The Wilkes Center’s Talking Climate podcast focuses on climate researchers at the University of Utah and their work. Talking Climate is hosted and produced by Ross Chambless. The first podcast episode was released in 2023. On the episode web pages, you will find transcripts of the interviews, many of them with infographics.
Podcast URL: https://wilkescenter.utah.edu/pod/
Episode Guide
| No. | Episode | Title | Listen to episode | Published | Description Excerpt | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 35 | 35: Wastewater Treatment Could be a Solution for Cleaner, More Efficient Fertilizer | 2026-02-26 | Founder and CEO Margaret Lumley describes how Roca Water is developing electrochemical technology to recover ammonium from wastewater and convert it into fertilizer, addressing both ... | Wastewater nutrient recovery, Ammonium capture, Electrochemical electrodes, Fertilizer production, Haber-bosch process, Nitrous oxide emissions, Algal bloom prevention, Water pollution control, Selective ion separation, Electrode durability, Energy efficiency gains, Carbon dioxide reduction, Wastewater treatment plants, Emissions monitoring sensors, Pilot project deployment | |
| 34 | 34 | 34: Climate Change Should Be Funnier. Seriously. | 2025-12-30 | Episode Intro: The topic we’re exploring in this episode is climate change and humor. Can climate change be funny? To explore this question, I had … | Benign humor, Climate change, Climate humor, Comedy, Humor, Information deficit model, Science communication strategy, Self deprecating humor, Trivializing risk | |
| 33 | 33 | 33: How Utahns Could Support a Tax on Carbon Emissions | 2025-12-10 | Episode Intro: A couple years ago, a Utah statewide ballot initiative called Clean the Darn Air was proposed to tackle the persistent air pollution which … | Air quality, Carbon emissions, Carbon pricing, Climate change, Environmental economics, Market-based policy, Public goods, Public policy, Climate mitigation | |
| 32 | 32 | 32: Could Lab-generated Lactoferrin Be Healthier, Cheaper, and Better for the Planet? | 2025-11-25 | Episode Intro: One of the two runners up for the Wilkes Center Climate Launch Prize this past year is De Novo Foodlabs, a startup with … | Alternative proteins, Climate change mitigation, Food innovation, Precision fermentation, Sustainable nutrition, Biotechnology, Environmental impact | |
| 31 | 31 | 31: Deciphering How Methane-Eating Bacteria Thrive | 2025-11-11 | Episode Intro: Ross Chambless: Many believe that chemistry is foundational to understanding and solving environmental challenges. And when it comes to solving a pernicious global … | Inverse stable isotope probing, InverSIP, Iron, Lake sediment, Lake Washington, Methane, Methane oxidizing bacteria, Methanotrophs, Methane eating bacteria, Methylocystabactin | |
| 30 | 30 | 30: How Cheaper, Safer, and Cleaner Bricks Could Revolutionize Homebuilding Across Asia | 2025-10-02 | Episode Intro: Ross Chambless: In September 2025, the Wilkes Center awarded its annual Wilkes Climate Launch Prize to the organization Build up Nepal. Build up … | Carbon emissions, Carbon pricing, Climate change, Environmental economics, Market-based solutions, Public policy, Air quality, Climate mitigation | |
| 29 | 29 | 29: How Are Plant Ecosystems Adapting to the Shifting Climate? | 2025-02-25 | When it comes to climate change, one big question is how are ecosystems adapting to shifting weather patterns, heavier precipitation events, and hotter temperatures for … | Biodiversity, Climate adaptation, Drought tolerance, Ecological theory, Ecohydrology, Ecosystem resilience, Forest management, Lidar, Plant competition, Plant physiology, Precipitation extremes, Remote sensing, Wildfire severity, Xylem | |
