Podcasts about Mongabay

Roughly a billion people enjoy coffee daily, and more than 100 million people rely on it for income. However, the coffee industry is the sixth-largest driver of deforestation and is also rife with human rights abuses, including the labor of enslaved persons and children. But it doesn't have to be this way, says this guest on the Mongabay Newscast. Etelle Higonnet is the founder of the NGO Coffee Watch, having formerly served as a senior adviser at the U.S. National Wildlife Federation. The main commodity on her radar now is coffee. On this podcast episode, she explains how the industry can — and should — reform its practices. "It's so simple … pay a living [a] living income wage," she says, " and a lot of human rights violations will just dry up." To target deforestation, Higonnet says the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is "a beautiful law" that "simply put, would bar imports of coffee into the European Union if that coffee is tainted by deforestation or illegality. So, two things that are illegal off the top of my head are slavery and child labor." Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Please send questions, feedback or comments to podcast[at]mongabay[dot]com. Image Credit: A cup of coffee with beans and a teaspoon on a stump tabletop. Image by Anja (cocoparisiene) from Pixabay (Pixabay Content License). --- Timecodes (00:00) Coffee tied to slavery and deforestation (07:03) How we can stop it (12:36) Why are prices soaring? (19:25) How the EUDR can help (25:56) When will the EUDR come into effect? (29:40) Why the coffee supply chain is simple (33:54) What about certification schemes? (37:46) What coffee drinkers can do to act

Carlos Zorrilla has been living in an Ecuadorian cloud forest since the 1970s, and his last 30 years there have been spent fighting mining companies seeking to extract its large copper deposits. He and his community have successfully fought such proposals by multiple firms in one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, but sometimes at great personal risk, he tells Mongabay's podcast. While his organization, Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag (DECOIN), and allies in the local community notched a major victory against mining there in a 2023 court case, he explains they're still not out of the proverbial woods. "Every day, I have to think about mining [and] I'm not exaggerating, my life now revolves around mining. Even though we won a case, I know they're going to come back because the copper's there, and there's a lot of demand for copper." His advice to anyone who wants to protect their community from mining is to go on the offensive, early and aggressively, comparing the strategy to how one might view treating cancer. "You have to think of it like a cancer, that you need to treat it immediately and you need to look for signs that your body, in this case, your community, is sick,” Zorrilla says. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Please send questions, feedback or comments to podcast[at]mongabay[dot]com. Banner image: Carlos Zorrilla in the DECOIN office in Apuela, Ecuador. Photo by Romi Castagnino. ----- Timecodes (00:00) A victory for Intag Valley (07:19) The influence of ‘rights of nature' laws (09:57) The return of vulnerable fauna (15:56) Reprieve is only temporary (22:02) Mining companies omit important information (25:07) ‘How to stop' mining before it starts (30:52) “Every day, I have to think about mining”

Update on Spotify plays - remember that release? Plus they are making podcasts more prominent and a new following feed. New resource page on podcast artwork from Apple Podcasts for Creators, spammers creating bogus audio content about drugs. Woah. The new Weekly Top Podcast Shows chart on YouTube. And our stats section is all about an estimate of podcasts that get over 10,000 downloads per month. Audience feedback drives the show. We'd love for you to contact us and keep the conversation going! Email thefeed@libsyn.com, call 412-573-1934 or leave us a message on Speakpipe! We'd love to hear from you!

Five years since Kim Stanley Robinson's groundbreaking climate fiction novel, The Ministry for the Future, hit The New York Times bestseller list, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning writer shares reflections on themes explored in the book and how they apply directly to the world today.  The utopian novel set in a not-so-distant future depicts how humans address climate change and the biodiversity crisis, toppling oligarchic control of governments and addressing chronic inequality. Robinson explains how the novel works as  ”a kind of cognitive map of the way the world is going now, the way things work and the way things might be bettered. And also a sort of sense of hope or resiliency in the face of the reversals that will inevitably come along the way.“ In this conversation, he also explains how storytelling can help humans fight a “war of ideas” and speaks about challenging economic inequities with what he calls “postcapitalism.” Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. For general questions or comments, email us at podcasts[at]mongabay[dot]com. Image Credit: Screenshot of the book cover for ‘The Ministry for the Future' by Kim Stanley Robinson, published by Orbit. Cover art by Trevillion Images. Cover design by Lauren Panepinto. --- Timecodes (00:00) What Stan would change about the book today (07:56) We're all ‘in a sci-fi novel we're co-authoring together' (13:37) Challenging capitalism with ‘post-capitalism' (19:43) Is ‘Degrowth' part of the Ministry for the Future? (23:45) About Frank (27:24) The inspiration for Mary Murphy (30:34) The threat of ‘wet bulb' 35C temps (36:37) How to fight a ‘war of ideas' (42:21) You cannot kill the future (46:26) Before you read the book… (49:27) Looking to Antarctica

Update on Spotify plays - remember that release? Plus they are making podcasts more prominent and a new following feed. New resource page on podcast artwork from Apple Podcasts for Creators, spammers creating bogus audio content about drugs. Woah. The new Weekly Top Podcast Shows chart on YouTube. And our stats section is all about an estimate of podcasts that get over 10,000 downloads per month. Audience feedback drives the show. We'd love for you to contact us and keep the conversation going! Email thefeed@libsyn.com, call 412-573-1934 or leave us a message on Speakpipe! We'd love to hear from you!

Nearly half of the Republic of Congo's dense rainforests are protected under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) framework to receive climate finance payments, but Mongabay Africa staff writer Elodie Toto's recent investigation revealed the nation has also granted nearly 80 gold mining and exploration permits in areas covered by the project, driving deforestation and negatively impacting local people and wildlife. As the world scrambles for new sources of gold during these uncertain economic times, she joins the podcast to explain what her Pulitzer Center-supported reporting uncovered: "It was beyond words, if I may say. I could see people using excavators to uproot trees. I could see them washing the earth and it basically looked [like] a war zone," Toto says on this episode of the podcast. Toto is also part of Mongabay Africa's team producing a new French-language podcast, Planète Mongabay, and discusses how the program makes environmental news more accessible to audiences who often prefer to get their news via audio or video. Subscribe to or follow theMongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Cover image: An excavator digs for gold at the Alangong-Bamegod-Inès mining site in the Sangha. According to environmentalist Justin Chekoua, “nothing seems to be done” to preserve biodiversity at the site. Image by Elodie Toto for Mongabay. ---- Timecodes (00:00) Rainforest given over to gold mining (10:17) Curious connections & justifications (17:34) The law of the land (22:03) In plain sight (25:33) Planète Mongabay

