Creatures We Don't Talk About with Jennifer Frazer — WildFed Podcast #043

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In this episode:

Jennifer Frazer | Freelance science writer & Under-Loved Lifeform Enthusiast

Podcast discussion:

• Introducing Jennifer

• Comparing molecular biology and the study of natural history

• A myopic view of the world and nature deficit disorder

• Jennifer's fascinating background

• Jennifer's process for discovering lesser-known organisms to write about

• The lichen fungal co-op

• Protists and the complexities of classifying organisms

• What's alive and what's not alive — and does this matter?

• Talking prions and prion diseases

• On spirochetes and Lyme disease

• New horizons for Jennifer

• How can a brittle star see with their whole body?

• The amazing abilities of slime molds

• The origins of life and immortal bacteria

• Where to find Jennifer

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Episode Resources: 

• The Artful Amoeba

• Jennifer on Twitter @JenniferFrazer

• Brittle star

• Jennifer’s article: The Brittle Star That Sees with Its Body

• Michael Kuo — amateur mycologist

• Living in a Lichen Wonderland with Felicity Roberts — WildFed Podcast #032

• Jennifer’s article: Getting to bottom of mysterious elk deaths

• Nathan Pieplow

• Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides) by Nathan Pieplow

• Thomas Cavalier-Smith

• Prion

• Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

• Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

• Kuru

• Chronic wasting disease

• PRNP (prion protein)

• Transmission of amyloid-β protein pathology from cadaveric pituitary growth hormone

• Surgical instruments may spread Alzheimer’s proteins

• Cascading inflammation associated with lyme arthritis linked to overactive immune response

• Panspermia

• Living Microorganisms in Ancient Rocks by Chas B. Lipman

• Aerobic microbial life persists in oxic marine sediment as old as 101.5 million years

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Meet Jennifer Frazer

Jennifer Frazer is an AAAS Science Journalism Award-winning science writer and Under-Loved Lifeform Enthusiast. She has authored the prolific science blog The Artful Amoeba at Scientific American for over a decade. She has degrees in biology, plant pathology/mycology and science writing, and has spent many happy hours studying life in situ.

The Artful Amoeba blog | Twitter @JenniferFrazer