New Species Hunters

Ask A Biologist Podcast

Chapters
0:00
Intro
1:10
What kind of plants do you study? [Compositae]
1:33
Name of the plants in the Compositae family?
2:10
Why study these plants? What got you started? [Taxonomy]
3:04
Travel the world to find these plants.
3:47
Travel not only horizontally around the world, but also vertically - underwater.
4:48
Scuba diving to crazy deep levels.
5:30
Exotic gases - that make you sound like a chipmunk or Mickey Mouse. [Helium]
6:10
Two thirds of marine diversity found in the Pacific Ocean.
6:25
What are you looking for in the ocean and why use scuba?
7:50
All about rebreather.
8:39
Coloration of organisms?
10:08
Color patterns.
10:59
Mimicry.
12:21
Plant look alike due to similar environments - convergent evolution.
13:33
What's the coolest place you've been to? [The Smithsonian Diet]
14:52
Use of computers as a tool for biology research. [Databases, bioinformatics]
17:07
Do you see databases easy enough for the general public to use?
18:19
Calling all citizen scientists - and - computer nerds.
20:37
When did you first know you wanted to be a biologist? [Vicki and Richard]
22:00
What would you be if you could not be a biologist? [Vicki and Richard]
23:53
What advice do you have for future biologists? [Vicki and Richard]
25:10
What's it like to work at the Smithsonian?
26:03
Is there any new digital imaging equipment that is helping you do your work?
29:01
Sign-off
Ask A Biologist Podcast
New Species Hunters
Jul 21, 2009 Episode 51
Dr. Biology Talks with Vicki Funk and Richard Pyle

From high on top of the Tepui mountains in South America and into the depths of the Pacific Ocean, Vicki Funk (born: 26 November 1947 – died: 22 October 2019 | age 72) and Richard Pyle search the globe looking for new plants and animals. Dr. Biology has a chance to learn some interesting things about exploring and looking for new species - like what the Smithsonian Diet is, and how to lighten the mood when surrounded by hundreds of sharks.

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