In this episode of the Root & STEM podcast, B.C. based writer Sofia Osborne brings light to the mysterious sea star wasting syndrome that has been killing an alarming number of starfish along the west coast of North America since 2013. Sofia speaks to educator Robyn Quaintance about the effects of the disease (1:25), and the data collection effort she organized to better understand it (2:53). She also chats with Melissa Miner, a researcher from UC Santa Cruz about what causes the disease (6:57), and how the sea stars react to it.