As the sun dips below the tree line and the night sky takes over, a quiet but critical process begins above our heads. Tiny silhouettes flit through the dark, weaving between branches and barn rafters, doing the work of a thousand pesticides—silently, efficiently and for free.

These are Pennsylvania’s bats, and despite their bad reputation in folklore and films, they’re some of the hardest-working—and most misunderstood—members of our ecosystem.

Bats matter more than most people realize. These nocturnal mammals play a critical role in keeping our environment balanced. They eat thousands of insects every night—mosquitoes, moths, beetles and other crop-damaging pests—saving farmers millions of dollars and helping reduce the need for chemical pesticides.

While bats may be stealthy in the sky, their struggles are becoming increasingly visible on the ground. Populations have plummeted in recent years due to threats like habitat loss, climate change and —perhaps most devastating of all—White-nose Syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that’s wiped-out entire colonies across the Northeast.

Though these creatures are vital, there aren’t a ton of local people and organizations working to protect these essential creatures in Pennsylvania. There are even fewer helping bats that have been injured or impacted.

That’s where Pennsylvania Bat Conservation and Rehabilitation steps in.

They provide rescue and rehabilitation support for bats that are brought to their facility. Their staff and volunteers have committed much of their lives to helping re-introduce bats back into the wild. Once reintroduced, these bats can continue their incredible work in nature.

But caring for bats can be a difficult and costly endeavor. There are few grants available and finding volunteers to help with such misunderstood creatures can be challenging. So that means we must do whatever we can to help Pennsylvania Bat Rescue and Rehabilitation.

Donations. Sponsorships. Volunteers. Anything we can do to help.

In fact, I am pledging a $100 donation to the organization to help with their important work. This money comes from podcast sticker and magnet purchases listeners have made over the last couple of years. So please, do what you can.

On this episode I speak with Stephanie Stronsick. Stephanie is the founder and director of Pennsylvania Bat Conservation and Rehabilitation.

Be sure to support our 2025 sponsors:
Keystone Trails Association
Purple Lizard Maps
Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Sisters' Sunflowers

Support the show

Visit our website to learn more about the podcast, to purchase merch and to find out about our incredible sponsors. Follow us on Instagram and Meta to stay connected.

Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis

While most of the places we feature on this podcast are either a state park or forest, this episode is about something a little different. Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve is not just a garden or a park. It’s a sanctuary. A living, breathing tribute to Pennsylvania’s native plants and the ecosystems they support.

Founded in the early 1930s, Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve is the nation’s only accredited native plant museum. Today, it boasts over 700 native plant species—each one telling its own story of survival, adaptation and connection.

This isn't your average wildflower walk. When you step onto the trails here, you're transported through time and terrain—from spring ephemerals peeking through forest floors to late summer blooms lighting up sunny meadows. The preserve’s landscape is as diverse as its mission is vital: to inspire the appreciation and use of native plants by serving as a sanctuary, nursery and educational center.

The preserve’s role in education and community outreach is unquestionable. It serves as a living classroom for children and adults alike, fostering curiosity and stewardship in the next generation of conservation-minded Pennsylvanians.

For many, a visit to Bowman’s Hill is the start of a lifelong love affair with native plants and the wild places they represent.

So whether you're a seasoned botanist, a backyard gardener, or someone who just enjoys a peaceful walk in the woods, Bowman’s Hill is for you. Because in a world that often feels loud, fast, and disconnected, Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve offers something rare: a chance to slow down, reconnect, and rediscover the extraordinary beauty in the plants that have always been here.

On this episode, I spoke with Peter Couchman. Peter is the executive director of Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve.

Be sure to support our 2025 sponsors:
Keystone Trails Association
Purple Lizard Maps
Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Sisters' Sunflowers

Support the show

Visit our website to learn more about the podcast, to purchase merch and to find out about our incredible sponsors. Follow us on Instagram and Meta to stay connected.

Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis

Stretching 444 miles from New York through Pennsylvania and into Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay the Susquehanna River is one of the oldest rivers in the world.

And while it served generations as fertile hunting and fishing grounds and trade and transportation routes, it took American industries a couple hundred or so years to nearly destroy it. Like always, it took a dedicated group of people to speak up and make changes that would save the river.

One of the voices speaking on behalf of the river belongs to the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper—an advocate, a watchdog and a tireless defender of one of the most important watersheds in the United States.

The volunteer organization protects and promotes the Susquehanna River, its tributaries and the aquatic ecosystem it supports across an 11,000-square-mile watershed defined by the North and West branches of the river.

Their passion for clean water and public engagement is reshaping how communities interact with their local waterways.

What sets the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper apart isn’t just advocacy—it’s education. Their floating classroom program, citizen science initiatives, and water quality monitoring efforts are all about empowering people to become stewards of their environment. Because protecting a river starts with understanding it.

The Susquehanna River faces a number of continued threats; from outdated infrastructure and agricultural runoff to industrial discharges and invasive species. These aren't distant, abstract problems—they're real challenges that affect real people.

And the Riverkeeper are on the frontlines, combining data, public pressure and policy to push for meaningful change. But this work isn’t all warnings and water samples. It's also about joy—about reconnecting people with their rivers, creeks and lakes.

On this episode, I speak with John Zaktansky. John is the executive director of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper.

Be sure to support our 2025 sponsors:
Keystone Trails Association
Purple Lizard Maps
Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Sisters' Sunflowers

Support the show

Visit our website to learn more about the podcast, to purchase merch and to find out about our incredible sponsors. Follow us on Instagram and Meta to stay connected.

Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis