saturnian satellite Enceladus.

    Blue Dot: Microplastics in the marine environment

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2025 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by Zeke Spooner, a Ph.D student at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, to discuss microplastics.

    Blue Dot: Mussels and a scientific detective story at Bodega Marine Lab and ocean acidification mapping

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by two researchers who have connections to UC Davis's Bodega Marine Laboratory on the Northern California coast.

    Blue Dot: The social cost of carbon and storing carbon in building materials

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with two UC Davis professors to discuss one of the most important yet problematic elements on the Periodic Table: Carbon.

    Blue Dot: Welcome to the Pyrocene— an in-depth look at the role of fire on our planet and in our communities

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2025 51:37


    In the wake of the massive Southern California wildfires, Blue Dot turns its scientific lens on the role fire has played on our planet and how that is changing along with the climate.

    Blue Dot: Gerry Griffin and the movies! A NASA legend and his roles in Hollywood films

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with his good friend retired NASA Flight Director Gerry Griffin. But instead of talking about the space program, this time, they discuss Griffin's amazing experiences on major studio film projects.

    Blue Dot: Elephants In The Hourglass: a conversation with author Kim Frank

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom visits with Kim Frank, author of the new book, Elephants in The Hourglass.

    Blue Dot: Restoring hope for imperiled Sacramento River salmon

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom and Producer Matt Fidler explore some hopeful restoration work being done to improve salmonid habitat on the Sacramento River in Northern California.

    Best of Blue Dot: State of the lake: A conversation with UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center scientists

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by two scientists from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) to discuss the state of one of the crown jewels of the Sierra, Lake Tahoe.

    Best of Blue Dot: The most fascinating creature on the planet? Hummingbirds with Dr. Christopher Clark

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by UC Riverside biologist and hummingbird expert Christopher Clark for a fascinating and in-depth look at the smallest birds' lives.

    Blue Dot: A Tour of Alaska's Volcanoes with scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 51:37


    Blue Dot's series of programs about the United States Geological Survey's Volcano Observatories continues with a trip north to Alaska!

    Blue Dot: California's Magical McCloud River

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by Curtis Knight, Executive Director of California Trout, for an in-depth look at one of California's crown jewels, the McCloud River near Mt. Shasta.

    california executive director mt magical shasta bluedot mccloud river california trout curtis knight
    Best of Blue Dot: A Range of Biodiversity: the Klamath Mountains Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom and Michael examine the incredible forests of the Klamaths with two Cal Poly Humboldt professors who are deeply involved in studying them, Lucy Kerhoulas and Rosemary Sherriff.

    Best of Blue Dot: A Range of Biodiversity: the Klamath Mountains Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 51:37


    In the first of a special two-part series, Host Dave Schlom is joined by Michael Kauffmann, co-editor and publisher of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History.

    Blue Dot: Water on the Moon and Lunar Trailblazer with Caltech's Bethany Ehlmann

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by Dr. Bethany Ehlmann, Director of Caltech's Keck Institute for Space Studies and Principal Investigator for the upcoming Lunar Trailblazer mission.

    Blue Dot: The fascinating lives (really!) of chickens with author Sy Montgomery

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2024 51:39


    Host Dave Schlom visits with nature and wildlife writer Sy Montgomery, whose Soul of An Octopus was a National Book Award finalist, about her latest work, What The Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird.

    Best of Blue Dot: Musings on the Moon with author Christopher Cokinos

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom finds a kindred spirit with Christopher Cokinos, author of the new book, Still as Bright: An Illuminating History of the Moon from Antiquity to Tomorrow.

    Blue Dot: What your tummy has to say: a conversation with Elsa Richardson

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom visits with Elsa Richardson, an academic at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Her new book, Rumbles: A Curious History of The Gut is a fascinating journey through the story of our ongoing quest to understand the process of digestion.

    Blue Dot: Mars science in 2024: Perseverance and Curiosity rovers and Mars Odyssey orbiter

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2024 51:38


    We get an update on NASA's explorations of Mars in 2024 as Host Dave Schlom visits with two scientists and an engineer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. We checked in on the Perseverance Rover, which has been exploring Jezero Crater since February 2021, with Deputy Project Scientist Katie Stack Morgan.

    Blue Dot: The real science of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by Michael Poland, Scientist in Charge of the United States Geological Survey's Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

    Blue Dot: On the road: A visit to the Park Fire burn scar

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by Producer Matt Fidler as they travel up California Highway 36E to visit the communities of Mineral and Mill Creek.