Carlos Mallo Molina has been awarded the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize for protecting the marine biodiversity of Tenerife, the most populated of the Canary Islands. On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, Molina explains what led him to quit his job as a civil engineer on a road project impacting the Teno-Rasca marine protected area (MPA) and his subsequent campaign to stop the port project it was planned to connect to, which would have impacted the biodiversity of the area. His successful campaign contributed to the decision of the Canary Islands government to abandon the port plan.  Now, Molina and his nonprofit Innoceana are helping set up an environmental education center in its place. "I was going diving every weekend in my free time, and it was full of sea turtles, it was full of whales, it was full of marine life. And so, I think understanding how my impact was going to destroy [a] marine protected area … I think that was where I had my biggest click in my brain … I need to do something to change what I'm doing, in [a] way that I can protect this ocean," he says. Image Credit: Pinnacles of Fonsalía, Tenerife, Canary Islands. Photo by Innoceana. B-roll Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. --- Timecodes (00:00) From engineer to activist (05:31) The biodiversity of Teno-Rasca (06:58) Fighting for protection (12:13) Shutting the port down (16:29) A future of sustainable tourism? (21:02) Future projects (22:19) Carlos' connection to the ocean

A biotech company in the United States made headlines last month by revealing photos of genetically modified gray wolves, calling them “dire wolves,” a species that hasn't existed for more than 10,000 years. Colossal Biosciences edited 14 genes among millions of base pairs in gray wolf DNA to arrive at the pups that were shown, leaving millions of genetic differences between these wolves and real dire wolves. This hasn't stopped some observers from asserting to the public that “de-extinction” is real. But it's not, says podcast guest Dieter Hochuli, a professor at the Integrative Ecology Lab at the University of Sydney. Hochuli explains why ecologists like him say de-extinction isn't just a misleading term, but a dangerous one that promotes false hope and perverse incentives at the expense of existing conservation efforts that are proven to work. "The problem with the word de-extinction for many ecologists is that we see extinction [as] being an irreversible event that has finality about it, a bit like death. The idea that you can reverse those sorts of things is anathema, I think, biologically, but also philosophically and ethically," Hochuli says. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image Credit: Thylacines, female and male in the National Zoo Washington D.C. Mike DiGirolamo is a host & associate producer for Mongabay based in Sydney. He co-hosts and edits the Mongabay Newscast. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky. ------ Time codes (00:00) They aren't dire wolves (03:57) Why extinction is final (04:50) Ecological barriers to ‘de-extinction' (12:25) Problems with species reintroduction (20:25) How ‘de-extinction' can mislead (25:32) Is conservation a zero-sum game? (31:58) Can this technology truly aid conservation? (39:24) Is the marketing hype justified?

Biological oceanographer John Ryan joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss his team's multiyear study that examined vocalizations of baleen whales, including blue (Balaenoptera musculus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), and how this science is critical for understanding their feeding habits, and thus informing their conservation. The study found that these whales' songs rise and fall with their food supply, which provides valuable insights into how changing ocean conditions can affect their health and guide management measures. “Some of the research we did tracking the movement and ecology of blue whales helped our sanctuary [to] act on this long-term concern about ship strikes, and to join a program that is called Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies,” the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) researcher says. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Mongabay's East Africa editor, Ochieng' Ogodo. Read here about his life, legacy and achievements. Audio credit: Blue and humpback whale calls featured in this episode are courtesy of MBARI and John Ryan. Image credit: A humpback whale dips back beneath the surface of the ocean. Image courtesy of Cristina Mittermeier/SeaLegacy. ------- Timecodes (00:00) Marine heatwaves and their impact (06:33) Analyzing whale songs (12:30) A change in tune (20:13) Interspecies communication? (25:16) The reason behind the heat (27:36) Informing conservation (36:52) Credits

Brazil's Arariboia Indigenous Territory is a green island that spans more than 413,000 hectares (1.02 million acres) in a sea of deforestation. Though the territory is protected by law, it's become the site of incursions by loggers and cattle ranchers.In a five-year investigative series for the environmental news outlet Mongabay, reporter Karla Mendes exposed environmental crimes in Arariboia and other protected areas of the Amazon, including palm oil production, logging, and cattle ranching. She also investigated the murder of Paulo Paulino Guajajara, an indigenous Forest Guardian who was ambushed by loggers. He was one of more than 50 indigenous Guajajara individuals killed in the last 20 years. Mendes' reporting is helping to bring justice to these remote areas where impunity has been the norm.Her investigation was part of a Pulitzer Center Rainforest Investigations fellowship. She says as the climate changes, Brazilians are showing increased interest in journalism like hers that highlights the importance of protecting the rainforest. LEARN MORERead Karla Mendes' report: Revealed: Illegal cattle ranching booms in Arariboia territory during deadly year for Indigenous Guajajara.Learn more about the impact of the investigation.Watch a short documentary film about the Guardians of the Forest and the search for justice for Paulo Paulino Guajajara. ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.orgSupport our work Connect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleBluesky @makingpeacevisible.bsky.social We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!

I recently interviewed Paul Hawken for Mongabay and want to share the moving conversation with you here. Celebrated author, thinker and entrepreneur Paul Hawken joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss his new book, Carbon: The Book of Life. He argues that the jargon and fear-based terms broadly used by the climate movement alienate the broader public and fail to communicate the nuance and complexity of the larger ecological crises that humans are causing.In this wide-ranging discussion, Hawken explains that carbon — the fourth most abundant element in the universe, and a fundamental building block of life — is being maligned in a way that distracts from the root causes of ecological destruction in favor of technological solutions that are not viable at scale, or international agreements that prioritize carbon accounting.Jargon is useful for communication of concepts within the scientific community, but when applied to messaging for the general public, it fails to communicate the problems humans face effectively: “We have to create a climate movement that is actually the human movement. And the human movement is humans that are not separate and distinct from nature.”Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website.Planet: Critical is 100% independent and community-powered. If you value it, and have the means, become a paid subscriber today. Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

ʼn Nuwe studie het onthul dat Afrika se vinnige verstedeliking voëls se verskeidenheid bedreig. Navorsers gebruik burgerwetenskap-data van Keniaanse en Nigeriese projekte, wat inligting oor voëls karteer, om insig te kry oor hoe verstedeliking voëls, hul verskeidenheid en ekologiese funksies in hierdie nasies beïnvloed. Navorser Ashoka Mukpo het op die Mongabay-podsending gesê stede se grootte sal na verwagting teen 2030 verdriedubbel, en die moontlike uitwerking daarvan op voëls en biodiversiteit is veral kommerwekkend:

Two decades ago a group of NGOs came together with the government of Kazakhstan to save the dwindling population of saiga antelope living in the enormous Golden Steppe. Since then, the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative has successfully rehabilitated the saiga (Saiga tatarica) from a population of roughly 30,000 to nearly 4 million. For this effort, it was awarded the 2024 Earthshot Prize in the “protect & restore nature” category. Joining the podcast to discuss this achievement is Vera Voronova, executive director of the Association for the Conservation Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, an NGO involved in the initiative. Voronova details the cultural and technological methods used to bring the saiga back from the brink and to help restore this massive grassland ecosystem. “When [the] initiative [was] started, the saiga would be always like the flagship and the priority species because we did have this emergency case to recover saiga,” she says. “But the whole … picture of restoring the [steppe] was always behind this, and will be now a long term strategy.” Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image credit: Saiga calf. Photo by Kibatov Arman/ACBK. -------- Timecodes (00:00) Saving the saiga antelope (07:13) The Golden Steppe is massive (13:00) Using conservation technology (17:07) Incorporating local knowledge (20:56) Wild horses and agriculture (26:40) Community connection (29:37) Credits

