That Science and Nature Show

Aired 4/13/2026. For their return to the UMSL radio studio, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by KMOV TV's chief meteorologist Steve Templeton. News covers bioluminescent plants being developed China, the loss of smells across the Earth, and researchers in Japan discovering fireflies can see red light and the application to medicine. Topic of the show is all about weather, what it is, how it's predicted, what a meteorologist does, misconceptions around the weather, and how we as citizens stay better informed and safe against bad weather.

Recorded 3/9/2025. The UMSL Radio studio is still out of commission, but we still have a great March episode for you! Jeremy and Kiley are joined by Michelle Laporte, biology professor from St. Louis Community College for an episode all about disease. In the news the three discuss a revitalizing T cells to fight cancer, curing peanut allergies with spit, and guardian dogs help to ward off coyotes for ranchers. Topic of the show covers what is a disease, how diseases are classified, diseases across history, how disease is transmitted, how to protect yourself from disease, public perception of disease, misconceptions, and the idea of a panacea. Music used for this episode from Kevin Macleod.

Recorded 2/16/2026. On this episode of the podcast, the radio studio is down, but the show must go on! Jeremy is joined by Dr. Sandra Langeslag to talk the science of love and attraction. For news, the two discuss an origami science project with applications to storm shelters, tracking microplastics in the human body, and hypotheses for why kissing exists in the news. Topic of the show covers what is love, types of loves, parasocial relationships, love at first sight, AI relationships, heartbreak, and what the media messes up when reporting on love. Music for this episode from Kevin Macleod.

Recorded 1/13/2026. On this Winter Break episode of the podcast, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by 1st year grad students Sarah Jackson and Michael Hayes to do an episode all about the science of happiness. Topics include misconceptions on happiness, biases and annoying features of the mind that cause unhappiness, how to overcome these biases, things that actually make us happy, and how to make a plan to implement happiness techniques.

Aired 12/8/2025. For the final episode of 2025, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by Kendahl Chergosky (and bird friend Winona) from the World Bird Sanctuary. For the news, three cover how a volcanic eruption caused the Bubonic Plague, deep sea mining for green technologies, and a satellite company's ambitious plan to control sunlight. After the break, we talk all things birding, including the ecological importance of birds, bird watching, services of World Bird Sanctuary, bird counts, and how citizens can protect birds in their communities.

Aired 11/10/2025. On a plant themed episode of That Science and Nature Show, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by international student and Bovard Fellow at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Derek John V. Baganoc. News covers James Watson's death, why scientists don't know why leaves turn red, how climate change is causing roofs in Paris to overheat, and have researchers studying trauma cope. Topic of the show covers all things plants, discussing their importance, classification of plants, how plants differ with climate, invasive plants, the important work the Missouri Botanical Garden does, and have scientists and community members can help with plant conservation.

Aired 10/13/2025. For a crime themed episode, Jeremy and Kiley are joined by PhD candidate Ellie Lyne in the criminology and criminal justice department. The three discuss news of Jane Goodall's passing, how creative hobbies can age your brain slower, teenagers use of AI as romantic partners, and green turtles bouncing back from conservation initiatives. Topic of the show covers all things crime: types of crime, theories behind it, how society views it, misconceptions, and our obsession with crime based media.

Aired 9/22/2025. For the new season premiere, Jeremy is joined by brand new cohost Kiley Chernicky, along with guest Addy Yoder to kick things off. The three discuss tattoos and cancer risk, wildfire smoke and health risks, and prisoners helping with wildlife rehabilitation in the news. Topic of the covers social behavior, encompassing lots of subtopics, like the social groups we are a part of, animal behavior and sociality, taboos and cultural norms, famous social psychology experiments, social media, and social contagions.

Recorded 7/25/2025. For the second summer special of 2025 and season finale, Jeremy is rejoined by Soren Johnson and Erik Johnson for another rendition of Stories from the Field, where they share funny and interesting tales of things that have happened to them while doing field research.

Recorded 6/20/2025. For the first summer special of 2025, Jeremy is joined by Webster Heffern and Ketra Oketcho for a discussion of Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation". The book presents the problem of how kids are now having "phone-based childhoods" instead of "play-based childhoods", and this is causing a lot of problems in society because of this newer change in children's development. The three discuss their thoughts on the major points of the book, including the solutions that Haidt provides in tackling the problem.

Aired 5/6/2025. For the final podcast episode of this Spring, Jeremy is rejoined by Soren Johnson, as well as UMSL staff member and campus photographer Derik Holtmann. The three cover lab grown teeth, chess player always using the same opening moves, and why mosquitoes bite some people more than others in the news. Topic of the show covers caving and cave biology, with Soren and Derik bringing their expertise on cave as ecosystems, their importance, and how to get into caving recreationally.

