Pascal Title delves into the evolutionary history and biodiversity of snakes, exploring their unique characteristics, diets and habitats. Host Heather Lynch and Title, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, define characteristics of snakes, and discuss speciation and diversity within the group, as well as the role of snakes in ecosystems. They touch upon the impacts of climate change on snakes and the importance of museum collections and scientific research in understanding historical and future biodiversity.

Learn more with:

• “The macroevolutionary singularity of snakes”, by Pascal O. Title, Sonal Singhal, Michael C. Grunder, Gabriel C. Costa, R. Alexander Pyron, Timothy J. Colston, Maggie R. Grundler, Ivan Prates, Natasha Stepanova, Marc E.H. Jones, Lucas B.Q. Cavalcanti, Guarino R. Colli, Nicolas Di-Poï, Stephen C. Donnellan, Craig Moritz, Daniel O. Mesquita, Eric R. Pianka, Stephen A. Smith, Laurie J. Vitt, Daniel L. Rabosky.
• “Coral snakes predict the evolution of mimicry,” by Allison R, Davis Rabosky, Christian L Cox, Daniel L Rabosky, Pascal O Title, Iris A Holmes, Anat Feldman, Jimmy A Mcguire
• “Chasing the Niche: Escaping Climate Change Threats in Place, Time, and Space”, by Ranjan Muthukrishnan, Tara M. Smiley, Pascal O. Title, Adam M. Fudickar, Alex E. Jahn, Jennifer A. Lau
• “Ecological interactions between arthropods and small vertebrates in a lowland Amazon rainforest,” by Rudolf von May, Emanuele Biggi, Heidy Cárdenas, M. Isabel Diaz, Consuelo Alarcón, Valia Herrera, Roy Santa-Cruz, Francesco Tomasinelli, Erin P. Westeen, Ciara M. Sánchez-Paredes, Joanna G. Larson, Pascal O. Title, Maggie R. Grundler, Michael C. Grundler, Alison R. Davis Rabosky, Daniel L. Rabosky
• “Rapid increase in snake dietary diversity and complexity following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction”, by Michael C. Grundler, Daniel L. Rabosky

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:34 The Fascinating World of Snakes
• 01:13 Meet the Herpetologist: Pascal Title
• 01:34 Understanding Snakes: Evolution and Characteristics
• 06:13 Why Are People Afraid of Snakes?
• 07:46 Pascal's Journey into Herpetology
• 11:48 Research on Snake Diversity and Evolution
• 19:19 Climate Change and Snake Adaptability
• 32:34 The Importance of Museum Collections

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For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Jordan Vallone

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Dilip Gersappe explores the engineering of climate resilience into nature's original building material: soil. Host Heather Lynch and Gersappe, a professor in the  Department of Material Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University, discussing innovative methods of soil fortification using biopolymers. Traditional soil improvement techniques, such as compaction and the addition of cement, are compared against the emerging method of biopolymer integration, which offers advantages such as biodegradation and enhanced plant root growth.

Learn more with:

• “The Effect of Biopolymer Pore Fluids on Soil Properties Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations”, by Shoumik Saha shoumik, Dilip Gersappe, and Sherif L. Abdelaziz
• “Modeling frost heave in silty soils”, by Varghese Babu and Dilip Gersappe
• “Interplay of Surface Energy and Rheology in Biopolymer Soil Enhancement”, by Dilip Gersappe et al.

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

00:24 Introduction to Soil

01:08 Challenges with Traditional Soil

03:24 Innovative Solutions: Biopolymers in Soil

05:43 Understanding Soil and Plant Interactions

10:24 Applications and Future Research

19:29 Understanding Soil Stability with Biopolymers

20:26 Field Applications and Experimentation

20:52 Potential Risks and Concerns

22:20 Biopolymers in Civil Engineering

22:52 Degradation and Environmental Impact

25:42 Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Future Directions

27:33 Modeling and Predicting Biopolymer Effects

29:55 Commercial Applications and Practical Steps

Tell a friend and share a link to this episode.

You can find all our episodes at www.stonybrook.edu/c4e or wherever you stream audio.

Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/c4e/newsletters.php

For all things Stony Brook on social media: https://gosbu.co/m/social

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday

Meet How's That?, a podcast that dives deep into all sorts of things that make our world work — such as organisms that act like zombies, plants that talk to each other, light that pollutes our skies and academic change that brings climate topics to students.

The podcast is reported and produced by graduate students in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University.

Tell a friend and share a link to this episode.

C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Program manager: Jennifer Gilday