Media outlets are downsizing newsrooms and the audience for traditional news is in decline, but Mongabay continues to grow thanks to its impact-driven, nonprofit model. Mongabay's director of philanthropy, Dave Martin, joins the podcast this week to explain the philosophy behind Mongabay's fundraising efforts, why the nonprofit model is essential for impact-driven reporting, and how the organization ensures editorial independence. " Those who fund us and read us, they're really expecting real-world impact and high-quality journalism. So, people are coming back to Mongabay because they're interested in what we're reporting on. There's a really high level of quality that is informing their decisions," he says. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Dave can be reached at dave@mongabay.com or on LinkedIn. Image Credit: Galapagos tortoise, Ecuador. Photo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay. ----- Timecodes (00:00) Dave's story (08:50) Why nonprofit news creates impact (15:08) Funding and ethical considerations (23:27) Explaining trust-based philanthropy (29:10) Reflections on the Los Angeles wildfires (32:19) Dave's favorite animals

Renowned author, activist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss his new book, Carbon: The Book of Life, and argues that the jargon and fear-based terms broadly used by the climate movement alienate the broader public and fail to communicate the nuance and complexity of the larger ecological crises that humans are causing. Instead, Hawken argues that real change begins in, and is propelled by, communities: "Community is the source of change, and what we have [are] obviously systems that are destroying community everywhere." The tile of Hawken's book, carbon, is also the fourth most abundant element in the universe, and a fundamental building block of life. He argues it is being maligned in a way that distracts from the root causes of ecological destruction in favor of technological solutions that are not viable at scale, or international agreements that prioritize carbon accounting. Subscribe to or follow theMongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image credit: A photograph of Paul Hawken, environmental activist and author. Image courtesy of Paul Hawken. ------- Timestamps (00:00) Language in the climate movement (18:10) What is a ‘nounism'? (23:45) Leadership is ‘listening to all voices' (33:49) Community drives change (40:24) Why does carbon get a bad rap? (50:01) Normalizing the conversation around climate (54:22) ‘Decentering' the Global North (59:19) Humans are not ‘alpha'

The Australian government recently shelved key environmental protection commitments indefinitely, including the establishment of an environmental protection agency, and a robust accounting of the nation's ecological health via an environmental information authority. The latest suspension was announced by the Prime Minister just ahead of a federal election. Australia initially proposed these “nature positive”  reforms in 2022 and hosted the first Global Nature Positive Summit in 2024 to great fanfare, but has not implemented any substantial domestic legislation to overhaul its old environmental laws. Joining the podcast to explain this situation is Adam Morton, the environment editor at The Guardian Australia. In this podcast conversation, Morton details what the Australian government promised, what it reneged on, the potential global influence of its backtracking, and why the nation's environment will continue to degrade without intervention.  "I think that the message internationally from this term in parliament has been that the resources sector is winning, and environmental protection is losing out. Now, that's a very simple dichotomy, and it doesn't have to be one or the other, but on every front at the moment, that's how it feels in Australia. That applies to fossil fuel extraction. It applies to native forestry [and] logging, which still continues in a significant amount," Morton says. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image Credit: A koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in Queensland, Australia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. ----- Timecodes (00:00) Australia breaks a key promise (07:30) What does 'Nature Positive' mean? (16:39) Koala protection sidelined (20:53) How to 'right' the 'wrongs' (28:30) Credits

Recent and major shifts in international environmental policies and programs have historical precedent, but the context of global environmental degradation and climate change presents a planetary risk that's new, say Sunil Amrith. A professor of history at Yale University, he joins this week's Mongabay Newscast to discuss the current political moment and what history can teach us about it. " When we look at examples from the past, [societies' ecological impacts] have tended to be confined to a particular region, to those states, and perhaps to their neighbors. Because of where we are in terms of anthropogenic warming [and] planetary boundaries, I think the scale of any risk, the scale of any potential crossing over into irreversible thresholds, is going to have impact on a scale that I'm not sure historical precedents would give us much insight into," he says. Amrith is the author of The Burning Earth: A History, which examines the past 500 years of human history, colonization and empire, and the impact of these on ecological systems. In this conversation, he details some historical parallels, what lessons can be learned, and what periods of history resulted in the most peace and prosperity. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image credit: Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay. ------ Timecodes (00:00) Historical parallels to the current moment (09:43) The context of ‘planetary risk' (20:36) Lessons from history (26:10) Credits

A new framework for considering the needs of the “more-than-human world” when designing human-made systems is “ecological empathy,” the focus of Lauren Lambert, founder of Future Now, a sustainability consulting firm. Her research, Ecological empathy: Relational theory and practice, was published in the journal Ecosystems and People in late 2024, when she was at Arizona State University. She joins the podcast to detail the concept and its potential for reconnecting humans with nature for mutual benefit. "Ecological empathy as I define it [is] essentially a framework of practice for how to use empathy as a guide to connect to the more-than-human world, and integrate our interdependence and relationships with the more-than-human world in everyday thinking, everyday practice, and specifically in the places where we work," she says. Previous newscast guests like Carl Safina, argued for overhauling how humans raise and farm seafood. Ben Goldfarb discussed how road crossings can help humans move toward a less environmentally damaging road infrastructure network in his award-winning book Crossings, which documents what he calls “road ecology.” Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image Credit: A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) in Indonesian New Guinea. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. ---- Timecodes (00:00) What is ‘ecological empathy'? (10:50) The limits of feelings (15:38) The theory of change (21:22) How do you apply it? (33:29) Real-world examples (44:29) What empathy is and isn't (52:30) Credits

Loss is something we all experience and I think if you ask the average person about loss, you may get an answer about missing someone who was very special to them, and is no longer here, but loss can take on so much more meaning; it can be loss of an opportunity, loss of an existing relationship, because that relationship has shifted or no longer exists in its original construct; it can be loss of abilities or faculties, Loss simply means no longer having something or having less of it than before; Oftentimes, we need to process that loss and hopefully with time, the pain or the sadness lessens and sometimes, the process of a loss turns into action to prevent further losses. When you meet my guest today, loss took on an incredible meaning in his life; potential and actual loss of nature and natural habitats that forced indigenous people and animals to find other ways to survive, loss of preserving indigenous peoples' villages, loss of clean water for some, loss of environments that had been functioning well for generations, but due to deforestation and frankly greed or ignorance, those places are no longer what they once had been. Imagine being a little boy where your playground is the curiosity of cultures and environments and where your day's goal is to explore every indigenous reptile, spider, and furry animal that comes across your path. My guest today was fortunate enough to have a mother as a travel agent planning exotic vacations, and a father who had a huge number of airline miles, giving my guest and his sister the opportunity to travel to less known places that set the stage for his future professional and, I think, personal journey. Some people are driven by threats - my guest is driven by the threat of loss of the most amazing ecosystems in our global environment; initially wishing to raise awareness about tropical rainforests by publishing his book on line, he established Mongabay in 1999 - the name is also an iteration of a place he loves in Madagascar which he can share with you in a moment. Mongabay has been going strong since its inception in 1999 as a vehicle to raise awareness of and interest in wildlife and wild lands; 25 years later, it has continued to gather momentum and has evolved from a website hosting his book, specific to rainforests with the aim of raising awareness to spark action in preserving these amazing ecosystems, to a comprehensive platform covering a wide range of environmental topics far beyond tropical forests. Mongabay is a nonprofit media platform with more than 90 staff across five bureaus and a network of approximately 1,000 correspondents in 80 countries, producing original reporting in five languages, and is read by millions of people a month. Mongabay pursues stories ranging from conventional news articles to deeply-reported investigative projects. One key goal of Mongabay is to increase transparency through targeted journalism which then influences change by driving greater accountability and supporting an enabling environment for a wide range of actors, from nongovernmental organizations to local communities to green entrepreneurs to take action.  I'd call this driven, initially driven by loss and now driven by the impact Mongabay has surely had. Mongabay draws its inspiration from a global moral code and truly honors nature. Words cannot express my personal awe for Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay -  Rhett and his global team have forced the revision of laws to protect these environments and manage the global greed for resources that frankly belong to the indigenous people who could then have a sustainable existence by benefitting from these resources. For more information, please check out their website: www.mongabay.org  

