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Gulf Streams

KPFT Houston and Rice University’s Center for Environmental Studies

Environmental and Climate News out of Houston Texas. Gulf Streams is your source for environmental and climate news. Covering a range of topics around Houston, the Gulf Coast, and the world, Gulf Streams brings you the best in conversations with community leaders and advocates, academic experts, and national thought leaders. Join us as we sit down every Monday at noon (central) to dive into the most pressing environmental challenges, solutions, and ideas. A co-production of Rice University’s

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All Episodes

52:24

Ep. 105 Urban Farming

Gulf Streams ·

2026/03/30

Our researcher Antara and a guest researcher Paolo take us through a tour of Houston urban farms. Along the way we learn about the challenges of farming in a city, the rewards for community, and how local groups are working to improve their neighborhoods and footways all throughout the city.

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55:48

Ep. 104 Gulf Coast Demise?

Gulf Streams ·

2026/03/16

The US Gulf Coast faces many, often compounding, threats. On today's show, we sit down with Dr. John B. Anderson (Rice University), whose recent book Gulf Coast Demise explores the unique challenges facing the reason, how sea level rise is exacerbating risk throughout the region, and what we are doing -- and should be doing -- to address these challenges.

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56:38

Ep. 103 Toxic Air in Our Homes

Gulf Streams ·

2026/03/09

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, a slow moving public health disaster followed in the form of disaster recovery: the ubiquitous FEMA trailers that were quickly utilized by rebuilding families turned out to often have extremely high levels of formaldehyde in them. Dr. Nicholas Shapiro (UCLA) spent years following these trailers to understand the impacts of living in toxic environments. His new book, Homesick, offers lessons not only in disaster recovery but for how we continue to

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52:04

Ep. 102 Saving Animals and Writing to Save the World

Gulf Streams ·

2026/02/23

On today's show, our junior researchers sit down with folks doing very different kinds of work to help protect our wildlife, natural resources, and planet. First, we speak with Nicole Rogers of Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary about their work saving wolves and wolf dogs. Then we talk to Tristan Ahtone at Grist about the importance of journalism and telling unheard stories for promoting climate awareness and protection. Finally, another in our series of urban explorer segments focused on local

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53:27

Ep. 101 Can We Make It Rain?

Gulf Streams ·

2026/02/16

Drought is increasing around the world, and with it desperate conditions for farmers and rural communities. Water shortages present major economic and political threats in the coming decades. One potential solution, much speculated on but less evidenced, is the controversial practice known as "cloud-seeding." Today we sit down with scientists and entrepreneurs to discuss how this practice is being deployed, what its effects are, and what its future might be.

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51:28

Ep. 100 The Mineral Challenge to Electrification

Gulf Streams ·

2026/02/09

Scientists agree that more electricity will be needed to power the world, and that we should use more renewable energy to meet that demand. But electrifying our world takes more minerals to build that infrastructure, especially lithium. How can industry keep up, and what are the risks and challenges in building out new mining facilities around the world? We sit down with Thea Riofrancos (Providence College) to discuss her new book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, all about these

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56:34

Ep. 99 How Urban Park Revitalization Took Over

Gulf Streams ·

2026/02/02

Ever since the development of the High Line in New York, urban leaders have recognized the potential for unconventional spaces -- especially in economically marginalized areas or in deindustrialized spaces -- for new greenways. These spaces are often privately led, and explicitly aim for economic development as a goal of the new amenity. We sit down with Kevin Loughran (Temple University) to talk about his book, Parks for Profit, and the development of urban parks across the country, including

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51:35

Ep. 98 New Ways to Find Nature All Around

Gulf Streams ·

2026/01/28

On today's show we have two segments both thinking through how to bring more natural solutions and greenery into the world. First is a conversation with the team at SPARK, a local non-profit that builds park spaces for students, and how they're thinking about green initiatives in parks. After that we learn about Nature's Burial, a new organization working to preserve local landscape while helping put loved ones to rest in planet healthy ways.

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55:43

Ep. 97 Growing Green

Gulf Streams ·

2026/01/19

Keeping a city's canopy thriving is hard work: the planting, growing, and replanting of trees takes constant effort. Today we sit down with Barry Ward (Trees for Houston) to talk all about the work of maintaining and growing Houston's tree canopy. Later in the hour our researcher Sophia talks to Robby Robinson (Buffalo Bayou Preserve) in a Critter Corner segment.

