Blue Dot: The Science of Road Ecology

By Dave Schlom,

Published November 3, 2023 at 9:59 AM PDT

Desert Bighorn Sheep crossing under State Highway 62.

Host Dave Schlom visits with Fraser Shilling, Director of the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis. A relatively new discipline, road ecology seeks to understand how our transportation infrastructure is affecting ecosystems from road kills to disruptions to migration due to physical barriers, sound and light pollution.

We also look into some hopeful possible solutions to give wildlife ways under, over, and around our busy roadways.

Tags

Blue Dot Science

Dave Schlom

Dave 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.

See stories by Dave Schlom

Matt Fidler

Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.

See stories by Matt Fidler