Microscopic Marvels: Introduction

Welcome to Microscopic Marvels, a new podcast from Streaming Science where tiny organisms make a big impact. In this series, students, scientists, and ranchers come together to uncover the hidden world of nematodes—microscopic worms that shape ecosystems in surprising ways. Listeners will hear stories from researchers working in places as diverse as the Nebraska Sandhills and Antarctica, as well as ranchers who view their land as living laboratories. Along the way, you’ll discover what nematodes can teach us about climate change, biodiversity, and the resilience of life on Earth.

Transcript

00:00:06 Jamie Loizzo

Hi everyone and welcome to microscopic marvels, a new podcast series from the streaming Science project, where Tiny organisms make a big impact. I'm doctor Jamie Lowitz, so social scientist, science.

00:00:21 Jamie Loizzo

Communicator and Co principal investigator on the National Science Foundation pursuant grant. That's helping bring this project to life.

00:00:32 Jamie Loizzo

I'm also an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication at the University of Florida, where I had the incredible opportunity to teach a podcasting course that connected students with scientists, ranchers and science communicators.

00:00:50 Jamie Loizzo

Across Nebraska and Florida together, we explored the hidden world of nematodes, microscopic worms that are quietly shaping the ecosystems we all depend on.

00:01:04 Jamie Loizzo

Now I know what you might be thinking. Nematodes. Why should I care about something I can't even see? Well, that's exactly what this series is here to uncover. Our students interviewed scientists including Doctor Dorota Porza, a soil ecologist, and nematologist at the University of Florida.

00:01:25 Jamie Loizzo

Who has traveled from the Antarctic dry valleys to the Nebraska Sandhills in search of these resilient little creatures.

00:01:33 Speaker 2

You would use different extraction methods to separate organisms from that.

00:01:40 Speaker 2

Pour that suspension are on a little Petri dish and put it under a microscope, and then you would see how amazingly biodiverse things are here.

00:01:57 Jamie Loizzo

Students also interviewed Doctor Thomas Powers, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, about his background, love of nature and path to studying microscopic create.

00:02:09

There's.

00:02:10 Speaker 3

Well, they've got a lot of character. I mean, for an Organism that's only got about 1000 cells making up their entire body, essentially, yes. They're thread like worms. They're transparent under the microscope. You can see the intestine, the fair necks, the gut, the reproductive organs. If they're, if they're adults, all of that information kind of tells us what.

00:02:31 Speaker 3

What the nematode?

00:02:33 Speaker 3

Might be.

00:02:36 Jamie Loizzo

Darota and Tom students on the project will also share their stories and experiences conducting research in the sand hills.

00:02:45 Speaker 4

We found a spot.

00:02:48 Speaker 4

Next to Gimlet Lake that we could bring up all of our equipment, including the kayak, and we're going to go out to the lake.

00:02:55

It's like this.

00:02:55 Speaker 4

And sample.

00:02:58 Jamie Loizzo

You'll hear how nematodes survive in extreme environments, some so alkaline they rival bleach and what they can teach us about climate change, biodiversity and limits of life on Earth. You'll also meet ranchers like Jacqueline Wilson, a fifth generation Nebraskan who's opened.

00:03:18 Jamie Loizzo

Their land to scientists and students alike.

00:03:20 Jamie Loizzo

Like her family is Flying, Diamond Ranch is not just a working cattle operation. It's a living laboratory.

00:03:28 Speaker 5

Well, I think I think the thing out here is we haven't realized how much is untouched that we still don't know. We knew we had the wildlife and we had the birds and the ecosystem. But we, you know, we start getting smaller and smaller.

00:03:42 Jamie Loizzo

Jacqueline as well as rancher Melody Benjamin remind us that ranchers are often the original conservationists. They're deeply connected to the land and committed to leaving it better than they found it.

00:03:50

Thank you.

00:03:55 Speaker 6

It's just important to understand because we are an ecological system and it's what's good for our cattle, is good for the wildlife and what's good for the wildlife is good for our cattle. So understanding that's very important to us.

00:04:10 Jamie Loizzo

Another wonderful part of this project is the science communication piece. The scientists partnered with our science communication team, including streaming science in Florida and the plant based and time lapse project in Nebraska to capture images, video, audio and more.

00:04:28 Jamie Loizzo

To provide an inside look at how science unfolds in real time in this podcast series, you'll also hear from the science communicators about their roles as storytellers and social scientists.

00:04:42 Speaker 7

So we're using professional mirrorless cameras to document this experience as well as Gopros. I am aiming to essentially get it all document this whole experience. So our audiences are really able to feel immersed in this scientific journey here. So that goes anywhere from detail.

00:05:02 Speaker 7

Thoughts of shoes, shovels the dirt. The sand on the ground to all the really exciting and personal shots of the scientist.

00:05:12 Jamie Loizzo

As a science communicator myself, I've had the privilege of going into the field with these scientists and stakeholders walking the gorgeous Sandhills, documenting the collection of nematode samples, and witnessing first hand the power of collaboration.

00:05:30 Speaker 3

I mean actually, that's where you come in, to be honest. I mean, we've been working on this outreach component for.

00:05:36 Speaker 3

You know.

00:05:37 Speaker 3

Several years or you know.

00:05:40 Speaker 3

Maybe a decade or so and and it and it, it isn't quite so easy to to kind of convey something as obscure as these. You know, organisms that you can't see unless you're looking in a microscope. And the role that they play.

00:05:54 Jamie Loizzo

What we are learning together is that conservation is not just about the cute and cuddly and big charismatic species. It's also about the microscopic marvels.

00:06:06 Jamie Loizzo

The nematodes that hold ecosystems together in ways we're only beginning to understand.

00:06:12 Speaker 2

This project is particularly.

00:06:14 Speaker 2

Interesting because this is for the first time where we really are working in collaboration, not only with the scientists, but we are working in collaboration with the real people that depend on the diversity of this land, diversity of soils and diversity of the of the lakes, the ranchers.

00:06:34 Speaker 2

Need this diversity to pass? This lands to their future generations.

00:06:42 Jamie Loizzo

This podcast series is student driven story rich and grounded in real world science. You'll hear voices from across disciplines and across generations, all working toward a common goal of understanding and protecting the unique ecosystems that sustain.

00:07:00 Jamie Loizzo

Us so whether your student is scientist, a rancher, or just someone who's curious about the world beneath your feet, we invite you to join us.

00:07:12 Jamie Loizzo

Listen to our microscopic marvels podcasts and visit streamingscience.com to learn more about the series and the NSF funded research behind it. Thanks for listening. And remember, sometimes the smallest organisms have the biggest stories to tell.