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55:25

Ep. 96 Art and Conservation

Gulf Streams ·

2025/12/15

Teaching the science of ecology and environment is an essential part of educating the next generation of environmental caregivers. But how we communicate those core ideas and help future scientists to understand the world around us requires finding ways of connecting and learning across science and nature. Artist Boat, a local nonprofit dedicated to science education through the arts, works to bridge that divide through artistic engagement and conservation work. On today's show we talk to their

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55:18

Ep. 95 Writing the Gulf South

Gulf Streams ·

2025/12/08

Our co-host Dr. Chaney Hill (Rice University) is joined by Christopher Nicholson (Rice University) to sit down with author Kent Wascom (author of such books as The Blood of Heaven, The New Inheritors, and his newest book, The Great State of Florida). Together, they discuss the role of contemporary fiction in telling the story of the Gulf South and better understanding our natural world through fiction.

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54:56

Ep. 94 Gardening for Resilience

Gulf Streams ·

2025/12/01

Today we sit down with Austin gardener and designer Pam Penick, who tells us all about her newest book Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State. Over a career writing and thinking about garden spaces, Penick shares her insights into how gardens can survive and thrive even in the harshest of Texas environments.

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57:24

Ep. 93 The Value of Emptiness

Gulf Streams ·

2025/11/24

We sit down with Christopher Brown, whose new book A Natural History of Empty Lots to discuss finding meaning in abandoned places. Then we chat with Dr. Rebecca Potts (Rice University) who discusses how we came to afford value to places out of larger theological viewpoints.

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54:00

Ep. 92 jackie sumell and Endangered Feces

Gulf Streams ·

2025/11/17

Artist jackie sumell joins us to discuss her newest artwork, right here in Houston, Endangered Feces. A piece that helps to create ecosystems as it naturally decomposes, summell explains her process, mission, and goals with this new phase in her work.

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56:18

Ep. 91 Second Nature with Nathaniel Rich

Gulf Streams ·

2025/11/10

Nathaniel Rich (Tulane University) is a journalist, novelist, and creative writer whose work spans deep, investigative research to historical fiction. His documenting legal challenges to PFAS was turned into the 2019 film Dark Waters. Today our researcher Antara and host Weston Twardowski sit down to chat with him about his book Second Nature, which explores how humans are inherently entangled with our "natural" worlds, and what that means for how we choose to live with nature going forward.

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60:41

Ep. 90 Tropical Conservation

Gulf Streams ·

2025/11/03

On today's show we sit down with Dr. Rakan Zahawi (Charles Darwin Foundation) and Dr. Bren Ram (Island Conservation) who walk us through the work global conservation organizations take on, and how the lessons from conservation groups globally can help us rethink our local environments.

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57:55

Ep. 89 Gulf Screams: Halloween Special

Gulf Streams ·

2025/10/27

Today's episode takes a deep dive into three spooky stories: Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Giant Wisteria. Dr. Chaney Hill (Rice University) walks our researchers Antara and Sarah through how these 19th century Gothic authors turned to the environment to set mood and create haunting backdrops in three of the best known American short stories of the era.

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56:00

Ep. 88 Update from the Policy World

Gulf Streams ·

2025/10/23

Today we speak with two policy experts, Jennifer Walker (National Wildlife Federation) and Luke Metzger (Environment Texas) about upcoming policy decisions with immediate impact on Houston. First, Jennifer walks up through Proposition 4, which is on ballots in November and would guarantee funds for future water projects throughout the state. Second, Luke explains what the Roadless Rule is and how its repeal might impact forests in Texas and across the US. At the end of the episode is an update from

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55:47

Ep. 87 Regenerative Agriculture

Gulf Streams ·

2025/10/06

How are local farmers working to make agriculture more sustainable? On today's show we sit down with August Stubler, the head farmer at SkyFarm at POST Houston to talk about the innovative work being done to create newer, more ecologically friendly, agricultural systems.

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58:30

Ep. 86 How Conservation Works

Gulf Streams ·

2025/09/29

Today we sit down with Mary Anne Piacentini, Executive Director and CEO of Coastal Prairie Conservancy, to discuss the role of conservation organizations in building better environments all around us. Beyond the work of habitat creation and maintenance, conservation is a complex mix of science, law, education, and outreach that creates spaces that plants, humans, and animals can enjoy. Piacentini discusses the work of Coastal Prairie Conservancy throughout Southeast Texas, and how they are helping

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106 results

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