The Wandering Naturalist

Ryan Barth, Outdoor Education Supervisor at Baker Near Wilderness Settlement, and Bill Vollbrecht, Golf Maintenance Supervisor at Eagle Lake Golf Course, discuss how they are mentoring children to he…

Special guests Steven Hogg from our Natural Resource Management Department, and  Shawn Howard from our Tree Nursery join us to discuss what steps the park takes to manage the health of our parks with…

Join us as we explore the history of deer management, why it was needed, and Disney's impact on deer populations. We discuss deer habits and why we believe controlled hunts in our parks are important…

Zach Mohlis from, The Landing – Minnesota River Heritage Park, will provide a historical perspective on where the idea of human zombies has come from.  What is our cultural fascination with apocalypt…

Our guests students Evie and AJ and Three Rivers Forestry Supervisor Dan Comerford, join us to investigate other real life zombies.  Evie and AJ talk to us about their award winning project with Zomb…

Zombies are real.  Zombies are everywhere, near places you would never expect.  In fact, some of you may have even encountered zombies in your life, right in nature.  Join Angela and Brandon to explo…

Three Rivers has worked to make our parks home for surrounding communities and wildlife over these past 50 plus years.  Building a foundation on educating others for a chance to nurture the interest …

Listen in as Brandon and Angela journey to 1969 to explore Crow-Hassan Park Reserve and the first planting of restored prairie.  Joined by Senior Wildlife Manager, John Moriarty, they dig deeper to d…

The first nature center was built in 1969, Lowry Nature Center.  Tag along as hosts Brandon and Angela interview Tom McDowell, retired park employee of 40 years, to explore the story of how outdoor e…

To celebrate the past 50 years, Brandon and Angela are talking to special guest Bill Walker, Cultural Resources Manager of Three Rivers Park District, to discuss the how and why Three Rivers was crea…

Britt Forsberg from the University of Minnesota Native Bee Atlas shares with us how the university is discovering what native bees live in Minnesota. She also gives advice on how to provide a home fo…

Tim Reese, Director of Gale Woods Farm, talks with us about his experience raising bees, how bee keeping has changed over the past 9 years, and how Gale Woods Farm manages to be a working farm while …

Wander with us as Angela and Brandon investigate the differences between two different kinds of bees, bumblebees and honeybees. Though different, they both face many of the same challenges, and they …

With over 149 dragonfly and damselfly species in Minnesota there is much to learn and observe.  Dragonfly scientist Ami Thompson joins on this episode to talk about her study subject, the Common Gree…

Dragonflies are usually found around or near water such as lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands because their larvae, known as "nymphs", are aquatic.  Join us as we talk with Mitch Haag, a Wildlife Op…

Summer is here and with it you likely have spent time near water, a local lake, pond, or river, which means you have also undoubtedly watched the aerial antics of dragonflies.  But did you know that …

We are joined by Zach Mohlis, from The Landing-Minnesota River Heritage Park, who shares with us how people used the Minnesota River when Europeans first settled the area. We discuss how farming prac…

Join us as a member of our Water Quality department, John Hess, shares some of the challenges our waterways face, how he monitors them, and actions people can take at home to help keep our rivers and…

Wander with us as we dive into water and the issues that face it. How are nitrates and phosphates like vitamins? What is the difference between blue green algae and algae? What impacts does this have…

Wander with us as we talk with Pauline Bold from The Landing. She shares with us some of the ways people used early spring wildflowers, including uses as medicine and food. Disclaimer, do not try to …