KNAU update for May 19

KNAU has a planned power outage is scheduled for Saturday (May 20) at 8am and will affect the KNAU studios. Fortunately, our generator will be able to handle the load while crews work elsewhere on campus. However, the switch-over between main and generator power is serious business. It is possible that a brief program interruption might occur, both at the beginning and at the end of the planned outage. If you lose us Saturday morning (or again around noon), we’ll be back in just a minute or two. Thanks for your patience.

Northern Arizona University is home to a giant collection of dried plant specimens that scientists across the globe use as a resource center. The Deaver Herbarium is essentially a plant museum that holds more than 120 thousand samples from the Southwest, some gathered more than 100 years ago. Learn more at KNAU.org.

In the western United States, a little owl is at the center of a big project. Researchers have outfitted burrowing owls with backpacks containing miniature solar-powered satellite transmitters that reveal the locations of individual owls remotely using live Web maps. Learn more at KNAU.org.

It’s been millions of years since there was an ocean in Arizona. But yesterday, the tide rolled back in. The Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival hosted the Save the Waves Film Festival, a night of ocean activism from the viewpoint of surfers. Trey Highton, the director, spoke with KNAU’s Gillian Ferris about the importance of taking care of the world’s oceans whether you live near or far from shore.  Learn more at KNAU.org.

Sheriff Paul Penzone says he’s pursuing the option of turning a complex of jail tents into a detention space where inmates would work with shelter animals in a bid to teach prisoners compassion and discourage them from committing future crimes. Learn more at KNAU.org.