Blue Dot

Dave Schlom, Matt Fidler

About

Blue Dot, named after Carl Sagan's famous speech about our place in the universe, features interviews with guests from all over the regional, national and worldwide scientific communities. Host Dave Schlom leads discussions about the issues science is helping us address with experts who shed light on climate change, space exploration, astronomy, technology and much more. Dave asks us to remember: from deep space, we all live on a pale, blue dot.

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163 episodes

Blue Dot: State of the Drake Equation in 2024: The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (Part Two)

In the conclusion of Blue Dot's two part look at the state of the Drake Equation in 2024, Host Dave Schlom is once again joined by special co host Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

51m
Mar 29
Blue Dot: State of the Drake Equation in 2024: The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (Part One)

Host Dave Schlom is joined by special co-host Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute, for an in-depth look at the state of the famous Drake Equation.

51m
Mar 22
Best of Blue Dot: Preparing for the next Great American Eclipse: a visit with Rick Fienberg

Host Dave Schlom is joined by Sky and Telescope magazine senior contributing editor Rick Fienberg to preview the big celestial event coming up soon, the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

51m
Mar 15
Blue Dot: Riparian restoration with River Partners

Host Dave Schlom visits with guests from River Partners, a conservation organization born of a vision of farmers with conservation interests who sought more of a cooperative rather than confrontational approach to watershed restoration projects.

51m
Mar 08
Blue Dot: Exploring the ancient world of the Neanderthals with Ludovic Slimak

Host Dave Schlom visits with French archaeologist and paleoanthropologist Ludovic Slimak about his multi-decadal research into Neanderthals. Author of the new book, The Naked Neanderthal: a New Understanding of The Human Creature (Pegasus Books), Slimak is one of the world's foremost experts on these enigmatic and often misrepresented beings that disappeared from Earth about 40,000 years ago.

51m
Mar 01
Best of Blue Dot: Drs. Hall joins forces to talk about "Science and Nonsense"

CSU Chico Professor of Physics Kendall Hall joins Host Dave Schlom once again as a special co-host. They talk to her father, Raymond, who is also a physics professor.

51m
Feb 23
Blue Dot: Education and research at the UC Natural Reserves System and National Parks

Host Dave Schlom looks at some interesting ways the University of California's Natural Reserves System is used for education and scientific research.

51m
Feb 16
Best of Blue Dot: California Against the Sea: a conversation with Rosanna Xia

Host Dave Schlom is joined by Rosanna Xia, environmental journalist for the Los Angeles Times to discuss her book, California Against The Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline.

51m
Feb 09
Blue Dot: Whale-SETI: a communications interaction with Twain the Humpback Whale

In this very special episode, Host Dave Schlom visits with three researchers who were part of an incredible series of experimental communications with a humpback whale off the coast of Alaska.

51m
Feb 02
Blue Dot: Monitoring surface water from space: Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission

Two scientists join host Dave Schlom to discuss the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission which launched in December of 2022.

51m
Jan 26
Blue Dot: Meteor Showers 101 with Peter Jenniskens

SETI Institute meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens joins host Dave Schlom to take a deep dive into the science of meteors and meteor showers. Dr. Jenniskens is the author of the authoritative Atlas of Earth's Meteor Showers, a comprehensive and professional-level compilation of all we currently know about meteor showers and the comets they originate from.

51m
Jan 19
Blue Dot: A Range of Biodiversity: the Klamath Mountains Pt. 2

Host Dave Schlom and Michael examine the incredible forests of the Klamaths with two Cal Poly Humboldt professors who are deeply involved in studying them, Lucy Kerhoulas and Rosemary Sherriff.

51m
Jan 12
Blue Dot: A Range of Biodiversity: the Klamath Mountains Pt. 1

In the first of a special two-part series, Host Dave Schlom is joined by Michael Kauffmann, co-editor and publisher of The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History.

51m
Jan 05
Blue Dot: Reflections on a life of service in the National Parks: a conversation with Jim Richardson

Host Dave Schlom sits down with one of his favorite people, Lassen Volcanic National Park Superintendent Jim Richardson, on the eve of his retirement from the National Park Service.

51m
Dec 29, 2023
Best of Blue Dot: Icebergs as a resource: how floating mountains of ice can be harvested for freshwater

Blue Dot delves into the world of iceberg science and the latest ideas on using them as sources of freshwater for the future as Host Dave Schlom interviews Ohio State University Professor Matthew Birkhold, author of Chasing Icebergs: How Frozen Freshwater Can Save The Planet.