Middle and working-class citizens in nations across the globe are feeling their purchasing power diminish while billionaires hoard historically high levels of wealth. People are looking for economic solutions out of the inequity that are in line with their ecological values and planetary boundaries. "People are really hungry for solutions [and] really hungry to find alternatives," says Alvaro Alvarez, the documentary  filmmaker of the new BBC documentary Less Is More: Can Degrowth Save the World? Alvarez joins Mongabay's podcast to detail real-life solutions using the concepts behind “degrowth” in the city of Barcelona, which he highlights in the film and which have garnered widespread interest. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Listen to a previous conversation on degrowth on the Mongabay Newscast here. Image Credit: La Brugera de Púbol, a sustainable living and educational eco-estate roughly 2 hours from the city of Barcelona operated by Mike Duff. Image courtesy of Alvaro Alvarez. ----- Timecodes (00:00) Degrowth momentum in Barcelona (06:26) Degrowth and housing cooperatives (09:01) Growing international support (13:06) Challenges and criticisms of degrowth (24:51) Degrowth and global inequality (32:42) Green gentrification (39:03) Challenging the ‘wealth=success' narrative (42:24) Keeping inside the planetary boundaries

This month's guests:Art Hushen, founder of the National Institute of Crime Prevention.Jeff Schmalz, founder of r/DarkSky.Spencer SooHoo, Los Angeles Astronomical Society Secretary and Dark Sky Advocate.Bill's News Picks:Streetlight upgrade to help protect dark skies, Richard Edwards, BBC.The War Against Headlight Brightness, Nate Rogers, The Ringer.Atlantic puffins are perilously attracted to artificial light, new study shows, Spoorthy Raman, Mongabay. Nocturnal camouflage through background matching against moonlight, PNASNational Park visitors perceive benefits for themselves and wildlife under blended red-white outdoor lighting, Scientific Reports. Subscribe:Apple PodcastSpotifyYoutubeTag Us and Share with a Friend:InstagramLinkedInTikTokFacebookConnect:Bill@LightPollutionNews.comJoin our Mailing ListSend Feedback Text to the Show!Support the showA hearty thank you to all of our paid supporters out there. You make this show possible. For only the cost of one coffee each month you can help us to continue to grow. That's $3 a month. If you like what we're doing, if you think this adds value in any way, why not say thank you by becoming a supporter! Why Support Light Pollution News? Receive quarterly invite to join as live audience member for recordings with special Q&A session post recording with guests. Receive all of the news for that month via a special Supporter monthly mailer. Satisfaction that your support helps further critical discourse on this topic. About Light Pollution News: The path to sustainable starry night solutions begin with being a more informed you. Light Pollution, once thought to be solely detrimental to astronomers, has proven to be an impactful issue across many disciplines of society including ecology, crime, technology, health, and much more! But not all is lost! There are simple solutions that provide for big impacts. Each month, Bill McGeeney, is joined by upwards of three guests to help you grow your awareness and understanding of both the challenges and the road to recovering our disappearing nighttime ecosystem.

The new U.S. administration has put forth a slew of federal employee firings, funding freezes and cancellations, and agency reprioritizations since assuming office barely 1 month ago. One of the most notable moves has been the dismantling of USAID and a funding pause or in some instances, the elimination of the agency's projects to feed, educate, and/ or medically treat vulnerable communities around the globe. However, it's not just humans that will feel the effects of this humanitarian funding gap. Unknown to many, USAID also supports sustainable use, wildlife conservation, and habitat preservation efforts as well. While the agency's budget was nearly $60 billion, the monies dedicated to conservation totaled less than $400 million--a sizable amount for most taxpayers, but a literal drop in the bucket for the US government's yearly budget. Ashoka Mukpo, staff writer for Mongabay.com, an independent media organization reporting on Nature and planetary challenges, examines the immediate and downstream effects of this globally significant funding loss to international conservation groups working in the field to enable humans and animals to co-exist. Animal care Software

A paper in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes there is limited accountability for corporations that fail to achieve their climate change mitigation targets. The analysis shows 9% of company decarbonization plans missed their goals, while 31% “disappeared.” However, 60% of companies met their targets. While this might initially seem like good news, it may not be leading to genuine climate action. This week's podcast guest, Ketan Joshi, a consultant and researcher for nonprofit organizations in the climate sector, explains that many corporations are not actually decarbonizing their supply chains, but rather relying on buying renewable energy certificates and carbon credits to "offset" additional carbon emissions from their business. While carbon offsets are often touted as a way to directly fund climate action on the ground, Joshi stresses there is no verifiable way to track how much is funding these projects. Typically, credits are purchased from a broker, and 90% of these intermediaries arranging such deals on the voluntary carbon market don't share their data. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image Credit: The 2015 Paris Agreement stipulates that countries must reduce carbon emissions in order to limit warming to 1.5°C, or at least well below 2°C. Image by jwvein via Pixabay (Public domain). ---- Timestamps (00:00) Are companies actually decarbonizing? (16:06)  The rise of climate litigation (31:00) Carbon removal tech as an offset (42:00) What is GreenSky? (50:38) Credits

The bobcat population has rebounded over the past century, making it North America's most common wildcat: as of 2011, there were an estimated 3.5 million bobcats in the United States alone, a significant increase from the late 1990s. These intelligent felids, Lynx rufus, have benefited from conservation efforts that have increased their natural habitat. The species also thrives at the edges of towns and cities, where their presence can even reduce the spread of pathogens like Lyme disease that affect people, says podcast guest Zara McDonald, founder of the Felidae Conservation Fund. McDonald shares her thoughts on how the bobcat manages to thrive on the edge of urban areas, the state of wildcat conservation, and what she wishes more people knew about wildcats. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image: A bobcat in Kalispell, Montana. Image by Outward_bound via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). ----- Timecodes  (00:00) Intro (02:58) The resilience of bobcats (08:13) The benefits of bobcats (16:19) The Felidae Conservation Fund (25:30) The state of wildcat conservation (30:47) Wildfires and their impact on wildcats (33:47) Thoughts on coexistence with wildlife

