This week on The Naturalist Bernie and Carol take us into the world of insects, arthropods, bugs, bats and more. Then keep tuned for an engaging discussion about the bacterial ecosystems that live inside us that help keep us healthy and our bodies functioning properly. This episode is sponsored by Cain Vineyard and Winery.

This week Erica spoke to Chef Mike Schwartz of BAO Kombucha. Mike spoke on the mystical and symbiotic relationship between bacteria and yeast (or, as they refer to it, SCOBY) to make this delicious fermented treat.

This week Cutting the Curd gets gets cut down to size, or rather gets shrunk, with the help of microbiologist Rachel Dutton who is a fellow at FAS Center of Systems Biology. There she is putting cheese under the microscope and using the simplified, experimentally tractable microbial ecosystems found growing on the surface of cheeses as models for the behavior of microbes in complex communities. These communities, and their rich assembly of metabolic capacities, contribute much of the diversity in flavors, smells, and textures of the hundreds of different varieties of cheeses. But don't worry if this all sounds over your head Anne Saxelby is there to guide you through world of cheese big and small. This episode is sponsored by Fairway Market.