Dr. Tom Jackson

"This [Humboldt County] is actually one of the most challenging environments to forecast the weather," says Troy Nicolini, the meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service on Woodley Island. On this episode of Talk Humboldt, Nicolini explores the local climate conditions and the complexities of weather forecasting on the North Coast.

In February of 2020, Food for People, Humboldt county’s food bank, suffered from a sewage flood that wreaked havoc on their facility. But in classic Humboldt fashion, the non-profit turned a challenge into opportunity.

Fire poles and ladder trucks are quintessential to how most people think of fire stations, and Humboldt Bay Fire Station is no exception. But it turns out that Humboldt Bay Fire does much more than just firefighting. In fact, it's not even their most common service. "Our primary responses are medical, so emergency medical services are about 60% of our calls. Fires only account for about 4%," says Chief Sean Robertson.In today's episode of Talk Humboldt with Keith & Tom, Chief Sean Robertson talks about "enhanced moments", his very first fire, and the truth about rescuing cats from trees.

Looking across a pastoral lot in McKinleyville, Mary Keehn points to a family of deer. "Wait 'til we walk a little further to the farm, then you'll be able to see why this is such a special spot." By next year, she hopes, the edges of this 17-acre lot will be an intentional community for neurodivergent people and their caregivers.

Election results. Birth certificates. Property deeds. Marriage licenses. Juan Pablo Cervantes has the kind of job that simultaneously undergirds democracy, family history, and property ownership - all through the boring-but-important power of paperwork. He's Humboldt County's Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters, "a title so long, it has punctuation in it," he says. "It's one of those offices that few people know about unless something goes wrong."

If an adoptee is curious about their biological parents, or the Humboldt County coroner needs help finding next of kin, professional genealogists like can scour available information to piece together a family's history. "If I can get on someone's Facebook ... I can find your entire family tree," says Alyssa Ellis.A person's digital footprint is just one piece of the puzzle. Public records, DNA, and other proprietary databases can help forensic genealogists with cold cases, finding heirs, or simply helping someone find out where they came from. For Ellis, what started as a hobby has led her to tracking down someone's biological family, working with Tulsa's 1921 Graves Project, and probate attorneys find who they're looking for.

For better and worse, the North Coast is in earthquake country. While shifting tectonic plates define the epic contours of Humboldt's landscape, their seismological side effects pose a major threat to life and infrastructure. "We do live in earthquake country," says Jay Patton of the California Geological Survey. "And the really cool thing is that a little bit of knowledge goes a long ways in terms of helping yourself be more safe and resilient."On this episode, Patton talks about local tsunami maps, early-warning technologies, and what people living on shaky ground can do to be prepared.

"It's really an amazing thing," says Holly MacDonell of the Eureka Symphony. "There are 45 or 60 people on stage and we're going to get all worked up and excited. I get emotional about it."The Eureka Symphony features a cross-section of musicians from across the greater Humboldt Bay area, staging concerts for the general public as well as local schoolkids. In this episode of Talk Humboldt, MacDonell talks about the live concert experience, how the Eureka symphony is managed, and how Twitch streaming helped get her through the COVID lockdown.

Humboldt has plenty of creeks, streams, and drainages. And every time you drive over one, someone had to figure out how to get the water past it so that the road you're on stays put.In this episode, Llanos tells Keith Flamer and Tom Jackson about why some solutions seem shortsighted in hindsight, restoring a fish habitat in the Eel River watershed, and how to get kids intersted in engineering.

Between rehabilitating California Condors and building the Redwood Skywalk, the Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation stays busy. "We do a lot of fun stuff, dreaming big, creating new things, and maintaining those things," says Ashley Osia, who is the zoo's Director of Community Engagement.