The hedgehogs of the sea: echinoids are spiky, spiny, pokey, be-toothed, venomous, mysterious, gorgeous evolutionary marvels. And Dr. Rich Mooi of the California Academy of Arts & Sciences is one of their biggest champions. Come stroll through the offices for a face-to-face encounter with this infectious expert. We talk sand dollars, uni, doves of peace, fire urchins, kelp forests, tiny hats, butt placement, foot eyes and how to find your niche, even if it’s miles below the surface on a rotting log. And bonus at the very very end: a chat about the practicalities of owning an electric vehicle with a few sci-comm up-and-comers.

Learn More About Dr. Rich Mooi

A donation went to California Academy of Sciences

Follow the California Academy of Arts and Science on Twitter

More episode sources and links

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Twitter Mentions