Recorded 4/22/2025. This week on the podcast, Jeremy is joined by James Faupel from the Bellefontaine Cemetery, along with Jenn Voss and Ariel Alan from UMSL Sustainability. News this week covers possible life on a marine planet many light years away, how community nature programs can treat mental health, and pumping carbon out of the ocean as a tactic to fight climate change. In honor of Earth Day, topic of the show this week covers Urban Ecology. Our discussion talks about how cities are unique ecosystems, the good and bad urban areas can do for plants and animals, and how we can support wildlife in cities as we expand.

Recorded 4/8/2025. This week on the show, Jeremy is joined by Dr. Morgan Farnworth and Casey Johnson from UMSL Addiction Sciences team. The three discuss a new type of pacemaker, lightening safety tips, and some recovered cameras designed to capture the Loch Ness monster from the 1970's. Topic of the show is all about addiction and Dr. Farnworth and Casey's work with Addiction Sciences in relation to substance use.

Aired 3/18/2025. This week on the 50TH episode of That Science and Nature Show, Jeremy is once again joined by the microbe master, Webster Heffern. News this week includes a potential cancer vaccine, how language interjections are shared across different languages, and a musician that specializes in making music through mushrooms. Topic of the shows covers celebrities in science, which includes talking about how how scientific celebrities came to be, examples of famous scientists, the good and bad of being famous in the scientific community, the ethics of being a famous scientist, and if regular scientists should try and break into celebrity status.

Aired 3/4/2025. This week on the podcast, technical guru Ray Kannenberg returns to the show to discuss news items of virtual reality tasting, tickling, studying projectiles for athletic training, and the latest measles outbreak. Topic of the show covers probability, how it feeds into our lives, how people view probability through good and bad luck, cultural views on luck, and how people can use probability to better their lives.

Aired 2/25/2025. For the first episode of the Spring semester, Jeremy is joined by grad student guests Sarah Willen-Nelson and Erik Johnson. The three discuss bandages for plants, hospital sink drains, and the drone strike at Chernobyl in the news. Topic of the show covers Citizen Science, including its importance, our experiences with it, different kinds of projects there are, the credibility of these projects, and suggestions for how people can get involved.

Recorded 1/17/2024. For a Winter Break episode and fun way to kick off 2025, it's another round of trivia! Returning guests George Todd and Soren Johnson answer very flowery worded biology trivia questions from Jeremy for a shot at the trivia crown.

Recorded 12/2/2024. For our final episode of 2024, Jeremy is rejoined by fellow grad student Ketra Oketcho. The two discuss dinosaur poop, stem cell research on individuals living to 100, and sustainable Christmas trees. Webster joins for topic of the show on sleep and dreams, where the three discuss the meaning of sleep, our experience with sleep, what we think about dreams, and a lot of weird dreams we have had.

Recorded 11/18/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy and Webster are joined by guest and fellow biology grad student Soren Johnson. The three talk about artificial whale poop, CRISPR tomatoes, and the cultural significance of turkey in the news. Topic of the show is on shopping and consumer behavior, including factors that affect how we shop, what types of shoppers we are, our thoughts and feelings on advertisements, things that get us to buy things (or not), and if people are too materialistic in today's society.

Recorded 11/4/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy is joined by nutrition professor Jilian Bueltmann. The two discuss robot dogs playing fetch, bird flu infecting swine, and clay houses for wildfires in the news. Topic of the show is on nutrition, covering why it's important, where we learned about nutrition, diet culture, ultra processed foods, challenges of eating healthy, and connections between mental health and diet.

Recorded 10/21/2024. This week on the show, Jeremy is joined by special guest Dr. Rebecca Polich, who discuss news on the origin of meteorites, new research on skin cells, and a conspiracy theory around the recent hurricane Milton. Webster Heffern joins after the break for discussion on topic of the show: death and dying.

Aired 10/7/2024. This week on That Science and Nature Show, it's a two man show with Jeremy and Webster. The two discusses the recently imprisoned wildlife racketeer of the Montana Mountain King, bionic limbs, a found Ghost ship, and the fruit fly brain being mapped in the news. Topic of the show is all about research ethics and fraud.

Recorded 9/23/2024. For the start of a brand new school year (and season), Jeremy Howard and Webster Heffern are joined again by James Ott from UMSL Sustainability. The three discuss new info on the origin of Covid-19, subway cars being used for ocean habitat, and the IG Nobel Awards in the news. Topic of the show is all about water and water conservation.

Recorded 8/10/2024. On the last special of summer 2024, Jeremy is rejoined by Becky Hansis-Oneill and alumni Sebastian Forward for another round of Stories from the Field. Join us for funny, wacky retellings of mishaps that have happened during field research in Ecuador, Costa Rica, New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and more.

