FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 2017-18 season of Short Talks from the Hill, a podcast from the University of Arkansas, starts today.

In the first offering, herpetologist J.D. Willson discusses the impact of invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades.

In the podcast, Willson describes some unsettling observations from a study, "[We] documented basically most mammals disappearing from where pythons have been established the longest and are most common. So, virtually complete disappearance of most middle-sized mammals. Things like rabbits, raccoons, opossums, even declines in things like deer and bobcats."

Find out more about these enormous snakes — some grow as long as 18 feet — how they reached Florida and what scientists are doing to address the problem at ResearchFrontiers.uark.edu, the home of research news at the University of Arkansas. Listeners can also find Short Talks From the Hill podcasts under the "Local & Podcast" link at KUAF.com.  

And tune in for new programming on the first of every month. This year's schedule includes

• English professor Davis McCombs reading poems from Lore, his recently published book
• Violin professor Er-Gene Kahng recreating the music of Arkansan Florence Price, the first black woman composer of major symphonies
• Archeology professor Jamie Brandon discussing an archeological dig at Leetown, a former hamlet within Pea Ridge National Military Park that served an important role during the two-day Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862; and many others.

Short Talks From the Hill highlights research and scholarly work at the University of Arkansas. Each segment features a university researcher discussing his or her work. For more information and additional podcasts, click on the Multimedia link at ResearchFrontiers.uark.edu.

Thank you for tuning in.