    Best of Blue Dot: The Rescue Effect: a conversation with author and environmental scientist Michael Mehta Webster

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with NYU Environmental Studies Professor Michael Mehta Webster to discuss his book, The Rescue Effect: The Key to Saving Life on Earth. Webster is an environmental scientist with a fascinating take on how nature has built in mechanisms that serve to preserve species and ecosystems in times of stress or disruptions.

    Blue Dot: The Klamath River flowing freely again and the science driving it

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2024 51:37


    Blue Dot takes an in-depth look at the science behind the Klamath dam removal project, one of the largest of its kind ever attempted.

    Best of Blue Dot: The process of subduction with geophysicist Magali Billen, UC Davis

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences geophysics professor Magali Billen to talk about one of Earth's most dynamic and complex processes, subduction.

    Blue Dot: The most fascinating creature on the planet? Hummingbirds with Dr. Christopher Clark

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by UC Riverside biologist and hummingbird expert Christopher Clark for a fascinating and in-depth look at the lives of the smallest of birds.

    Blue Dot: Fire and ice: a look at the Cascade volcanoes

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by scientists from the United States Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington, for an overview of the iconic cones sheathed in snow and ice and the geologic hazards they represent.

    Blue Dot: Lessons to learn about fire on the landscape: a conversation with pyrogeographer Zeke Lunder

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2024 51:36


    In a conversation recorded while the Park Fire was raging in the foothills and mountains of Northern California, Host Dave Schlom visits Zeke Lunder.

    Blue Dot: State of the oceans report with NASA oceanographer and climate scientist Josh Willis

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom visits with his good friend, Josh Willis. Josh is an oceanographer and climate scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

    Best of Blue Dot: The amazing undersea world of sharks with Dave Ebert, aka "The Lost Shark Guy"

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2024 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom visits with Dr. David Ebert, one of the world's foremost experts on sharks. Dave is the Director of the Pacific Shark Research Center at San Jose State University's Moss Landing Marine Laboratories.

    Blue Dot: Meet the Beetles! A conversation with Caltech entomologist Joseph Parker

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom visits with Dr. Joseph Parker, entomologist and beetle expert and head of the Parker Lab at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

    Blue Dot: The greatest photograph of all: Earthrise and the man who took it, William Anders

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2024 51:37


    Blue Dot pays tribute to one of the most iconic photographs ever taken, Earthrise, taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders on Christmas Eve, 1968.

    Blue Dot: State of the lake: a conversation with UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center scientists

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2024 51:36


    Host Dave Schlom is joined by two scientists from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) to discuss the state of one of the crown jewels of the Sierra, Lake Tahoe.

    Blue Dot: In memoriam: Blue Dot's 2022 tribute to Ed Stone

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2024 51:37


    Blue Dot revisits an episode in which we profiled the amazing career of one of America's greatest space scientists, Ed Stone. Stone passed away on June 9 at the age of 88.

    Blue Dot: 1906: The Great Northern California Earthquake Pt. 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2024 51:37


    Blue Dot concludes its retrospective of the earthquake that struck Northern California on April 18, 1906.

    Blue Dot: 1906: The Great Northern California Earthquake Pt. 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom teams up with scientists from the United States Geological Survey for part one of a two-part in-depth look at the massive earthquake that struck Northern California on April 18, 1906.

    Blue Dot: One of California's truly special places: Angelo Coast Range Reserve

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2024 51:38


    Host Dave Schlom talks to Reserve Caretaker Peter Steel, whose grandparents Heath and Marjorie Angelo deeded the land to the Nature Conservancy in 1959, making it the first Nature Conservancy landholding in the western United States.

    Blue Dot: The Rescue Effect: a conversation with author and environmental scientist Michael Mehta Webster

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with NYU Environmental Studies Professor Michael Mehta Webster to discuss his book, The Rescue Effect: The Key to Saving Life on Earth. Webster is an environmental scientist with a fascinating take on how nature has built in mechanisms that serve to preserve species and ecosystems in times of stress or disruptions.

    Blue Dot: The process of subduction with geophysicist Magali Billen, UC Davis

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2024 51:37


    Host Dave Schlom visits with UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences geophysics professor Magali Billen to talk about one of Earth's most dynamic and complex processes, subduction.

    Best of Blue Dot: Whale-SETI: a communications interaction with Twain the Humpback Whale

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2024 51:37


    In this very special episode, Host Dave Schlom visits with three researchers who were part of an incredible series of experimental communications with a humpback whale off the coast of Alaska.

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