Recorded 7/20/2024. For the second special of the summer, Jeremy and Webster are joined by friend and fellow movie buff, Jacob Kaiser, to discuss all things sci-fi movies! This episode covers what is science fiction, our favorite (and not so favorites) films, major themes of sci-fi movies, how much actual "science" is in these movies, what they have gotten right and wrong, and bigger messages of the sci-fi movie genre.

Recorded 6/8/2024. On this first special for the summer, Jeremy and Webster are once again joined by Raj Prasai to talk about mental health and stress. The three tackle what it means to be mentally healthy, stress and stressors, stigmas and misconceptions, and how to take care of mental health. We incorporate a lot of our individual experiences and struggles into the conversation to make for a more personal episode.

Aired 5/7/2024. For the final episode of the Spring semester, Jeremy and Becky are joined by guest and fellow grad student Giulia de Gennaro. The three discuss news on making white bread healthy, bird flu contaminating meat and milk, and the upcoming double cicada bloom. Topic of the show this week is about museums and cool museum exhibits.

Aired 4/30/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy and Webster are joined by George Todd, finally returning to the show since Season 1. News this week covers cities in China sinking into the ground, organ transplants causing changes in human personality and sexuality, and the science behind escape rooms. Topic of the show this week is on science education, with conversations about why it is necessary, our experiences with it, challenges of teaching science, and how much we want to be involved with it moving forward.

Aired 4/23/2024. This week on the show, Jeremy, Becky and Webster are joined by fellow grad student and zoo fellow, John Bender. The four discuss blood sucking bacteria, a potential panacea vaccine, and nature enjoying royalties from music streaming. Topic of the the show is about zoos, covering their history, our interactions with them, their research and community interactions, and some controversies around them.

Aired 4/16/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy, Becky, and Webster are joined by Dr. Katy Mike Smaistrla, head of UMSL Sustainability. The 4 discuss the news of the cute aggression response, eating seafood sustainably, and a study on an interesting practice to reduce anger. Topic of the show covers environmental activism, what it means to us, how we feel we fit into the movement, and how to convince others and remain positive in the wake of environmental losses. Doom and Bloom.

Aired 3/19/2024. This week on the show, Jeremy and Becky are joined by returning Jenn Voss and James Ott from UMSL Sustainability. The 4 discuss a man illegally breeding hybrid sheep in Montana, an indigenous and wildlife rehabilitation conflict in India, and the rebranding of slugs and snails in the news. Topic of the show covering gardening and how to get into it as things warm up and we head into the Spring season.

Aired 3/12/2024. This week on the show, Jeremy, Becky, and Webster are joined by a post doctoral researcher Dr. Bethany Williams. The four discuss an AI bug zapper umbrella invention from an ingenious high school student, resurrecting the wooly mammoth, and obese dogs as a result of a genetic defect. Topic of the show covers conspiracy theories, what they are, how they are damaging to the credibility of science, some of the wildest theories we have heard about, and how to combat them.

Aired 3/5/2024. This week on the podcast, Jeremy, Becky, and Webster, are joined by guest Ketra Oketcho. For the news, the four discuss using comedy to get across issues in science, a potential new universal snake antivenom, and growing testicles in a lab. Topic of the show covers the overreliance of technology, and whether we are getting dumber and lazier as a result.

Aired 2/20/2024. This week on the show, Jeremy, Becky, and Webster are joined by Kristin Ranker, recent alumni from UMSL's Master's Biology program, and current dog trainer at the ZoomRoom. For the news, the 4 discuss magic mushrooms and drug busts, prosthetics now incorporating temperature sensors, and a growing amount of poop on Mt. Everest. Topic of the show covers animal training largely through the focus of dogs, with Kristin Ranker providing her expertise on the subject through her years in the field. Aired 1/30/2024. This week in the news, the cast discusses a complicated ecological web of how invasive ants affect lion's hunting success, if T-cells might be the fountain of youth, and the Doomsday clock getting ever closer to zero. Topic of the show covers viruses, what they are, the good and bad off them, society's thoughts on them, and if science research on viruses should have limits.

Aired 2/6/2024. This week, Jeremy and Webster are joined by special guest, Brandon Schack, Professional Wetland Scientist and Project Manager at Tetra Tech. The three discuss the news of scientists deflecting lightening bolts, AI chatbots being tricked into misbehaving, and famous aviator Amelia Earhart's plane potentially being found. Topic of the show covers wetlands, what they are, why they are important, their history, and how we can better conserve them for future generations.

Aired 1/30/2024. This week in the news, the cast discusses a complicated ecological web of how invasive ants affect lion's hunting success, if T-cells might be the fountain of youth, and the Doomsday clock getting ever closer to zero. Topic of the show covers viruses, what they are, the good and bad off them, society's thoughts on them, and if science research on viruses should have limits.