| 28 | 28 | 28: Conversation with the Water Resources Hackathon 1st Place Team "SmartFLOW" | 2025-02-21 | The Wilkes Center recently hosted its 3rd annual climate solutions hackathon at the end of January. This year the focus was water resources. The “hackathon” … | Climate adaptation, Data-driven solutions, Decision support, Hydrology, Science communication, Sustainability innovation, Water management, Water resources | |
| 27 | 27 | 27: Could Low-dimensional Perovskites Advance Cleaner Refrigerants and Batteries? | 2025-02-18 | Perovskites are crystal structures that can be manufactured in labs for making solar panels. They are relatively cost-effective, and efficient, and could provide a reliable … | Clean technology, Climate change mitigation, Energy storage, Materials science, Perovskites, Refrigeration systems, Renewable energy, Solid-state materials | |
| 26 | 26 | 26: Sizing Up the Melting Glaciers of the Himalayas | 2024-12-10 | There are an estimated 54,000 glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. These glaciers cover 60,000 square kilometers and serve as a major source of the … | Climate change, Cryosphere, Glacier melt, Glacial hydrology, Himalayan region, Hydrological modeling, Remote sensing, Water resources | |
| 25 | 25 | 25: Climate Sherlocking: Turning Up Clues from Past Global Warming Events | 2024-11-25 | It’s true the Earth has experienced periods of global warming in its past. The largest such warming event in the past 90 million years - … | Carbon cycle, Climate change, Climate sensitivity, Geologic time, Paleoclimate, Paleoceanography, Past warming events, Proxy data, Earth system science | |
| 24 | 24 | 24: Climate Anxiety Prevalence at the U | 2024-11-11 | Eco-anxiety" or "Climate grief" are increasingly part of our lexicon when it comes to describing the heavy feelings of concern people are feeling about the … | Climate anxiety, Climate change, Climate communication, Climate education, Climate psychology, Environmental awareness, Mental health, Public engagement, Youth perspectives | |
| 23 | 23 | 23: Monitoring Forests as they Change | 2024-10-28 | Dr. Jon Wang, an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences here at the U, manages the Dynamic Carbon and Ecosystems Lab, or DYCE … | Carbon cycle, Climate change, Climate impacts, Forest ecosystems, Forest management, Machine learning, Remote sensing, Terrestrial ecosystems, Tree mortality, Wildfire severity | |
| 22 | 22 | 22: Interview with Applied Carbon – the 2024 Wilkes Climate Launch Prize Winner | 2024-09-23 | In September this year, the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy awarded Applied Carbon, the climate tech company based in Houston, Texas, the $500,000 … | ||
| 21 | 21 | 21: Coexisting with Wildlife in a Changing Climate | 2024-06-25 | Austin Green is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology with the College of Science’s Science Research Initiative, or SRI program. His specialty is … | ||
| 20 | 20 | 20: Mapping the Infestation of Balsam Woolly Adelgid in Utah Forests | 2024-06-07 | If you’ve taken a hike or a drive through northern Utah’s forests recently, you may have noticed that some areas of the forests are changing … | ||
| 19 | 19 | 19: The Significance of Ancient Roman Concrete for a Decarbonizing World | 2024-04-24 | For this episode we talk with Dr. Marie Jackson a Research Professor in the Geology & Geophysics department here at the University of Utah. Dr. … | ||
| 18 | 18 | 18: How Great Salt Lake Bird Migrations Are Changing | 2024-04-12 | Zoe Exelbert studies birds at the Great Salt Lake. Specifically, she’s interested in how climate change and shifting weather patterns are affecting bird migrations and … | ||
| 17 | 17 | 17: How NHMU's Climate of Hope Exhibit is Improving Climate Communication Strategies | 2024-03-22 | The new Climate of Hope exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah offers museum visitors a more localized and solutions-oriented framing of climate change … | ||
| 16 | 16 | 16: Urban Plants + Black Carbon = ? | 2024-03-18 | For this episode we talk with Dr. Alexandra Ponette-Gonzalez, an Associate Professor in the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning and Curator of Urban ecology … | ||
