Quirky Creepy and Freaky

Welcome back to the podcast! We're back with an invasive species episode, another worm that's been wreaking havoc in some parts of the northeast. Today, we're talking about the jumping worm. Tune in to hear about how to identify it, how it affects the soil, and learn some new worm fun facts! 

Happy Halloween! We have another invasive species today, and one that catches the headlines every so often: Hammerhead worms. These are pretty distinctive worms, but turns out they might not be as bad as the headlines make them seem? Tune in to learn more about these snazzy flatworms, the truth behind the headlines, and what to do if you see one. 

Case study on hammerhead worm misinformation: https://www.scielo.br/j/rsbmt/a/GyhLXXmcJcbrqk7C3tzD49p/?lang=en

 

And we're back! October is here, and it's spooky scary invasive species month on the podcast, and this episode we're kicking it off with the nutria. This semi-aquatic rodent is an introduced species in the United States, and wreaks havoc on the wetlands it lives in. Tune in to learn about where it came from, the surprising impacts a rodent can have on the ecosystem, and what we can do to help. 


And mild correction, the Invasive Species Centre is in Canada, not California, though I'm sure California has a lovely invasive species group. 

If you've spent time on the internet in the last 10 years, you've probably heard about the "adding chemicals to the water to turn the frogs gay" rant that became a meme. Today, we're talking about the paper that started it all, and turns out the truth is quite a bit different, and triggered a rabbit hole of how do frogs develop male or female and the fact that we don't entirely know! 

After a month's delay after an injury, and now three takes, the blue crab episode didn't want to happen, but it's finally here! In this episode, I babble about the blue crab's expanding range both in the Northeast, and its expansion in its non-native range in the Mediterranean Sea! 

Action alert: 
The Trump administration wants to change the Endangered Species Act to remove the harm definition and take away the bit where habitat modification counts as harm. The comment period is open for 2 more days, you can submit a comment through the Federal Registry at this link here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/17/2025-06746/rescinding-the-definition-of-harm-under-the-endangered-species-act

 

Despite angry sinuses and a glitching microphone, I bring you the history of the National Park Service! Have you ever wondered how the national park system got started, and when the national parks started being created? Or why park rangers wear such cool hats? All of your questions are answered in this week's episode! 

On March 7, the group Stand up for Science has organized protests around the country to rally for science. In the last month, federal funding has been frozen, grants aren't being reviewed, and most recently grants are starting to be pulled. This is funding that covers people's salaries, supports local fishermen, helps fund hospitals, and universities, gives funding for graduate student positions, funds cancer research, and more.

This episode is my stream of consciousness about what all has been going on in the last month surrounding federal funding for research. 

Do you ever think about how crabs evolved 5 times? Do you need more crab facts in your life? Then this episode is for you! In this episode, we talk about carcinization and the phenomenon behind crabs evolution. 

Paper mentioned in the episode about what it means to be a crab: Evolution of crabs - History and deconstruction of a prime example of convergence. Scholtz, 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 'Tis the season for some festive animals, and of course we all think about worms when we're looking to get into the holiday spirit. For this holiday special, we're talking all about the Christmas Tree Worm, a fun little polychaete worm in the coral reefs. How do they get their name? How old do they get? Are they festive? Tune in to find out! 

Camouflage is common in the animal world, but what about mimicry? Ant mimicry is surprisingly common, so in this episode, we talk about a few of the many animals that pretend to be ants! I highlight a few species of jumping spider that pretend to be ants, but also a snail that figured out how to join army ant colonies!