Nations across the world are working to expand their protected areas to include 30% of Earth's land and water by 2030. In Africa, this would encompass an additional 1 million square miles. Mongabay's Ashoka Mukpo recently traveled to three nations to assess the current state of conservation practices in key protected areas, to get a better picture of what an expansion might look like, and how the crucial role of rangers in enforcing their protection is evolving. While there, he traveled with passionate and dedicated rangers, but also documented allegations of ranger involvement in violent incidents in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.  He joins the podcast to describe the situation, which he says is commonplace in national parks across the continent. "The amount [of] violence and aggressive enforcement that is, I think, generally associated with wildlife rangers has led to a lot of mistrust, a lot of alienation, and a real sense that 'the purpose of these people is to kind of harass and impose a system that doesn't include us, on us,'" Mukpo says. Read more here: ‘Killed while poaching': When wildlife enforcement blurs into violence ‘Like you, I fear the demise of the elephants' Image Credit: Lion inside Queen Elizabeth National Park. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. ---- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:27) National parks, human rights and 30x30 (04:15) Allegations of violence in Queen Elizabeth Park (09:48) How did we get here? (13:26) Tension between communities and rangers (18:05) Signs of collaboration (21:27) The economics of Queen Elizabeth Park (24:16) Local people cut out from revenue (26:31) The bigger picture (30:28) Credits

Erik is an editor for the huge environmental news site Mongabay, which has 5 bureaus around the world reporting in 6 languages daily.   He also produces their podcasts, available in English, Spanish and now French too.    The main show, the Mongabay Newscast, won an award for coverage of how Indigenous communities' traditional ecological knowledge is important to conservation, as important as western science, and how these 2 are being used together more and more, https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/national-geographic-photographer-kiliii-yuyan-on-why-indigenous-peoples-are-the-best-conservationists/    Last month we published an episode that won't win an award because it's not a sexy topic like that, but it is fishy:   ‘These stories deserve to be told': Shining a light on secretive fisheries managers https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2024/12/these-stories-deserve-to-be-told-shining-a-light-on-secretive-fisheries-managers/    There are 17 regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) responsible for regulating the fishing of various commercially valuable species across vast swaths of the ocean. Their members meet regularly, but their decisions aren't often well-publicized, due to a lack of journalists in attendance.   But Mongabay reporters show up, even though they wish we didn't: ​​“Our presence at these meetings is not really welcomed, and that's a problem,” a staff writer said STRIPED BASS DISCUSSION - 10 -15 Minutes  NEWS    RED HERRING - Trump says Delta Smelt to blame for LA Water Issues https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250124-red-herring-why-trump-wrongly-blames-a-fish-for-la-wildfires Salmon farms under fire on U.S. East Coast after being shuttered on West Coast https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/salmon-farms-under-fire-on-u-s-east-coast-after-being-shuttered-on-west-coast/    And on a more personal note, I was in the Galapagos reporting for Mongabay and the health of the fish and wildlife populations was incredible, big marine protected area surrounding all the islands, I saw so many big beautiful fish during our dives – fishing is allowed only with a guide and it's all catch and release, some locals are allowed to fish for a few species   As Gálapagos ecotourism booms, top naturalist guide urges sustainability https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/as-galapagos-ecotourism-booms-top-naturalist-guide-urges-sustainability/    FISH SEX    THIS FISH CAN MATE 25 Times Per Day https://www.newsweek.com/fish-sex-mating-sperm-evolution-behavior-animals-2011660   Clown Fish Sex https://news.scubatravel.co.uk/male-to-female-sex-change-clown-fish-brain.html  

Bryan Simmons, the vice president of communications for the Arcus Foundation, joins the Mongabay Newscast this week to share the philosophy behind the 25-year-old foundation, which funds grantees that work on LGBTQ rights and great apes and gibbons conservation. In this conversation with co-host Mike DiGirolamo, Simmons explains the link between economic development and justice for people and how this is correlated with conservation outcomes. “When people are not able to have their economic needs met, conservation begins to pay the price right away,” says Simmons. He encourages listeners to review recent reports regarding ape conservation and how this relates to human health, disease, and the ‘one health' approach to planetary stewardship. Find more at stateoftheapes.com. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Arcus is a funder of Mongabay, but it did not initiate this interview nor does it have editorial influence on Mongabay's coverage. Image Credit: Young lowland gorilla, Gabon. Photo by Rhett Butler for Mongabay. --- Timestamps (00:00) Bryan's journey to the Arcus Foundation (13:25) How social justice enables conservation (25:47) Threats to human rights and conservation (30:09) Concerns in the Congo Basin (33:26) Hope during a dark period (37:54) Empathy in apes

This week, Anthony James, host of The RegenNarration Podcast, joins Mongabay's podcast to share stories of community resilience and land regeneration in the Americas and Australia. James explains how donkeys (seen as invasive pests) are now being managed to benefit the land in Kachana Station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In this episode, James emphasizes the importance of harnessing what's in front of us, rather than fighting it. Across the many interviews he's conducted, it's become clear that this concept is something Aboriginal Traditional Owners are keenly aware of. “If you're there, you're kin. There's no sense of ‘being greater than,” James says. Related reading: Huge deforested areas in the tropics could regenerate naturally, study finds Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend. You can also subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify. Listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image Credit: Jim Jim Falls, Kakadu National Park. Image by Parks Australia. Courtesy of the Director of National Parks, Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Timecodes --- (00:00) Why Anthony James started The RegenNarration (05:32) The story of Kachana Station (12:24) Turning problems into solutions (25:26) Community resilience amidst political strife (36:45) Where's the potential? (41:29) Credits

General frustration with the result of the most recent UN climate conference (UNFCCC COP29) spurred the former UN climate chief, Christiana Figueres – under whose leadership the Paris Agreement was struck – to co-author a letter to the UN urging an overhaul to the COP process, and calling it “no longer fit for purpose.” Figueres joins this episode to speak about why the world's governments seemingly cannot agree to move decisively on climate action, and what can be done about it. She shares why – despite these frustrations and disappointments – she remains optimistic about the global effort to decarbonize economies and transport systems, citing recent advancements in the deployment of renewable energy and the power of everyday actions: “I used to think that it was our collective responsibility to guarantee to future generations that they would have a perfect world. And now that I am a recent grandmother, I really look back at that and I go, ‘my God, we cannot guarantee to future generations that they're going to have a perfect world.' We cannot. So, what can we do? We can do our darndest and we can wake up every morning and make a choice and say ‘where am I going to put my energy today?'” she says. Figueres is also the co-host of the popular podcast, Outrage + Optimism, which features conversations and analysis about the climate crisis.  Related reading at Mongabay.com: · COP29 ends in $300 billion deal, widespread dismay — and eyes toward COP30 · Top Mongabay podcast picks for 2024 Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Timecodes --- (00:00) A disappointing COP process (03:33) Has the Paris Agreement failed? (08:01) The renewable energy adoption s-curve (13:34) Electricity generation vs. consumption (18:55) Decarbonizing without mandates (23:29) Are we standing still? (31:16) Courage in choosing optimism (41:25) Reflections from a Colombian forest (48:12) Rachel changes her mind