| 15 | 15 | 15: Talking with the Wildfire Hackathon Winners | 2024-02-26 | The Wilkes Center held its second annual Climate Solutions Hackathon on January 26th. This was not a coding “hackathon” but a competition to find innovative … | ||
| 14 | 14 | 14: Should A "Contribution" Approach Replace the Struggling Carbon Offsets Market? | 2024-02-12 | Listeners to the podcast are very likely familiar with the concept of carbon offsetting or carbon credits. This is the idea that a company that … | ||
| 13 | 13 | 13: Can We Bury Modern CO₂ in Utah’s Ancient Sand? | 2024-01-30 | One of the many challenges facing the world in the coming decades to reach carbon neutrality - in order for climate change to stabilize – … | ||
| 12 | 12 | 12: Making Sense of How VOCs Impact Air Pollution and Climate | 2024-01-16 | Understanding how volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that originate from living organisms like trees and plants could influence climate change and air pollution is an important … | ||
| 11 | 11 | 11: The Pitfalls of Adapting Cities for Climate Change | 2023-12-15 | What does it take for whole cities to take the actions necessary to adapt to a changing climate? What is required for millions of people … | ||
| 10 | 10 | 10: Glaciers and the Past, Present, and Future Climate | 2023-12-04 | As scientists, policymakers, and other environmentally-concerned individuals search for solutions to the changing climate, glaciers are an important topic. With the ability to both study … | ||
| 9 | 9 | 09: Harnessing the Power of Methane-eating Methanotrophs | 2023-11-27 | For the world to meet the goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below … | ||
| 8 | 8 | 08: Investigating Water Scarcity for Climate-Vulnerable Communities Along the US-Mexico Border | 2023-11-20 | Ricardo Rubio grew up in the borderlands region of southwestern Texas where he came to recognize the challenges and vulnerabilities that communities like his increasingly … | ||
| 7 | 7 | 07: A Biomimetic Muscle that Makes Energy; 2023 Wilkes Student Innovation Prize Winner Series | 2023-11-14 | Nicholas Witham, a fifth-year biomedical engineering Ph.D. student at the U, won first place in the Wilkes Student Innovation Prize competition in May 2023 for … | ||
| 6 | 6 | 06: Decarbonizing the Diné; 2023 Wilkes Student Innovation Prize Winner Series | 2023-11-14 | In continuing our conversations with the winners of the 2023 Wilkes Student Innovation Prize, we spoke with Samantha Eddy and Xiang Huo, whose proposal: “Decarbonize … | ||
| 5 | 5 | 05: Increase UTA ridership, decrease carbon emissions; 2023 Wilkes Student Innovation Prize Winner Series | 2023-11-14 | In continuation with the 2023 Wilkes Student Innovation Prize winner interviews, Audri Dara, an undergraduate student in Material Science Engineer and Philosophy at the U, … | ||
| 4 | 4 | 04: Four Lessons Ben Santer Learned as a World-leading Climate Scientist | 2023-11-14 | Ben Santer was an early contributor to the historic 1995 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when a group of leading climate scientists first declared that … | ||
| 3 | 3 | 03: Rethinking Soil; 2023 Wilkes Student Innovation Prize Winners Series | 2023-11-14 | Steven Tran and Rabiul Hassan, PhD students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah took home the third place … | ||
| 2 | 2 | 02: Smoke Signals: Why Kai Wilmot Studies Wildfire Smoke Plumes | 2023-11-14 | Kai Wilmot, a post-doc in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Utah, studies what smoke plumes do to the atmosphere and how … | ||
| 1 | 1 | 01: Dust in the Wind: Dr. Kevin Perry on Investigating Dust from the Great Salt Lake | 2023-11-14 | Dr. Kevin Perry has been studying air quality for over 20 years. Perry has monitored plumes from the World Trade Center collapse, smoke from pyrotechnic … |