The world’s largest dam removal project is underway along the 250-mile Klamath River in California and Oregon. By the end of 2024, four of the river’s six dams will be demolished. UC Davis scientists are studying whether it will help salmon populations rebound. The fishes’ ear bones could hold clues to their future. In this episode of Unfold, host Amy Quinton discusses the topic with co-host Kat Kerlin, who has written a multimedia feature story about whether restoring the river to its natural state will also restore decimated salmon populations.

In this episode:

Rob Lusardi, aquatic ecologist, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Beth Rose Middleton Manning, professor, UC Davis Department of Native American Studies

Barry McCovey, director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department

You may not know it, but artificial intelligence may be responsible for the food on your table. AI is transforming nearly every aspect of our food system, from before a seed is planted up to the moment that food is eaten. AI could even help you decide what food you should eat based on your own health profile. In this episode of Unfold, we take you on AI’s journey from seed to plate. Host Amy Quinton and guest co-host Andy Fell examine the ways “Big Data Comes to Dinner.”

In this episode:

Ilias Tagkopoulos, director of the Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next Generation Food Systems at UC Davis

Christine Diepenbrock, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

Mason Earles, assistant professor, UC Davis Departments of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Viticulture and Enology

Christopher Simmons, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology

Danielle Lemay, associate adjunct professor, UC Davis Department of Nutrition and USDA-ARS Western Health Nutrition Research Center

Dan Vincent, former president and CEO of Pacific Coast Producers

Can communication with a humpback whale teach us how to talk to extraterrestrials? Researchers from UC Davis and the SETI Institute want to find out. In the waters of Southeast Alaska, scientists believe they’ve had what might be the very first human-whale communication. The interaction was designed to eventually help us detect and interpret signals coming from outer space. In this episode of Unfold, you’ll hear about the scientists’ remarkable 20-minute “conversation” with a humpback named Twain and what we can learn by studying nonhuman communication on Earth.

In this episode:

Brenda McCowan, professor, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Josephine Hubbard, postdoctoral researcher, UC Davis

Laurance Doyle, astrophysicist, SETI Institute

Fred Sharpe, president, Olympic Peninsula Prairies