Seventeen regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) regulate commercially valuable fish species across the world's oceans. The members of these organizations do not publicize their meetings and bar journalists from attending, presenting a barrier for public awareness. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, Africa staff writer Malavika Vyawahare is joined by a fisheries expert, Grantly Galland, and an RFMO secretary, Darius Campbell, to explain how decisions are made in regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), the consequences their decisions have on global fish populations, human rights and labor rights on the high seas, and how journalists can better cover these secretive organizations. “Decisions are being made by RFMOs that impact billion-dollar fisheries and take effect next year [so] these stories deserve to be told,” says Grantly Galland, a project director at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Also joining the conversation is Darius Campbell, secretary of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, an RFMO. “The sea is [vast and it's] very difficult to understand what's going on. Most of the [fish] stocks are very difficult to analyze and predict. And it's difficult to enforce [rules],” Campbell says. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Like our podcast? Please leave a review and share this episode with a friend. Image credit: Schools of fish at Cayman Islands, Caribbean. Image by Jason Washington / Ocean Image Bank. Timecodes (00:00:00) What is an RFMO? (00:07:37) Who are the key players? (00:13:18) Who holds the power? (00:20:32) Strategies for journalists covering RFMOs (00:29:47) Transparency and secrecy (00:38:59) Conservation and RFMO decision-making (00:48:10) Forced labor and human rights (00:53:29) What happens when an RFMO breaks the rules? (01:01:13) Common heritage vs high seas (01:07:13) BBNJ agreement (01:15:24) Citizen participation (01:19:09) Resources (01:21:39) Credits

A new forest finance fund known as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) will work like an investment portfolio (unlike the familiar – and often ineffective – forest conservation loan or grant funds), and if enacted as intended, it will reward 70 tropical nations billions in annual funding for keeping their forests standing. Co-host Mike DiGirolamo speaks with three people who have analyzed the fund: Mongabay freelance reporter Justin Catanoso, Charlotte Streck – co-founder of Climate Focus – and Frédéric Hache, a lecturer in sustainable finance at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. They tackle the critical questions regarding what the proposed fund could – and would not – do. “I think that TFFF is an initiative that has great potential because it is put forward and supported by tropical rainforest countries. It is not [a] mechanism that has been defined by donors or by any experts. It is now pushed and promoted by the countries that harbor all this tropical forest,” says Streck. For additional background, find Catanoso's report on the TFFF for Mongabay here. View and hear our podcast team's picks of top 2024 episodes here. Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend, and leave a review. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image caption: Cecropia tree in Peru. Image by Rhett Butler for Mongabay. ---- Time stamps (00:00) A brief primer of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) (03:10) Details from Justin Catanoso (10:24) Digging deeper with Charlotte Streck (25:17) Critiques and concerns from Frederic Hache (35:50) Credits

Animal aquaculture, the farming of fish, has outpaced the amount of wild-caught fish by tens of millions of metric tons each year, bringing with it negative environmental impacts and enabling abuse, says Carl Safina, an ecologist and author. On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, Safina speaks with co-host Rachel Donald about his recent Science Advances essay describing the “moral reckoning” that's required for the industry, pointing to environmental laws in the United States, which put hard limits on pollution, as examples to follow. “In the 1970s in the U.S., we had this enormous burst of environmental legislation. We got the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act … all of these things were not because somebody invented something new. It's because we felt differently about what was important,” he says. The global fishing industry also contributes to forced labor and other worker abuses, as revealed by whistleblowers and media outlets, including Mongabay. Read our award-winning 2022 investigation, which revealed systemic abuse of foreign workers by China's offshore tuna fleet. Like this podcast? Share it with a friend, and please leave a review. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image caption: An Atlantic salmon. In the U.S., the Washington state legislature banned farming of Atlantic salmon in 2018. A state official banned all commercial finfish aquaculture. Alaska and California have similar bans. Image by Hans-Petter Fjeld via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5). --- Timecodes (00:00) Aquaculture and its impacts (15:32) How values shape environmental policy (32:56) The tragedy of the commons (35:52) Ecological empathy (45:07) Credits

Charles and Jon talk with Rodney Jackson the director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy, who is widely considered the leading world expert on the snow leopard, having devoted over forty years to researching and conserving this elusive cat in South and Central Asia.  In a wide-ranging chat Rodney describes his journey from a young boy looking for wildlife around his Harare home to the mountains of Nepal and embarking on a lifetime's quest to study one of the world's most enigmatic cats. He describes the difficulty in even seeing a cat in those early years and discusses the vital role well-managed community-based ecotourism is now playing in protecting them. He also describes many of his adventures along the way including perilous hikes and mysterious shamans.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: Rodney mentioned Adam Riley's photos of a Snow Leopard hunt from Hemis National Park in 2013 which you can see here.There are dozens of trip reports on mammalwatching that feature Snow Leopard sightings. Check out the India, China and Mongolia pages in particular.Charles talks about the latest bioluminescent mammal that was revealed in this post while Jon talked about this piece he and Charles wrote for the conservation news site  Mongabay. Cover art: Rodney and Snow Leopard, Darla Hillard Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 110 countries.

Neil Vora MD is a former epidemic intelligence service officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with experience combating outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus and running the New York City contact tracing program for COVID-19. He advocates supporting public health infrastructure to respond to diseases. He much prefers preventing outbreaks before they occur instead of rushing to respond to them, though, and the best way to do this, he says, is by investing in nature. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, Vora shares his knowledge of why the “spillover” of zoonotic diseases — when a pathogen jumps from wildlife to humans — is increasingly occurring due to deforestation and land-use change. He also says that despite science's importance in studying and combating viruses, art and philosophy are necessary tools to drive the global change needed to prevent further outbreaks. “If we want to see societal transformation, we're going to need people feeling inspired, and that's where art and philosophy come in,” Vora says. Listen to Mongabay's previous Newscast episode covering the recent outbreak of avian influenza here. Like this podcast? Share it with a friend, and please leave a review. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Rainbow over Jambi, Indonesia. Photo credit: Rhett Ayers Butler / Mongabay ----- Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (01:06) Medical doctor and conservationist: Neil Vora (04:27) The link between deforestation and disease (07:33) The 'One Health' movement (09:41) How disease 'spillover' happens (13:06) What's happening with marburg and 'bird flu'? (23:10) Why we need art & philosophy to protect nature (26:31) Apocalyptic horror films as scenario explorations (30:04) Solutions and 'radical listening' (35:09) A rejection of nihilism

Alexa Vélez, editora general de Mongabay, conversa con Glatzer Tuesta en No Hay Derecho de Ideeleradio. No Hay Derecho en vivo de lunes a viernes, desde las 7 a. m., por el YouTube y Facebook de Ideeleradio.