51m
Dec 22, 2023
Blue Dot: The story of America's first women astronauts with Loren Grush

Host Dave Schlom is joined by Bloomberg News science reporter Loren Grush to talk about her new book, The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts.

51m
Dec 15, 2023
Blue Dot: California's complex weather and climate

Host Dave Schlom delves into the topic of California's amazingly diverse climate and weather with the authors of the new book, Fire and Rain: California's Changing Weather and Climate, Stephen LaDochy (Cal State LA) and meteorologist Michael Witiw.

51m
Dec 08, 2023
Blue Dot: Watershed Restoration with CalTrout: a conversation with Curtis Knight

Host Dave Schlom is joined by the Executive Director of California Trout, Curtis Knight, to talk about the conservation organization and its regional restoration projects across the state.

51m
Dec 01, 2023
Blue Dot: Pascal Lee and the Carl Sagan Prize

Host Dave Schlom and Pascal Lee team up once again, this time to discuss Lee winning the Carl Sagan Prize from Wonderfest in the San Francisco Bay Area for his scientific research and gift for science communication.

51m
Nov 17, 2023
Best of Blue Dot: Salish Sea Wild: a conversation with wildlife vet Joe Gaydos and filmmaker Bob Friel

Host Dave Schlom is joined by the creators of the YouTube channel, Salish Sea Wild.

51m
Nov 10, 2023
Blue Dot: The Science of Road Ecology

Host Dave Schlom visits with Fraser Shilling, Director of the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis.

51m
Nov 03, 2023
Blue Dot: Epic mission to an ocean world: Europa Clipper

Host Dave Schlom examines the Europa Clipper mission, set for launch in the fall of 2024, to explore Jupiter's giant icy moon. Europa is an ocean world covered in a sheet of ice.

51m
Oct 27, 2023
Blue Dot: Drs. Hall joins forces to talk about "Science and Nonsense"

CSU Chico Professor of Physics Kendall Hall joins Host Dave Schlom once again as a special co-host as they talk to her father, also a Physics professor, Raymond.

51m
Oct 20, 2023
Blue Dot: Profile of a mission: Psyche explores its namesake asteroid

Host Dave Schlom profiles the mission with NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers Paige Arthur and Kaelan Oldani, then discusses the scientific investigations with Arizona State University graduate student and Psyche science team member Sam Courville. In the final segment, senior JPL engineer Abi Biswas joins Dave to talk about the cutting-edge Deep Space Optical Communications system that Psyche will be demonstrating to pave the way for high bandwidth communications on future space missions.

51m
Oct 13, 2023
Blue Dot: California Against the Sea: a conversation with Rosanna Xia

Host Dave Schlom is joined by Rosanna Xia, environmental journalist for the Los Angeles Times to discuss her new book, California Against The Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline.

51m
Oct 06, 2023
Best of Blue Dot: Hunter Pence's all-star efforts for a better Bay Area: The Healthy Planet Project and San Francisco Baykeeper

Host Dave Schlom visits with two-time World Series champion and four-time MLB All-Star Hunter Pence about the nonprofit organization he and his wife Alexis have founded: Healthy Planet Project.

51m
Sep 29, 2023
Best of Blue Dot: West coast climate now and in the past with Hannah Palmer and Veronica Vriesman

Host Dave Schlom visits with UC Davis climate and environmental scientist Hannah Palmer and colleague Veronica Vriesman, a marine scientist and paleontologist at Oberlin College in Ohio.

51m
Sep 22, 2023
Blue Dot: Preparing for the next Great American Eclipse: a visit with Rick Fienberg

Host Dave Schlom is joined by Sky and Telescope magazine senior contributing editor Rick Fienberg to preview the big celestial event coming up soon, the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

51m
Sep 15, 2023
Blue Dot: Aquaculture 101 with Katie Mackey Harris

Host Dave Schlom is joined by special guest and co-host Katie Mackey Harris for a look at the world of aquaculture in the western United States. Harris is the President and General Manager of Mt. Lassen Trout, a family-owned company and trout farm operation in Northern California.

51m
Sep 08, 2023
Blue Dot: Salish Sea Wild: a conversation with wildlife vet Joey Gaydos and filmmaker Bob Friel

Host Dave Schlom is joined by the creators of the YouTube channel, Salish Sea Wild.

51m
Sep 01, 2023