Salmon: Restoring an Endangered Species

Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project Executive Director Ben Harris talks about the importance of salmonids—salmon and trout— in maintaining the ecological health of ocean and land. Harris explains how and why Pacific salmon populations have drastically declined, and describes efforts underway to help native Monterey Bay populations of Coho and Steelhead recover from the • Read More »


Young Voices for the Planet: Youth Lead Fight Against Climate Change

On this episode of Planet Watch, an inspiring and uplifting interview with Lynne Cherry, the originator, producer and director of  Young Voices for the Planet films. Lynne talks about her current film project and also discusses the mental health considerations involved in educating the young about climate change and environmental crisis. Young Voices for the Planet, • Read More »



Life on Mars? Explorations of a SETI Planetary Scientist-PPW093

Life on Mars? Dr. Jr. R. Skok of the SETI Institute discusses Current and Upcoming Exploration and Research on MARS Dr. Skok, explorer and planetary scientist with SETI, earned his B.S. at Cornell University and his Ph.D. from  Brown in Geological Sciences. In the spring of 2017, he took part in an international scientific expedition • Read More »


Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  (IPCC) 2018 -PW092

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  (IPCC) 2018 predicts far more dire and rapidly escalating consequences of Climate Change than any IPCC analysis thus far, and calls for a historically unprecedented  transformation of the world economy to avert the worst of the damage. Two of the IPCC’s authors, Dr. Nathalie Mehowald of Cornell and • Read More »


Earth and Mars Scientists Discuss Current Research-PW091

  Chris McKay, NASA Mars Researcher, and Friederike Otto, University of Oxford climate modeller Science is the focus of this week’s Planet Watch.  Senior NASA scientist Chris McKay, in the Planetary Systems Branch of NASA Ames, is an expert on the evolution of the solar system and the origins of life. Chris is also involved in • Read More »


Voting Security in 2018: Is Your Vote Being Hacked?-PW090

How secure is the US voting system? The upcoming midterm elections may be the most important in the history of American Democracy. Yet evidence has shown that there was foreign interference in the 2016 election, with suspected attacks on voter registration systems in twenty-one states. A recent DEF CON hacking conference in Washington DC demonstrated • Read More »


Pesticides: Out of Our Soil, Air, Water, and Food-PW089

Brain-Harming Chlorpyrifos just the latest agricultural pesticide poisoning our children and our planet Californians for Pesticide Reform  co-director Mark Weller, and author/pesticide activist Mary Flodin talk with with Planet Watch hosts Rachel and Joe about challenges and successes in the decades-long struggle to protect communities from toxic pesticide exposure (www.facebook.com/CaPestReform). Based out of the Salinas office of the • Read More »


Agricultural Policy and Our Health: Crafting National Standards for Organic Farming-PW088

Organic farming policy pioneer Mark Lipson talks about crafting the national standard for organic farming, and how our federal agricultural policies impact our health and the health of our environment. Mark started his advocacy career as the first paid staff member at the California Certified Organic Farmers (now the nation’s largest organic certification organization). He • Read More »


The Dirt on Climate Change: a New Film on Carbon Sequestration and Climate Change-PW087

Today’s interview is with Lois Robin, producer of The Dirt on Climate Change, a film about ecological and biological approaches to climate change. Lois has been an author, filmmaker, and environmental activist for thirty years. Her newest film takes on what we can do to enhance nature’s ability to sequester carbon through naturally occurring processes. The • Read More »