A mural can be more than just a pretty backdrop for the city streets. But when the mural is four or five stories tall and features the face of one of the area's native animals, it’s likely to make people stop and consider the species and their place in the town's environment. 🎨

Alexandrea Pangburn is a mural and animal art artist who has dedicated her career to creating massive murals of animals that people end up feeling protective of. 👩‍🎨

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Alexandrea shares with us her journey from Kentucky to Colorado, the influence of the Western landscape on her art career, and her unique style that includes realistic depictions of animals with retro 1970s color palettes and an understanding of the way sunlight plays on the animals’ coats. 🖼️

Alexandrea also shares the challenges of working outdoors in the heat and with the weather, her tools of choice, the differences between gallery art and mural art, and the various mural commission requests that she has received throughout the years. 🌱

Alexandrea shares how she captures the essence of her pet portraits by focusing on their eyes to depict their personalities and to release the emotions that come from the passing of these beloved companions. 🐶

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Nature is closer than we think 🌿

“I want people to be able to see the beauty and the details of the animals and plants that live among them.”

Alexandrea Pangburn, muralist and animal realism artist, shares how her work brings attention to the natural world around us.

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While managing spent fuel from current commercial reactors is a major concern for nuclear engineers today, one question remains about nuclear energy, SMRs, and next-gen reactors: where does spent fuel go long term? Rod Baltzer from Deep Isolation explores how spent fuel can be placed about a mile below the surface into deep boreholes using directional drilling techniques. ☢️

Spent fuel from commercial reactors is dangerous because of the radioactive decay of the nuclear material. While storing spent fuel is important, it is not the same as permanently disposing of it. Deep geological deposits and long-term safety of the spent fuel will keep the potential impact on the surface to a minimum. However, a significant portion of the population already lives near stored spent fuel nuclear waste. Yet, if spent fuel can be stored beneath ground where spent nuclear waste already exists, people’s perspective on the issue will change. ⚡

Discussing the technical details of this process, the discussion also covers the specifics of the canister that will contain the spent fuel. Furthermore, nuclear quality assurance will be essential for the transportation and storage of spent fuel. Finally, Baltzer discusses what an early commercial facility will look like and why the speed of SMRs and next-gen reactors could be the key to solving the issue of spent nuclear fuel waste. 🌎

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“Nuclear waste is handled and transported and stored very safely… but it is very radioactive.”

Rod Baltzer, CEO of Deep Isolation, explains why long-term storage still matters, and how his team is approaching it differently.

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A great photograph does not always start with an idea. Sometimes the physical 'yes' forms within the body when the light hits the subject just right. ☀️

We talk with photographer Janelle Lynch about her creative process in landscape photography, her more recent portraits, and her cyanotypes, made with a nineteenth-century cameraless technique. Janelle shares how she developed her love for the camera from her early experiences of being seen by others, why she avoids the word 'capture,' and how her images often emerge through a conversation with her subjects. We also get into her craft and the work that she does with her 8x10 view camera. 📸

Janelle draws inspiration from various sources and incorporates practices into her routine, such as yoga, proprioception, and perceptual drawing and painting with others. One of the visuals Janelle shares with us is an eight-minute exposure taken in near darkness, which leads to a discussion of what exists even when we cannot see it. 🍃

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“To have a meaningful connection with nature, you don’t have to go far.”

Photographer Janelle Lynch shares a perspective that finds nature where most people don’t think to look. 🍃📸

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