A Meeting of Nature Nerds: The Friendship Behind the Podcast

In this episode of Wildly Curious (formerly For the Love of Nature), co-host Laura Fawks Lapole takes a trip down memory lane, sharing the story of her friendship with Katy Reiss and how it led to the creation of the podcast. From their first meeting at Malone University to working together at the Little Rock Zoo, Laura recounts the hilarious moments, inside jokes, and shared experiences that shaped their journey. If you’ve ever wondered about the behind-the-scenes of Wildly Curious, this episode offers a glimpse into the dynamic duo that brings nature and humor together.

Perfect for longtime listeners curious about the origins of the show and anyone who loves hearing the story behind great friendships.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to For the Love of Nature, a podcast where we tell you everything you want to know about nature and probably more than you wanted to know. I'm Laura, and tonight, there is no Katy. Since Katy's been out of town with family, and I've been drowning in schoolwork, adult responsibilities, and baby's not, we decided to give ourselves a break and do our own mini-show this week.

So for those of you that have been listening to this podcast from the beginning, you've heard bits and pieces of Katy and I's journey as friends of the years. By now, you've probably realized that we are a couple of odd ducks, though we usually relish the weird and wacky things that we get into or fall into. I wanted to highlight a couple of our moments together so you can get to know us and understand our friendship a little bit better.

Here we go. Katy and I's journey starts at Malone College, now Malone University, in 2008 when we met on a canoeing trip. So when I went to Malone as an undergrad in 2008, Katy had already been there for a year since she's a year older than me.

And she was one of the leaders of the outdoor club. And so as an incoming freshman, we had the opportunity to sign up for some things before the school year even started, like the week before classes. And so I had signed up to do this outdoor canoeing adventure.

I didn't know anyone going on it, but I was like, hey, these are probably my people. I wanted to be outdoors and do some cool stuff. Katy and a whole bunch of other students went along and we went canoeing in Western Pennsylvania, which wasn't too far from school.

And it was quite the adventure. We got to meet one another, do some camping, navigate the relationships we were making between one another. And so that was my first experience with Katy, and I was like, oh, she's probably pretty cool being a leader in this group and everything.

But we didn't really become instantly friends then, but we knew we'd be running into one another since we were in the same major, which was Zoo Biology. So once classes had started, I had tested out of my undergraduate beginner biology courses. So I jumped directly into the sophomore level classes.

So I joined in with Katy and all the students in her grade level. And thankfully, Katy, being the cool person she was, allowed me to join her and her circle of friends, both in classes and outside of classes. And that's really how the friendship started.

We spent a lot of time together in class and outside of class, although the time spent outside of class was a lot of studying and getting ready for classes and things. We did hang out and watch movies and sometimes go on hikes together. I remember one time we went to a really fun corn maze with friends.

We agonized over the evils of math and chemistry and studying for tests, things like that. Speaking of classes, we bonded a lot in herpetology and ornithology. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians, and ornithology is the study of birds.

So Katy and I were in those classes together, and we had both lectures and labs. And the labs were by far the best part because they were just trips to go look at those things in a practical sense. So herpetology was just tramping off into the woods with our professor and classmates flipping over rocks and logs, hoping to find cool salamanders or snakes and things like that.

So that was super, super fun. Ornithology was also really fun in a very different way. The professor is a very different person.

When we went on lots of van trips, just driving around, trying to find cool places to go birding, I'll never forget. It was a class that I can't remember if it was like the fall semester, so it would be the end of the semester when it was winter, or if it was a spring semester, which is what I think that it was, and it started in the winter. But going to school in Ohio, not that far from Lake Erie, there was a lot of snow and ice and being cold, and we went up to Lake Erie to go look at ducks, because honestly, that was what seemed like the only bird around, at least when we started these labs.

We drove up to Lake Erie, and Katy and I were sitting in the back of this 15-passenger van, and the professor is backing into this parking spot, and we're looking out the back window as Lake Erie slowly approaches, and we're like, whoa, and that was the day that we thought we were all going to drown in Lake Erie, because our professor was just gonna back us right in. And another time we were driving and all chit-chatting, occasionally looking out the window, but there was really nothing going around. So this must have been spring semester because of this story.

When all of a sudden, the professor slams on the brakes and all of us fly out of our seats, and we're all like, what, what, what, expecting to see something crazy, like a great horned owl riding on the back of a bald eagle. But no, our professor said, it's the first robin of spring. And we're all like, that was probably my first interaction with a zealous birder, shall we say.

But no, it was so much fun, and we really did love the professor. And Katy and I even went after the semester was over, after school was over, and we hung around for an extra week or two. And we went with that professor and his daughter up to McGee Marsh, which is up by Sandusk in Ohio.

And it's a point where, it's one of the shortest points in the Great Lakes. So the migrating birds can easily hop from Ohio to Canada without having to cross very much water. And it's like a funnel for warblers.

It was incredible. We went and it was like jewels everywhere in the trees. Totally nerding out over all of these birds.

