Learn more about Gabriel Willow here!

What does biodiversity look like within a city? How can people get closer to nature in their urban environments? As an urban naturalist and artist, Gabriel Willow explores the beauty of biodiversity through urban environments and encourages people to get outside and look up.

In this episode, we get practical tips and ideas from Willow on how to view cities and incorporate nature more into our urban spaces. Tools from iNaturalist to birding apps help you identify birds, insects, flowers, and more while out on a walk. Find out why cities are great for wildlife and your health, but also hear stories that inspire a sense of awe for the nature that surrounds us - from rooftop eagle sightings to sandhill cranes and even the day pigeons flew with bread “necklaces,” there are plenty of giggle-worthy moments.

We also discuss seeing extinct species draw overlay art on city landscapes, as well as new projects like a small eco-lodge in the cloud forest in Ecuador, which, as one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, supports artists and scientists who want to collaborate and learn more in these special habitats. If you’ve ever wanted to live the green life or need help seeing the nature that surrounds you every day, Willow has thought-provoking comments for everyone in this show.

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This episode features the guest Lucas Foglia, a photographer with a deep connection to nature. From the micro to the macro, from intimate to planetary systems, Lucas captures the nuances behind his subjects and helps usher in real-world change. From his Long Island farm childhood, Lucas creates a body of work that pulls nature back from any notion of a museum diorama or a lost paradise.

His newest book, Constant Bloom, sheds light on the longest known butterfly migration from Kenya to Norway and back. A photo he took in Barcelona shows blooms above a melting glacier, taken by a researcher who happened to be on his own scientific journey across borders.

In this episode, you will hear about his other compelling books, such as A Natural Order, which explores off-grid lives after the recession, and Front Country, which balances Western wildness and extraction. You'll also hear about Human Nature's blend of neuroscience and conservation.

Lucas speaks about his photographic processes, practices, and philosophy, offering an excellent taste of how art goes from "huh" to "wow" and how a quiet picture from the Rikers Island garden program helped expand it.

He talks about collaborating with people, calling it "photographing with, not of," and giving practical guidance like making friends, not networks, starting with one honest question, and offering counterpoints to today's loudest headlines.

If you're feeling squeezed by algorithms or doom, this is a reminder that depth still matters, and that images can open doors to empathy and action. If the stories resonate, please subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review telling us the last image that changed how you see the world.

Purchase a copy of Constant Bloom here!

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In this episode, we are joined by artist Selin Balci, whose art begins not with paint but with living microorganisms.

A former forestry and microbiology student, Selin explains how she collects microbes from soil, trees, water, and even the human body, then isolates and cultivates them into controlled art pieces.

We talk about the science and art of sterilizing tools, nutrient mediums, contamination, and how she decides when to stop and when a piece is finished. We touch on her project, Echoes of Nature, in which mold consumes Polaroids of actual nature scenes to signify the end of nature as we know it, and 30 Faces, where people’s microbes reform the portraits of their faces over time, making them interactive.

Selin also ponders imperfection, rot, why contamination is not always a mistake, and the questions her art evokes about identity and sustainability.

If you’re interested in where art, science, and the natural world intersect, this is a rare glimpse into microscopic art.

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