All about bees…now with pictures!

A possibly nectar-robbing Xylocopa californica. Photo found on wikicommons, created by user Pompilid (Mike).

In class a few weeks back, Ryder shared his piece on the bee Xylocopa californica. At that point it was still a work in progress, but after several weeks of hard work, the finished product is ready for your consumption.

If you’re interested in hearing Ryder’s full piece on Xylocopa californica, complete with awesome photos of scientists, bees, and plants, then head on over to his site. Enjoy five minutes of distilled sciency goodness.

Ryder’s Hints and Notes

Two weeks ago, Ryder and Aubrey came to speak about their experiences writing, planning, and creating radio pieces. The conversation was a good one, so if you missed it or if you just want to relive the magic, be sure to check out the podcast and/or video on the SmartSite.

For those of you who want to explore the possibilities of radio, Ryder passed along these links to get you started:

Good (and varied) radio stories:

RadioLab, www.radiolab.org/
The Moth, www.prx.org/themoth
This American Life, www.thisamericanlife.org/

Web resources (descriptions by Ryder):

www.transom.org
This website has information on equipment, production, editing, storytelling and more.

www.howsound.org
What the pros do to make great radio and tell wonderful stories.

Introducing Aubrey

To keep things a bit more organized (hopefully more organized), I split the information for class on Monday into two posts. The first one provided links to stories suggested by Ryder, a graduate student and science communicator. This post will introduce our second guest, Aubrey White.

Aubrey has a lot of experience with communicating science, and has worked in a variety of formats, including blogs, documentaries, and radio. Definitely check out her blog, and the radio segments provided by her below:

“Brainhilda and I” -A great audio documentary by produce David Golann describes a woman’s neurological disorder in her own words.   The piece is a solid example of when audio is the best format to use in communication. (under 6 minutes)

“From the Ground Up: The New Suburbs”
This is episode four of a six-part series I produced while living and working on a start up organic farm.  One part family documentary, one part sustainable ag education.  (8 mins)

The actual segments can be found on the SmartSite. Give them a listen before class on Monday and start to think about science communication outside the blog.

Introducing Ryder

We will have two visitors in class on Monday, Aubrey White and Ryder Diaz. Links to their blogs should be available in the blogroll. Give them a click and check out what their work looks like.

Ryder shared with me some more links and information and I’m passing that along to you. In class, we’ll get a chance to hear one of Ryder’s still-in-production radio pieces about bees. You can find it on the SmartSite under “xylocopa.”

Here’s how Ryder describes it:

Bug Bytes: Insect Natural History Stories. This story highlights the nest building prowess of carpenter bees. (approx. 6 minutes) Note: Sneak peak: this piece is not the final copy (still in production, so please don’t distribute outside of the class).

He also provided some links for y’all to check out:

www.education.eol.org/podcast/ – A series called One Species at a Time contains many podcasts about a variety of organisms. This is a good place to start for scientists who want to start podcasting about their own research. Listen to how science is presented in these short podcasts. (most are around 5
minutes, give a listen to one!)

www.radiolab.org/2011/oct/04/break-cycle/ – A Radiolab segment which tries to explain mathematical theories using more familiar things.

Get stoked for an exciting discussion on Monday!