#294 Rob Dunn: Never Home Alone; The Species We Live With
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 4th, 2019.
Dr. Robert Dunn is William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University. He is known for efforts to involve the public as citizen scientists in arthropod surveys and bacterial flora studies. His projects include studies of belly button biodiversity, mites that live on human faces, ants in backyards, and fungi and bacteria in houses. He’s the author of five books, his most recent one being Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live.
In this episode, we focus on Never Home Alone. We discuss how living in homes changed our dynamics with other species, particularly species of insects, bacteria and fungi, and how some of them adapted to the home environment. We talk about how some of them are neutral, others beneficial, and still others detrimental to our health, and also about the importance of being exposed to biodiversity. We also get into the effects that the most common pets (cats and dogs) might have on us. We discuss food processing, how our houses promote the development of harmful species, and, finally, how in the future we might be able to garden the microorganisms we need.
Time Links:
How we became “Homo indoorus”
Did homes change how we and other species evolved?
Species that are adapted to our homes
Are home species mostly beneficial or detrimental to our health?
The importance of biodiversity (the biodiversity hypothesis)
Examples of bacteria and insect species that have beneficial effects
Biodiversity in hospitals
How our pets (dogs and cats) might affect our health
How food processing alters its bacterial components
Places, materials and conditions in our homes that promote the growth of harmful microbes
Gardening the microorganism we need
Follow Dr. Dunn’s work!
Follow Dr. Dunn’s work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/2sFWQtb
Rob Dunn Lab: http://bit.ly/2LkcIZ6
ResearchGate profile: http://bit.ly/2ViJfCD
Books: http://bit.ly/2rTJLwd
Never Home Alone: https://amzn.to/2VgeVIE
Twitter handle: @RRobDunn