Curious kids: Interpreter and scientist team to create science-learning magic for kids

If you were recruiting an ambassador to get kids excited about science, you might not immediately think of the homely hagfish. Eel-shaped with tentacles and a protruding mouth, the primitive marine creature, which emits gooey slime to foil predators, presents a menacing appearance.

And yet, the unusual sea critter is wowing youngsters in the episode "Pez Bruja (Hagfish)" on Spotify and YouTube, through the Spanish-language podcast Camaleón: Animales para niños curiosas (Chameleon: Animals for Curious Children). The creative effort features the volunteered expertise of Utah State University faculty members Elsa Pérez and Justin Jones.

Geared to children ages 3 to 10, Camaléon is a series of 20-minute podcasts about varied animals produced by Austin, Texas-based production company Cumbre Media and hosted by podcaster Gerwuin Riera. Each episode focuses on questions submitted by children and answered by zoo and university experts.

The Pez Bruja episode, featuring Pérez and Jones, was released in November 2025 and has garnered more than 8,700 plays, representing more than 3,000 hours of STEM engagement, along with 20,000 hours of listening by children and parents in multiple countries.

"This is great news—we're glad our episode is resonating with listeners," says Pérez, assistant professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures and co-director of the translation and interpretation studies degree program. "The producers told us it has been one of their most popular episodes."

Pérez teamed with Jones, associate professor in the Department of Biology, at the suggestion of the USU Office of Research, which was approached by Cumbre Media.

Jones, who is director of USU's Spider Silk Laboratory on Innovation Campus, studies hagfish intermediate filament proteins for their potential in creating novel biomaterials for varied applications in medicine, manufacturing, materials science and defense.

"I was excited by the chance to share real science through storytelling in a way that's accessible and engaging for kids," Jones says. "The hagfish is such a strange and fascinating organism that it naturally sparks curiosity, making it an ideal gateway into biology beyond the classroom."

That gateway originated from actual questions from children in Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, the United States and other countries, submitted to Camaléon producers. Jones wrote responses, which he shared with Pérez for translation and interpretation.

The process, Pérez says, meant not only learning about the unique characteristics of hagfish from Jones and translating them to Spanish, but expressing the information in a way that was engaging and accessible for young children.

"I carefully chose words children would understand and use themselves," she says. "The podcast is driven by the children's questions, so it was important to focus on the knowledge they were seeking."

The name of the creature itself, Pez Bruja, evoked some trepidation about the animal.

"Bruja means 'witch' in Spanish and several children described the creature as 'scary, magical and ugly' in their questions," Pérez says. "But that was an opportunity to explore the animal and dispel some myths."

For example, the children learned that by feeding on dead marine creatures—which sounds creepy, at first—hagfish perform a vital ecological service by functioning, essentially, as oceanic garbage disposals.

"From there, I described how hagfish are being studied in Justin's lab to produce products that will help people and make their lives better," Pérez says. "The process of making scientific knowledge fun and exciting for children was very rewarding."

Jones applauds the opportunity to communicate science in more than one language.

"Science should be accessible to everyone, and language should never be a barrier to curiosity and learning," he says. "It was genuinely fun and refreshing to step outside the traditional academic space. Working with Elsa and the Camaléon team was a great experience. I was surprised how creative the process was and how effective storytelling can be for communicating science."

Jones says that working with young children is especially meaningful to him.

"Younger kids are still forming how they view science," he says. "At that stage, small moments can have a big impact. Engaging them early gives us the chance to plant seeds of curiosity that can grow over time."

Pérez says she was inspired by the multidisciplinary effort.

"It opened my eyes to all the amazing knowledge, research and talent we have within the College of Arts and Sciences," she says. "It showed me what amazing things we can accomplish when we unite in a common goal to serve the greater community."

Provided by Utah State University