Surveying wildlife along Lewis and Clark's route, 220 years later
5/28/202617 min
When Lewis and Clark crossed the United States in the early 1800s, they recorded their wildlife observations along the way. Now, more than 200 years later, an expedition is following the same route and partnering with scientists across the U.S. to catalog animals and track the changes. Expedition leader Roland Kays joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some highlights.
Plus, using cell phone data and GPS collars, ecologists were able to see how animals moved (or not) when people were around. Ecologist Ruth Oliver tells us about her findings.
Guests:
Dr. Roland Kays is research professor at NC State University and director of the Biodiversity & Earth Observation Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Dr. Ruth Oliver is an ecologist and assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Speaker 20:39
WNYC is supported by Bayer. Science is about asking questions, testing, trying again. It's not easy, but it's relentless. It evolves, and that's why science delivers. Learn more at sciencedelivers.com.
Flora Lichtman· Host0:54
[upbeat music] Hey, it's Flora, and you're listening to Science Friday. In the early 1800s, Lewis and Clark loaded up their camping gear and journals and headed west to the Pacific, recording what they saw along the way. The expedition, partly about natural history, partly about future colonization, returned with a record of biodiversity in the early 1800s in the now United States. 200 and some years later, a new expedition is headed west to find out how wildlife populations have changed over the centuries.