When humans hunkered down to battle COVID-19 and all our activities came to a crawl, nature never stopped. In many cases, it even welcomed our absence. "I was shocked and completely amazed at how many species changed their habitat use during the pandemic," says ecologist Nicola Koper at the University of Manitoba. She found remarkable new evidence that when humanity hit pause, nature seized the moment. Cities around the world saw their bluest skies in years, sea turtles had their most successful nesting season in decades and, in the quiet of lockdown, birds changed where they fly and how they sing.  Nature's Big Year follows scientists as they explore lockdown's unique and unexpected research opportunities. They share what they learned from the most dramatic unplanned experiment in modern history, and how they rose to the challenge. Original broadcast: November 12, 2021.

From the Curio.ca streaming audio-visual collection.