The Essential Rhythm

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode recounts the signs of spring related to the onset of the alewife migration.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode describes an early spring trip to a typical Maine gravel flat beach, and the many organisms that can be found, including razor and surf clams, ribbon and terebellid worms, sea stars and sand dollars, and rough nudibranchs and their eggs.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode describes the blood vascular circulatory system both humans and marine worms share. Many marine worms in the phylum Annalida have external gills that oxygenate blood that is then circulated through vessels to various tissues.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode details how members of the phylum Mollusca utilize ventilation of their gill tissue for dual purposes. Bivalves suspension feed, pulling food out of the water they “inhale” and Cephalopods use the water for jet propulsion. This adaptive efficiency has lead to broad biodiversity in this phylum.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode introduces the basics of specialized gas exchange structures in marine invertebrates. Disadvantageous diffusion rates are overcome by high surface area, achieved through folding or filaments of tissue known collectively as gills.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode elaborates on the simple gas exchange mechanisms of sponges, cnidarians and flatworms. These organisms lack specialized gas exchange organs, instead relying on simple diffusion across the body wall. This limits their body shape and structure as a trade off for reducing the diffusion distance gasses pass through.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode introduces the concept of metabolic gas exchange and discusses simple gas exchange mechanisms used by marine invertebrates, including manipulation of surface area to volume ratios.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

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Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode describes a study where researchers discovered that grazing herbivores like limpets and periwinkles help stabilize intertidal community structure and thus provide resilience in the face of climate change.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download