We Are Nature
Stories about natural histories and livable futures presented by Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Season one, which premiered in October 2022, centers on collective climate action through 30 interviews with museum researchers, organizers, policy makers, farmers, and science communicators about climate action in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Season two delves deep into Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s collection of more than 22 million objects and specimens. Fourteen Carnegie Museum of Natural History experts as well as special guests from Three Rivers Waterkeeper and the Royal Ontario Museum discuss collection items as windows into the science and ethics of the Anthropocene, a term for our current age, defined by human activity that is reshaping Earth’s climate and environments.
Episodes
15 episodes
Preview: Season 2
We Are Nature returns on November 7, 2025! Tune in to delve deep into Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s collection of over 22 million items. Fourteen Carnegie Museum of Natural History experts as well as special guests from Three Rivers Wate...
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0:30
We Are The Future
On today’s show, the last episode of Season 1, we look ahead at possible futures. Join us in imagining a planet with space and dignity for all earthlings. Featuring Museum Director Gretchen Baker, Curator Nicole Heller, and Educator Taiji Ne...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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1:00:46
Bee Kind
Bugs make the world go around. Well, bugs and fungi. And bacteria. And algae. And…ok, it’s all important. We humans rely on many tiny neighbors, and now more than ever, their future relies on us. Come along on a visit to Pittsburgh’s Garfield C...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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50:19
A Conservation Conversation
Biodiversity is key to our resilience as the climate changes. Our guest today is Conservation Biologist Charles Bier, Senior Director of Conservation Science the at Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Charles has nurtured a deep relationship with...
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1:06:09
Greenways
Tiffany Taulton is a climate policy expert, community organizer, professor of environmental justice, and one of the authors of Pittsburgh’s Climate Action Plan. She joins the show to talk about how our region is preparing for climate change, ho...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:03:36
Empowerment, Employment, Environment
How are labor and climate related? Today’s episode is all about supporting workers as the climate changes, and about work that supports climate action. Learn about labor history, a just transition, doughnuts and degrowth. Featuring Landforce’s ...
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54:09
Teens in the Wild
By taking care of greenspace, we care for ourselves. Hear about best practices for getting young people involved in land stewardship, and about how fostering a relationship with the outdoors is essential climate action. Featuring Naturalist Edu...
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1:00:31
Food is Nature
Our globalized food system is already feeling the impacts of climate change. Today’s episode shows how decentralizing that food system can help us both be more resilient to extreme weather, and lessen industrial agriculture’s harmful effects...
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49:00
Bridges and Bivalves
Some freshwater mussels can live for over 100 years! During that time, they filter water and improve aquatic ecosystems. Today’s episode is about how aquatic life intersects with the human world. We’ll learn about everything from mussel charism...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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1:03:32
Mining and Microbes
Dr. Carla Rosenfeld is is the Carnegie Museum’s assistant curator of Earth Sciences in the section of Minerals and Earth Sciences. She also happens to study how pollutants and nutrients behave in the environments like abandoned minelands, of...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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38:31
Coal Country
There are less than 5,000 coal jobs left in the state of Pennsylvania, and that number is shrinking. That’s good news for the climate, but what’s next for the commonwealth’s coal communities? Join organizers from the Mountain Watershed Assoc...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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1:02:55
Carbon and Cattle
Monoculture is messing up the climate. Befriending biodiversity–especially in the soil– can help! Featuring interviews with Michael Kovach (Regenerative Farmer & President of the PA Farmers Union) and Dr. Bonnie McGill (an Ecosystem Ecol...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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59:25
Steel City (with Summer Lee)
Why should Pittsburghers care about climate change? What’s happening in our backyard, and how does it connect to the big picture? Representative Summer Lee joins us to talk about environmental racism, intersectional climate justice, and much mo...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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1:32:22
[Bonus] We Can Fix This
A behind-the-scenes chat between co-hosts Taiji and Michael about effective climate change communication, plus our goals, hopes, dreams, and terrors for this first season.Episode Credits: Produced by Taiji Nelson. Editing by Michael Pisa...
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Season 1
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1:17:52
This is an Emergency, Not an Apocalypse (with Jad Abumrad)
Why is it so hard to talk about climate change without plunging into an anxious doomscroll? How can we change the ways that we talk about the story of life on earth to emphasize hope over despair, and collaboration over competition? Featuring <...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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1:01:33
