The US Environmental Protection Agency is shutting down its Office of Research and Development, which represents 50 years of independent scientific research. Kyla Bennett is director of science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and she joined host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the impact on EPA employees and science.

National Parks are undergoing increased layoffs and funding cuts under the second Trump administration. Former Crater Lake superintendent Kevin Keatley joined Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran to discuss how funding cuts are impacting NPS employees and why he quit just after 5 months.

President Trump has ordered the Department of the Interior to review historic monuments and memorials, and remove any content that might be perceived as negative or unpatriotic. Independent historian Donna Graves joined host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss some National Parks that show America’s complex history and how these federal actions can lead to censorship.

Wildfire season has scorched nearly 14 million acres in Canada this year, degrading air quality as far downwind as Montreal, Detroit and Philadelphia. A particularly dangerous kind of wildfire, known as “zombie fire”, can survive through the winter months by smoldering underground. Professor of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University Patrick Louchouarn joined Living on Earth’s executive producer Steve Curwood to discuss this phenomenon.