Such a fun, cool experience. So that was college, the place where we found each other and also so much net. Well, so we parted ways there.

We checked in with each other over the next several years. And fast forward a few, and we have a new conversation about coming down to Little Rock. Honestly, can't remember which came first.

If I said something like, I'm looking for a job or Katy was like, oh, hey, I think I have one for you. But basically was like, hey, if you wanna come down here to the Little Rock Zoo, there's a position here if you're interested. And it was gonna be more money and more hours than what I was currently making.

And it's not like I didn't, you know, I knew Katy. And I was like, all right, cool. This sounds like a great adventure.

And so I came on down. So that's how we ended up working together at the Little Rock Zoo. And no joke, guys, my first week there was, to say the least, I had never been that far west in my life, and I had never lived in the south.

And I mean, I had traveled a little bit in the south, like in Tennessee, and like one time we went down to Florida, but you know, nothing extensive. So when I went there, it was an awareness week at the zoo. So at the zoo, or at lots of different zoos, they do awareness days or awareness weeks that brings attention to some specific species or grouping of animals.

And it was bear week at the zoo. So we had set up like this area with bear biofacts, like skins, pelts, skulls, things like that. And we just had to man that area, answer questions, and just do some interpretation, you know, just standing there.

This is literally like my first or second day. And I'm just being introduced to the people of Arkansas. And I am trying so hard to keep a straight face at the accents, because everyone has very different accents in Little Rock.

Some people have no accent at all, and then some people have a really thick accent. And so I'll never forget, this one little boy came up to the table, and you know, he was touching the bear fur, and they're about to leave the table, and his mom nudges him, because he hadn't said anything. So she nudges him hard.

And looks at him and us expectantly. And the little boy who is wearing, you know, he's little, and he's wearing those cute little strap-on glasses. And he goes, thank you for letting me touch your bear pilt.

And I almost lost it right there, thankfully. I think I lost it right after he left. But Katy and I are both laughing, and Katy's like, you gotta hold it together, because you know, this is gonna be constant.

And I was just like, but he's so cute. And so that was kind of, you know, our first week. There was a lot of other weirdness of Bear Week, which I'm sure we'll mention again in the future.

But you know, it was just constant jokes and laughing there. It was an incredibly stressful job in some ways, because there's a lot to do with not a lot of people to do it. You know, we had just a lot of different hats to wear, and accreditation concerns, and all sorts of things.

But being the friends that we are, and the people that we are with our personalities, we made it really fun. And I, to this day, every job that I've ever worked that has been stressful, that's where I've made some of the longest lasting friendships, and this was no exception. Katy and I had an office, or a trailer, behind the education building, and it was where just the two of us were until some new staff joined us later.

But at the beginning, it was just the two of us. We had our computers back there, and we had the graphics machine back there, and we just did a lot of collaboration and a lot of brainstorming. And that's kind of where you'll see, when Katy and I are talking, and when we plan these episodes, and when we find our topics, and just the way we talk with one another, it's no different than if you just overheard a normal conversation with us.

So we're definitely like idea people. We're really good at collaboration. So Katy might be like, okay, we need to think of a program.

Here's the topic. And then I'll be like, okay, well, what about this? And then she'll say, you know, yay or nay, or be like, okay, yes, and, and then I'll be like, okay, great, also.

And so we just kind of build and feed off one another's excitement. And that's how it would be whenever we planned anything. So our events, our programs, our signage even was just always, okay, cool, but can it be better or can it be bigger or can it be more exciting?

We had just had a lot of fun with our jobs because essentially that's what educators are, just, you know, guides to having fun. So when we weren't working, like on our lunch breaks, we had games and movie times or jam sessions where you just play instruments, play around with auto tune, watch some movies on the laptop, have like board game times where the other educators or education keepers come and join us, sometimes even workout sessions. So, you know, when we were off the clock, we hung out together, and then when we were on the clock, we were working and laughing.

Sometimes we would laugh until we were in tears. Not surprising, you know, you guys, if anybody has listened to our previous episodes, that happens a lot. I'm pretty quick to laugh, and Katy is too, and I'm pretty easy to get started.

So, for example, one time, I don't even know what she did, but I was making a phone call to somebody, like someone who had called the office, and I need to return their phone call. I don't know what it was about some kind of program. And she did something ridiculous, literally, as the phone is ringing.

And I had two choices. My choices were, let it keep ringing, and get it together, or hang up the phone, okay? And I took option C, which was to not hang up the phone and not get it together.

So, thank goodness, they didn't answer the phone in person. So I am, like, desperately trying to hold it together. Katy's literally covering her mouth to try and help me stop laughing.

And the message machine comes on, and I'm leaving a message, and my voice is like, because I'm trying so hard not to laugh, thank you, I'm just returning your call. And I got through it and immediately hung up. I was like, I have no idea what that person ever thought.