Aired 1/23/2024. For the premiere episode of the Spring semester, the cast discusses the rising risk of earthquakes, how insect wings evolved from gills, and solving crimes through forensic entomology. With it being the dead of Winter, topic of the show cover extreme cold and wintertime traditions.

Recorded 1/10/2024. For our Winter Break episode, the cast (Jeremy, Becky, Webster, and a returning Ray) reviews the 2023 critical and commercial darling, Oppenheimer, discussing major plot points, how science and scientists are depicted, and other various themes of military secrecy, communism and geopolitics, and research and ethnic/religious background. Full Spoilers for the movie Oppenheimer (and also the HBO series Veep at one point).

Recorded 12/12/2023. For the last episode of 2023, the cast discusses a found tomato on the International Space Station, robotic cells, climate change and foodstuffs, and saving sick corals with antibiotic paste in the news. In the spirit of the holiday season, topic of the show covers science and nature holidays. We cover a handful of obscure science and nature holidays, if they hold any significance or are just silly, and how these holidays can be used to promote better awareness of environmental issues. (Technical Note: There was some mic issues the first few minutes of the host's mic, but after a few minutes, the wonkiness clears up).

Aired 12/5/2023. On this week's episode, the cast partakes in the 2nd science and nature trivia challenge competition. Fellow PhD student Raj Prasaj guests on this episode, having just returned from Ecuador with his field research, also recounts his time there.

Aired 11/28/2023. This week on the podcast, Jeremy, Becky, and an eventual Webster, interview Dr. Minsoo Kang, a history professor at UMSL about his research on the history of the mad scientist. The conversation covers the origin of the moniker, traits of the mad scientist, depictions throughout history and pop culture, and how the stereotype is harmful to the progression of science as a whole.

Aired 11/14/2023. This week on That Science and Nature Show, Garrett Behrends guest on the show! News this week covers the CDC and increasing voluntary disease surveillance for travelers, dying from laughter, and research linking the state you reside in and personality. Topic of the show covers animal stereotyping, including how animals are oftentimes put into boxes like people, examples of media that reinforce these stereotypes, and the good and bad of the preconceived notions on animals.

Original Lost Recording 11/7/2023. This recording is a recap and memento to Episode 21 of the podcast on Alternative Medicine, which unfortunately did not properly record.

Aired 10/31/2023. On a very spooky themed episode of That Science and Nature Show, the cast talks about re-animating spider corpses, scientists exploring what makes a place "haunted", and horror movie museum exhibits. Topic of the show is about fear and phobias, our interactions with fear and horror, and some of the research done on the physiological sensation.

Aired 10/24/2023. This week on the show, the cast is joined by two special undergraduate guests from UMSL Sustainability, Jenn Voss and James Ott. News this week tackles hurricanes increasing in danger, recycling reforms in England, and the United States updating electric grid for future generations. Topic of the show this week is about about sustainability, discussing what is sustainability, what does UMSL sustainability do, the challenges of going green, and ways we can be more sustainable in our lives.

Aired 10/17/2023. This week on the show, the cast is joined by our first post-doc guest, having moved to St. Louis all the way from Australia, Dr. Tom Hagan! In the news this week is how the brain can create false memories, DARPA and puking headsets, and clothing waste. Topic of the show covers invasive species, and how they can cause a lot of problems for the natural world.

Aired 10/10/2023. This week on the show Jeremy, Becky, and Webster are joined by our first guest of the season, Ray Kannenberg! News this week covers addressing mental health using medicine vs. exercise, the phenomenon known as cold water plunging and what health benefits that has, and gene therapies under threat. Topic of the show is all about artificial intelligence (AI), as AI is no longer something just in sci-fi movies, but is now a part of our everyday lives - with all the good and bad that comes with it.

Aired 10/2/2023. This week on the show, the cast talks about young climate activists suing their government, farmers turning to tech for pollination, baby's microbiomes and covid-19, and (most importantly) Fat Bear Week! Topic of the show covers conservation imbalances, tackling why certain animals are popular conservation targets, what are some less popular animals in need of conservation, and things that can be done to broaden the protection of these less popular animals.

Aired 9/26/2023. This week on the show, Jeremy, Becky, Webster discuss the news of taping your mouth to get a better night's sleep, spider venom research being a replacement for Viagra, and whether or not we should rename controversial species names of decades past. Topic of the show tackles recycling, whether it is worth it, and all the problems that have piled up over the years with the system.

Aired 9/19/2023. For our premiere episode back on UMSL radio, and the start of a new season of the show, Jeremy Howard, Webster Heffern, and Becky Hansis-Oneill tackle news on discovering a new exoplanet, dynamite fishing, and brain changes linked to people living in food deserts. Topic of the show covers heat waves and the urban island heat effect, as we just experienced one of the hottest summer in St. Louis, breaking previously held historic summer temperatures.