Todd Smith wanted to be a pilot since the age of 5, but an epiphany spurred by seeing a retreating ice cap in Peru revealed that his love of flying conflicted with the planetary harm his industry was causing. “That was the first seed that was planted, and I was witnessing in that moment climate change and mass tourism firsthand,” he says. Today, Smith is co-founder of Safe Landing, an organization dedicated to advocating for sustainable aviation reform to adapt to the realities of climate change and ensure the future employment of airline workers. On the latest Mongabay Newscast, he details his journey to leave the industry, and shares what he thinks the airline industry needs to change to in order to adapt to our new climate-changed reality. Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image: Private jet flights account for a small fraction of aviation's overall emissions — around 4% — though the burden is up to 10 times more per passenger compared to a commercial flight, according to a recent report. Image by lillolillolillo via Pixabay (Public domain). --- Timecodes (00:00) Introduction: Todd Smith (02:10) From airline pilot to climate activist (12:10) The origins of Safe Landing (24:04) The future of aviation on a limited carbon budget (37:10) The inequities of flying (45:53) Credits

The new BBNJ (biodiversity beyond natural jurisdiction) marine conservation agreement is impressive in scope but has since been rebranded by some as the “high seas treaty,” which risks biasing its interpretation by emphasizing the historical, but outdated, freedoms enjoyed by seafaring (and largely Western) nations. Elizabeth Mendenhall of the University of Rhode Island joins this episode to discuss the treaty with co-host Rachel Donald, detailing the fascinating and complicated nature of ocean governance beyond the jurisdiction of states. The BBNJ agreement was designed to resolve some of these governance issues, but the text contains ample gray area in how the principles of “common heritage,” the concept that something belongs to all of humanity, will apply to the protection and extraction of resources from the water column and seafloor. “The treaty design that we ended up with [from] my perspective is not really suited to achieve what it is we say we want to do, which is to create a big network of marine protected areas that's effective in terms of protecting biodiversity,” Mendenhall says. To learn more and find links to the treaty documents, see the commentary Mendenhall co-authored for Mongabay about the topic earlier this year, here. Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Baleen whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Image by ArtTower via Pixabay (Public domain). --- Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (02:51) How biodiverse are oceans? (05:20) What's at stake? (07:47) How are the oceans governed? (10:47) How international ocean management organizations work (17:13) What is the treaty for? (21:21) Is it a marine protected area if you can still exploit it? (27:55) BBNJ vs. 'High Seas' (29:09) Principles of High Seas and Common Heritage (35:35) Post-show (40:13) Credits

Just prior to the latest world biodiversity summit (COP 16 in Colombia), a similarly-themed event was hosted by the Australian Government in Sydney: the Global ‘Nature Positive' Summit featured Indigenous leaders, scientists and conservationists, but political leaders in attendance provided little insight into when key reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act would take place, which experts, lawyers, and activists have been calling for. For this episode, Mongabay speaks with delegates to the summit including Barry Hunter, a descendent of the Djabugay people and the CEO of The North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), Éliane Ubalijoro, the CEO of CIFOR-ICRAF, and also Ben Pitcher, a behavioral biologist with the Taronga Conservation Society. These guests share their expertise on the state of biodiversity, what kind of action they want to see from leaders, and what can be done to safeguard species while ensuring First Nations rights. Image Credit: Barry Hunter on his Country (Djabugay Country) at Mona Mona. Image by Seth Seden. ---- Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (02:05) A lack of government action (04:04) Interview with Barry Hunter (15:31) Interview with Eliane Ubalijoro (20:24) Interview with Ben Pitcher (28:16) Credits

The Mongabay Newscast recently traveled to San Francisco to join an event hosted by the popular radio show and podcast, Climate One, reflecting on both Mongabay's 25th anniversary and Jane Goodall's 90th birthday, for a live audience of 1,700.  First, Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler discusses the news outlet's biggest successes and impact over a quarter of a century, and then Climate One founder and host Greg Dalton engages Butler and Goodall in conversation about the state of environmental news, the biggest issues they're working on, their inspirations, and what Goodall wants more people to think about during what she calls a crucial election year.  Here's additional discussion of Mongabay's 25th anniversary, Mongabay at 25: A reflection on the journey and future This is our previous episode where Goodall shares additional thinking on these issues: Jane Goodall at 90: On fame, hope, and empathy Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Rhett Ayers Butler and Jane Goodall in conversation in San Francisco. Image by Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo/Mongabay. --- Time Codes (00:00:00) Introduction (00:00:59) Rhett's reflections on 25 years of Mongabay (00:02:27) What makes for a successful newsroom? (00:07:50) Looking to the future (00:17:47) Jane Goodall and Rhett Butler in conversation with Climate One (01:17:30) Credits

This week's guest is the American wildlife biologist, conservationist and filmmaker, Jocelyn Stokes. Jocelyn has filmed programming for PBS NATURE, Mongabay, National Geographic, the BBC, Waterbear, ILCP, Health in Harmony, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Future Alam Borneo and Borneo Futures, among others. She is most at home filming endangered species in some of the world's most remote wilderness locations. Her technical skills in long lens shooting, gimbal work and drone operation to capture unique natural history sequences have led to award-winning conservation films. Jocelyn was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the eldest of three; she has two brothers. Her father Robert Stokes is in media marketing and her mother Debra a medical assistant and artist. Growing up in the desert, Jocelyn spent her childhood outdoors exploring nature and wildlife. And she was fascinated by still photography from an early age immersing herself in storytelling with her camera. By the time she had graduated high school Jocelyn knew the career she wanted and achieved her BA in Photography from Lewis & Clark followed by graduate studies at Oregon State University for Wildlife Sciences. Jocelyn traveled to South East Asia after college and began to lay the foundation for her career of combining her passions of wildlife conservation and filmmaking from producing a documentary to conserve sun bears in Borneo to environmental journalism pieces for the conservation news web portal Mongabay.  She is currently filming and producing a PBS NATURE series In Her Nature focused on female wildlife conservationists around the world, beginning with Nepal, Indonesia, Costa Rica, and Madagascar, which will air in March 2025. Jocelyn is married to wildlife photographer, Peter Mangolds, and the couple live in Jackson Hole, WY. Jocelyn's website: https://www.jocelynstokes.com/Her Wild Life https://www.herwildlife.com/Instagram: @wiledandstoked https://www.instagram.com/wildandstoked/ Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support.

This week's guest is the American wildlife biologist, conservationist and filmmaker, Jocelyn Stokes. Jocelyn has filmed programming for PBS NATURE, Mongabay, National Geographic, the BBC, Waterbear, ILCP, Health in Harmony, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Future Alam Borneo and Borneo Futures, among others. She is most at home filming endangered species in some of the world's most remote wilderness locations. Her technical skills in long lens shooting, gimbal work and drone operation to capture unique natural history sequences have led to award-winning conservation films. Jocelyn was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the eldest of three; she has two brothers. Her father Robert Stokes is in media marketing and her mother Debra a medical assistant and artist. Growing up in the desert, Jocelyn spent her childhood outdoors exploring nature and wildlife. And she was fascinated by still photography from an early age immersing herself in storytelling with her camera. By the time she had graduated high school Jocelyn knew the career she wanted and achieved her BA in Photography from Lewis & Clark followed by graduate studies at Oregon State University for Wildlife Sciences. Jocelyn traveled to South East Asia after college and began to lay the foundation for her career of combining her passions of wildlife conservation and filmmaking from producing a documentary to conserve sun bears in Borneo to environmental journalism pieces for the conservation news web portal Mongabay.  She is currently filming and producing a PBS NATURE series In Her Nature focused on female wildlife conservationists around the world, beginning with Nepal, Indonesia, Costa Rica, and Madagascar, which will air in March 2025. Jocelyn is married to wildlife photographer, Peter Mangolds, and the couple live in Jackson Hole, WY. Jocelyn's website: https://www.jocelynstokes.com/Her Wild Life https://www.herwildlife.com/Instagram: @wiledandstoked https://www.instagram.com/wildandstoked/ Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.