I don't even know if they ever called back, but it was absolutely ridiculous. And another time that something very similar happened was Katy and I, we had to write this, we'd write this giant program every year, which was basically an auditorium show for our staff and using the birds of prey. And every year it was big and crazy, and we tried to do different themes.

And so one year that Katy and I did it together, because the first year she was on maternity, we wrote this skit with Jake the puppet, because we were talking about what our talents were. And I don't know how it came up, but Katy was like, well, I used to do puppeteering, because of course she did. So we wrote in a puppet, who was the main character of this entire skit.

So Katy's under this box, you know, manning Jake, and I'm under the box too, because I'm the narrator. So you don't see me the entire time during this show either. So Jake's just up there, interacting with our educators and things.

So we do this for a whole week, and then we have a culminating performance at the resort that hired us, the state park. So it's been a long week. We're all tired, pretty slap happy, last performance.

We've done this like at least, oh, I don't know, 15 times, it feels like. Maybe not that many, but close. So one of the educators up top says something to Jake, and Jake, AKA Katy, reacts in such a funny way.

I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish, I remembered what Jake said. But it was just something so matter of fact, like, oh, really? And it sounded so funny.

And, you know, the audience is laughing. I'm cracking up underneath. I don't know why it hit me so funny.

I think I must have been tired. But I could also hear the educator outside the box, like pause, and also try not to laugh, which set me off even more. And then it's about to be my line.

Katy is like, Laura, Laura, you know, under her breath. I am shaking, I am tears are running out my eyes. I am trying so hard to get it together.

I just can't, every time I think about getting serious, I just keep laughing. And so the narrator's voice comes out all shaky, like it did on that phone message, where it was something like, oh, yes, Jake, just shaky. Oh my gosh, dead, just dead.

So yeah, that, I mean, experiences like that kind of sum up our working relationship with one another. Lots of laughs, although lots of mistakes, blunders, stress, but thank goodness we made it through. Usually with a smile, or at least, you know, we knew we had each other's backs, we knew we could make each other laugh, and we knew we were doing good work that we could be proud of.

One last story from Little Rock is not that long before both of us left. The South doesn't have, well, at least in Arkansas, there was like no ice cream places, and Katy and I, who are both from Pennsylvania, there's ice cream places everywhere, because this is dairy country. So going to a place where there was like no dairy queens was unheard of.

There was Sonic everywhere. You couldn't hit throw a rock without hitting a Sonic. But ice cream places like Dairy Queen, no.

Well, finally, I think it was like around the new year, Dairy Queen was being built in Little Rock, and they had a promotion that if you were like one of the first 50 people to buy a Blizzard cake, you would get a Blizzard card where basically you got one free mini Blizzard a week for a year. And I was like, oh, heck yes. So I talked Katy into going halfsies with me.

So she gave me half the money for the cake. I stood in line for like two hours to get this cake so that we could get the card. And so we had joint custody of a Dairy Queen Blizzard card that we passed back and forth for at least six months until we both left and then we passed it on to a coworker.

Yup, Dairy Queen joint custody, co-parents of blizzards. So yeah, then we both left Little Rock, did our own thing again for a couple of years, and then fast forward to 2020, when we're all looking for something to help get us through day to day, we started talking a lot more. And of course, even when we were still working in Little Rock, we were like, you know what?

We're pretty funny. And hardly people told us that we were. And we were like, you know, we should have a podcast.

I think people would listen to us talk. And, you know, but it was all just talk. And finally, though, in 2020, we've got brought up again.

We're like, you know what? We should have a podcast. And now we actually have time for it.

And then I was like, you know what? Seriously, though, Katy, I would do it. Like, I'll do it if you want to do it.

And usually, Katy is the hype person. That's her role in all of this. Katy comes up with the crazy plans, and I'm just like jumping on that crazy Katy train and helping keep the hype going.

But this time, it wasn't my idea, but I was like, yes, let's do it. And that's all she wrote. You know, we've been doing this.

We're now on, this is episode 77. We have been podcasting through a pandemic, through hard times in both of our lives, Katy's divorce and moving, me having a baby, which is, of course, wonderful, but also very hard, and grad school, both having full-time jobs, both having lots of other things in life, but really enjoying it. We've stuck with it for almost two years now, which is crazy.

And we hope that, you know, you've enjoyed it, and hopefully that this episode hasn't totally been a snooze fest for you. I know it's not super related to nature, but it's about Katy and I, and we hope that this eclectic episode has given you just a little more insight into Katy and I's friendship. Many of our listeners have commented on our great rapport with one another, and I think it's because of our shared history and our quirky nerdy selves.

And in general, our hope is that you, our listeners, feel that you are part of our community too. You know, we've said it before, the nature nerd nation, n-n-n. So we always welcome you to have a laugh with us as we explore the many wonders nature has to offer.

So to engage with us more and our community, chat with us on Twitter, F-T-L-O-N, and share an episode of ours with one of your close friends. That's all for this week. Thanks for listening and talk to you next week.