Dave Schlom
Host, Blue DotDave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.
“My biggest goal is for our listeners to take away a deep level of understanding on a topic while also enjoying every minute of our conversations,” says the host. “And for our guests to have such a good time that they want to come back!”
Dave lives in Red Bluff California and when not spending time at home with his partner Cheryl and their dogs -- he’s up exploring Lassen Volcanic National Park where he often volunteers as a naturalist guide.
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Blue Dot talks to legendary deep ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard about his new book, Into The Deep: a Memoir by The Man Who Found Titanic. -
Host Dave Schlom chats with retired University of Iowa Physicist Donald Gurnett about his amazing career as a pioneer of the field of space plasma physics. Gurnett was only 17 when legendary space scientist James Van Allen took him under his wing at the university and Gurnett never left spending 60 years as a Hawkeye student, teacher, and researcher.
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Host Dave Schlom convenes a panel of experts on something that is the most important topic of the 21st century: climate change.
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Blue Dot visits some scary places and potentially dangerous future events. Dave talks to astrobiologist David Grinspoon about two newly funded NASA robotic missions to Venus.
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Blue Dot revisits with Lee Vining High School junior Ellery McQuilkin and chats about a very real science project that has earned her spots in the California State Science and Engineering Fair as well as the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair as a finalist.
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Blue Dot Host Dave Schlom talks to the three winners, out of 14,000 entrants for the Future Engineers/NASA Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest.
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Blue Dot delves into some familiar territory, the early space program, but with some fresh takes on the space race with author Jeff Shesol. His new book, Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy and the New Battleground of the Cold War is an amazing journey back to a time when America was decidedly NOT first in space.
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Blue Dot talks to Leslie Roche, the Director of the UC Rangelands program about how scientific principles combined with knowledge gained by California ranchers over decades are being used to combat the complex and seemingly intractable problem.
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Dave talks to wildlife veterinarian Joe Gaydos from the Sea Doc Society (a research center on Orcas Island in the Salish Sea off the Washington Coast) and UC Davis along with NOAA marine wildlife biologist Dawn Noren as they examine the lives and deaths of one of the Earth's apex predators: Killer Whales.
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Host Dave Schlom talks to Russell Shapiro, a geology professor at California State University at Chico. Dr. Shapiro has a fascinating array of interests and adventures from seeking evidence for ancient life on Earth to helping NASA craft science goals searching for evidence of ancient life on Mars.
