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Get to Know: The Wild with Chris Morgan

Adventuring into the National Parks.

    • NOV 5
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Fireflies in synchrony

    Once a year they come out, by the thousands. Fireflies. But these aren’t just any fireflies. These are Photinus Carolinas, also known as synchronous fireflies They blink on and off together. It’s an amazing site. On this episode, I head to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to experience the synchronous fireflies and learn how light from human development is threatening the future of these delicate, glowing insects and what the park is doing to try to protect them. This show would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • MAY 28
    Redwood National Park: Saving the tallest trees on Earth

    Discover why scientists are chopping down redwood trees… to save them. Redwood National and State Parks are home to some of the tallest trees on Earth, coast redwoods. These ancient California forests support hundreds of different species, and store more carbon than any other forest on the planet. But in the last century, 95% of them were cut down by loggers.  Now, scientists are trying to find ways to bring old growth redwoods back and they've discovered a surprising strategy... cutting them down actually helps them grow. Chris heads to Redwood National and State Parks to learn about this new restoration effort and why saving the coast redwood trees will help countless other species in and around this national park. Plus Chris gets to climb a redwood, and learns about the relationship the Yurok have with this towering species.  This season of THE WILD is about the incredible biodiversity in our national parks: from the tallest trees on the planet to the driest deserts and everything in between. And it’s about the people working in and around our national parks to protect the natural world, while we still can.  This show would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. As always, there are some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks on Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek and edited by Jim Gates. The Wild is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • JUL 30
    Death Valley National Park: Diving for fish in the hottest place on Earth

    Chris joins a team of scuba divers...in the desert!  Death Valley National Park is the hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America. The heat that builds beneath Death Valley’s cloudless skies radiates off barren rocks and sinks into the valley bottoms, where it warms, baking everything it touches and evaporates any water foolish enough to linger at the surface. But beneath miles of dry desert land - in the largest national park in the lower 48 - is something you can't see from the crusty surface. A secret watery world, hidden underground. And a cave system that is home to the world’s rarest fish. The Devil’s Hole pupfish is less than an inch long, but has caused quite a stir. In this episode of THE WILD, Chris travels to Death Valley National Park to learn about how this tiny fish has made history and has changed our understanding of desert water in some remarkable ways. This show would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek, written by Christopher Preston and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • OCT 22
    Everglades National Park: Invasion of the Burmese pythons (reprise)

    In the Florida Everglades, the Burmese python is an invasive species that's close to triggering an ecological collapse. We'll head out with python hunters who track down these massive snakes for a bounty. Then we wade through the waste deep murky waters of the Everglades to see what researchers are learning about Burmese pythons in their waning hopes to remove them from this fragile tropical wilderness. This show would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • JUN 18
    Biscayne National Park: Raising baby corals in America's barrier reef

    How scientists are training corals to be ready for a warmer future. Biscayne National Park is unlike any other national park…it’s 95% underwater. It’s home to part of the third largest coral reef in the world and the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States.  But this past summer, the corals in and around this park on Florida’s coral reef experienced the worst coral bleaching event ever recorded. Water temperatures broke records, rising to over 100 degrees for two days in a row. Hot tub water. So what can be done? In this episode, Chris takes a boat out to Biscayne National Park to find out. Here, just a few miles offshore from the metropolis of Miami, researchers are on a mission to save these corals for a warmer future - by growing the hardiest of them in captivity, and planting them back in the sea.   This show would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD  is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • OCT 15
    Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Toxic wasteland to ecological champion

    Cuyahoga Valley National Park is nestled between Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. It once was an industrial wasteland, filled with debris from the nearby auto factories. The Cuyahoga river was so polluted that it literally caught fire. That fire was a moment that sparked an environmental movement. But I'm headed upstream. I'm going to follow the river and its story from its grim past to becoming a national park. We’ll look at how a toxic dump was transformed into a national park and a thriving ecosystem, teaming with life. THE WILD would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewildnotes. Thank you! For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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