Radio & Podcasts

Radio is a great medium for public engagement of both general and specific audiences. Nalini has been exploring ways of using this medium to share cutting edge science research and to engage people about the multiple value of trees.

KUER TreeNote :

In 2023, Nalini approached KUER (90.1 FM), the Utah NPR station, about creating a program to raise awareness about the wonder of trees, and the many ways humans engage with trees. This turned into “TreeNote,” a 2-minute weekly show aired during NPR’s Morning Edition on Friday mornings. It also streams as a podcast on Spotify, Apple, and Google. Each episode describes an aspect of tree biology or a way that trees are present in the lives of people.

UPR UnDisciplined :

In 2022, Nalini was the host of “UnDisciplined,” a 30 minute science talk radio program broadcast by Utah Public Radio, in which she interviewed a scientist about his/her interdisciplinary research. 


KUER TreeNote Episodes:

The How and Why of Autumn Leaf Colors
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Why Apples?
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Wonder of Cork Oaks
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Body Language of Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Baseball
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Sycamore Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Why Old Trees are Good Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Music
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Holiday Wreath Greens
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Mistletoe
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Hermann Hesse's On Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
How Trees Become Rocks
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Trains
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Into the Tree Canopy
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Money
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The New Year for Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Architecture of Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Humble Gambel Oak
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Wonders of Bark Cloth
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Telephone Poles
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Bad and Good of Toxic Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Cacao Trees, Chocolate, and Steam-flowers
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Champion Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Maple Syrup
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Chopsticks and Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Baobab, the Tree of Life
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Two Spices, One Tree
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Arbor Day
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Ancient Juniper
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Lenticels: Tree's Little Windows
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
How Many Kinds of Trees Are There?
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Space Between Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Lightning
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Death
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Shopping
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Tree That Named a Nation
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Why Old Growth Forests Matter
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
How to Use Dead Urban Trees
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Heartwood: A Tree's Storage Closet
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
State Trees and Why We Have Them
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Old Trees We Love
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Up a Tree
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Allure of Treehouses
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Wonderful Willow Tree
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Many Uses of Cork Oak
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Why a Fuzzy Peach?
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Survivor Tree
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Quiet Beauty of Scandinavian Wood
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
The Janka Wood Hardness Scale
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Why Leaves Change Colors
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Too Many Acorns
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Acorn's Smallest Residents
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Crown Shyness
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Towers
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Wood and Hunting
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Why are Sycamore Trees Messy?
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees and Holiday Baking
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni
What is the World's Oldest Wooden Structure?
KUER + Nalini Nadkarni

Episode Transcripts:

UPR Undisciplined Episodes:

Hydropower dams are leading to species extinction
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
What this dried out lake in Chile tells us about the future of the Great Salt Lake
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
What do fish bones tell us about the Ancestral Puebloans
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
This invasive plant is destroying the Great Salt Lake wetlands
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
What makes these berries blue?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Scientists can now eavesdrop on whales
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
What can 3D simulations of sheep tibia tell us about healing bone fractures?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Over 20% of species are threatened with extinction
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Was re-introducing wolves into Yellowstone wishful thinking?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Chemists put a new twist on the phrase "tree of life"
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Nature improves mental health...but only for rich, white people?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Could social distancing save monarch butterflies from a fatal parasite?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Trees provide over $100 billion for the economy...and we're destroying them
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Climate projections predict increased risk of joint surge rainfull events
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Scientists developed injectable get that can help chronic pain in joints
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
How stable are Utah’s famous red rock formations?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Birds are shrinking due to climate change, especially small-brained ones
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Why you should be scared about the spread of ‘ghost forests’
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Researchers examined ancient sheep poop and now we don’t know who colonized the Faroe Islands
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Researchers identify the visual preferences of the world’s deadliest animal
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Aging increases cluttered memory and creativity
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Could anemone venom be our saving grace when it comes to chronic pain?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
How does science move from the lab into your living room?
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Researchers are coming together to address society’s grand challenge
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
Simulations found heat stress on human health amplifies with urbanization
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
New road map of lung development lays the groundwork for progress on lung diseases
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni
These two marine species are sticking together to battle climate change
UPR + Nalini Nadkarni

Other Podcast and Radio Episodes:

Nalini Nadkarni Is Walking in a New World

The biologist thought that a traumatic fall to the forest floor would end her life as she knew it. Instead, it opened her up to an even more vibrant existence.

Nalini Nadkarni Is Walking in a New World
OUTSIDE

How'd You Think of That? with Temple Grandin

In this episode of How'd You Think of That?, Temple Grandin talks with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, an ecologist who studies rainforest canopies and their disturbances. In addition to her research, Dr. Nadkarni pioneered the Science in Prisons project, which brings science education and conservation projects to incarcerated individuals. She is also a professor of Biology at the University of Utah.

How'd You Think of That?
Temple Grandin and Dr. Nalini Nadkarni

Exploring Tree Canopies with Nalini Nadkarni

Nalini Nadkarni is an ecologist who helped revolutionize the study of forest canopies. In 1980, Nalini started using mountain climbing techniques to ascend to the treetops in the Costa Rican rainforest. When Nalini isn’t traversing tree canopies, she’s advocating for environmental conservation and education.

Exploring Tree Canopies with Nalini Nadkarni
REI

Connecting Earth and Sky with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni

Nalini Nadkarni, a rainforest canopy researcher, blends science with public outreach, engaging diverse groups from faith communities to incarcerated individuals. With 150 publications and major media features, she was named a 2023 National Geographic "Explorer at Large" and holds honors like the Guggenheim Fellowship and Rachel Carson Award.

Connecting Earth and Sky with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni (Part 1 of 2)
Brandon Vaidyanathan