On the season 2 midseason finale we welcome Molly Karnes, a stable isotope ecologist and lab technician. Hear about a new regional drink - Cheerwine, using shark teeth (both modern and ancient) to understand the environment in four dimensions, predatory snails, how a lab technician is a bit like an instrument mechanic, and a new crossover between Sonic and Jello.

Joining the show today is Janie Wittmer, a PhD student focusing on hydrogeochemistry. Hear what happens if you were to drink incredibly pure water (hint: it's not great), what life is like in environmental consulting, how rocks can actually help with carbon emissions, and a recommendation for a potential electronic album of the year.

Joining us today is the newly minted Dr. Danielle (Danny) Peltier, a paleontologist or geologist/paleoanthropologist that studies human evolution through time. Ever wondered what it means when someone says they've defended their PhD? Listen to hear about everything that leads up to and then what happens during that process, culminating in becoming a doctor, along with learning about the volcanic connections to human evolution, working at White Sands National Park through Geoscientists in the Park (including why the sand stays so cool), the transition from undergraduate to graduate school, and tips for cooking for one or meal prep.

Joining us today is Dr. Ginny Gong, an observational and earthquake seismologist studying what causes earthquakes and what they can tell us about our planet. Learn about white coffee, how we can tell the structure of the Earth deep below the surface, what a seismometer is and how we install or deploy them, the logistics of measuring plate movement and deformation in the oceans (which can involve a cruise, some melting metal, and balloons), and IU's connection to CBS's Sunday Morning.

Join us today to hear from Dr. Peter Sauer, a low-temperature geochemist who specializes in stable isotopes and organic chemistry. Learn about his work on Earth's surface that encompasses living things, geology, and history (both Earth and human history), how isotopes were applied to identify and understand the life of King Richard III, lake sediments and their connection to ice sheets, the art to problem solving and troubleshooting, and the benefit to being curious.

Join us today to hear from Dr. Erika Elswick, a low temperature geochemist and Director of the IU Field Station. Learn about the aggressive squirrels in the Grand Canyon, museum work, legacy mines and Superfund sites (including the Berkeley Pit), a bit about the IU Field Station, and some fun side quests of Erika's including her impressive birding abilities.

On this episode, hear from Owen Madsen, a current Ph.D. candidate studying paleontology and self-proclaimed professional question asker. Learn about the Gray Fossil Site, an unusually fossil-rich site in eastern Tennessee that gives us a window into the climate of the past for this region, the importance of science communication and how that works at different levels, the North American lion - a now extinct lion species that is a favorite of Owen's, and the appeal of physical media.

Join us as we talk with Dr. Paul Staten, an atmospheric and climate dynamicist interested in large-scale wind patterns that impact weather and climate. Hear about the importance of the winds near the tropics for our weather all across the globe, orchestral video game music, how we can understand fluid behaviors through Navier-Stokes (and Paul's attempt at a million dollar prize), and one of the (IMO) greatest scientific success stories - the ozone hole - and its relation to weather and climate.