An array of top voices are interviewed or heard on this episode straight from Climate Week in New York, a global gathering of leaders and experts working in the climate and environmental sectors on proactive policies and practical initiatives. The podcast speaks with several individuals on topics ranging from a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty that's gaining steam currently to ways of improving the financing of Indigenous communities and conservation organizations working in Africa, and many others. Here's who appears on the show: Allison Begalman, co-founder of the Hollywood Climate Summit Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International Tzeporah Berman, chair of the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty Luisa Castaneda, deputy director of Land Is Life Paul Chet Greene, member of the House of Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda Susana Muhamad, minister of environment and sustainable development of Colombia Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives Maria Neira, director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization Sam Shaba, CEO of Honeyguide Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Indigenous activists during an End of the Fossil Fuels event during Climate Week 2023. Image courtesy of the Confederation of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA). --- Time Codes (00:00) Mongabay at Climate Week NYC (01:34) Mohamed Nasheed (04:35) Paul Chet Greene (05:52) Amitabh Behar (07:23) PLANETWALKER with Allison Begalman (12:15) Funding justice with Luisa Castaneda (18:19) Community-led conservation with Sam Shaba (24:44) The fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (29:19) Juan Bay and the Waorani Nation endorsement (36:49) Maria Neira from the World Health Organization (38:39) Susana Muhamad on Colombia's endorsement (44:07) Tzeporah Berman talks treaty (53:32) Rainforest reception and a song

Drylands are vast and home to a wide array of biodiversity, while also hosting a large portion of the world's farmland, but they face continued desertification, despite many of them recently experiencing increased vegetation levels. Five million hectares (12 million acres) of drylands, an area half the size of South Korea, have been desertified due to climate change since 1980, but elevated CO2 levels are also driving a regreening of some areas, which some argue is a positive effect of pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. However, our guest on this episode says this isn't necessarily good news: remote-sensing researcher Arden Burrell describes how the CO2 fertilization effect is greening some dryland ecosystems, and why this worries scientists who say it may mask land overuse and decreased water resources. Read the study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01463-y Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Green areas saw a growth in foliage from 2000 to 2017, while brown areas represent a reduction. Image courtesy of Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory. Time Codes --- (00:00) Introduction (02:50) Drylands and desertification (04:19) Impacts of climate change on drylands (09:33) The CO2 fertilization effect (23:34) Digging into the models (30:16) Implications for land overuse (35:54) Post-show (41:42) Credits

Environmental icon Jane Goodall is celebrating 90 years of life, and she's not backing off of her passionate commitment to nature. The indefatigable Goodall is now focused on three intertwined crises: biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental inequity. She has one important message for her audiences around the world: vote like your children's lives depend on it — because they do.  Jane Goodall is joined by Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay, a nonprofit media organization that delivers news and inspiration from nature's frontline via a network of more than 900 journalists in about 80 countries.  Guests: Jane Goodall, Ethologist, conservationist Rhett Butler, Founder, Mongabay  For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Environmental icon Jane Goodall is celebrating 90 years of life, and she's not backing off of her passionate commitment to nature. The indefatigable Goodall is now focused on three intertwined crises: biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental inequity. She has one important message for her audiences around the world: vote like your children's lives depend on it — because they do.  Jane Goodall is joined by Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay, a nonprofit media organization that delivers news and inspiration from nature's frontline via a network of more than 900 journalists in about 80 countries.  Guests: Jane Goodall, Ethologist, conservationist Rhett Butler, Founder, Mongabay  For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marine biologist and climate policy advocate Ayana Elizabeth Johnson joins this episode to discuss her latest book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, a compilation of essays and interviews with experts and authors in the climate and environmental fields. Her book sensitively probes the problems human society faces and potential pathways to address environmental injustice, from the unsustainable industrialization of our food systems to the inequity (or lack) of climate policy in many places. Co-host Mike DiGirolamo speaks with Johnson about key insights from her book's array of interviews, plus lessons learned from fighting for climate policy herself in the form of a “Blue New Deal.” Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson holding a copy of her book “What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures.” Image courtesy of Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. --- Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (01:06) What If We Get It Right? A brief review (05:10) The barriers to change (09:20) What is 'biophilia'? (10:42) Agriculture doesn't have to be this way (12:52) Unsung advice (16:12) It's all about heat pumps (18:36) The role of media in covering protests (21:50) An ocean policy odyssey (25:43) Credits

Earlier this year, the UN Special rapporteur for human rights defenders raised concerns about a Canadian company called Belo Sun Mining. She said people protesting the Belo Sun mine, who she refers to as land defenders, report being threatened, harassed and intimidated - some even say they were driven off their land. But Belo Sun denies these allegations, saying that they care about human rights, and that the project would bring much-needed economic development to an impoverished area - and the government of Brazil has seemingly supported their efforts. So who is Belo Sun - and how did they become the driving force behind the biggest proposed gold mine in Brazil? Are they guilty of the things that they're accused of? And if so, what can the Canadian government do to stop it? Host: Jesse Brown Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Sam Konnert (Audio Editor), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor), max collins (Production Manager), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer)Additional music by Audio NetworkFurther reading:Canada failing to protect human rights activists from mining companies operating overseas: UN watchdog - Globe and Mail, 2024Canadian miners get high-level lobbying boost for Brazilian Amazon projects - Mongabay, translated from original by Agência Pública BSX Responds to UN Special Rapporteur Allegations About Its Business Conduct - Belo SunSponsors: BetterHelp: Canadaland listeners head to https://betterhelp.com/canadaland to get started today and enjoy 10% off your first month. Discount code “canadaland" will be automatically applied.Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit Douglas.ca/Canadaland to claim this offer! CAMH is building better mental health care for everyone to ensure no one is left behind. This Mental Illness Awareness Week, your donation to CAMH will be matched. Visit camh.ca/canadaland to double your impact.If you value this podcast, support us! You'll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You'll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you'll be a part of the solution to Canada's journalism crisis, you'll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Phnom Chum Rok Sat community forest used to support local and Indigenous groups in Cambodia's Stung Treng province, as well as a thriving local ecotourism venture, but that all changed this year when mining company Lin Vatey privately acquired roughly two-thirds of the land and began clearing the forest. Mongabay features writer Gerry Flynn investigated how this happened with freelance reporter Nehru Pry, and speaks with co-host Mike DiGirolamo about how the 10 individuals behind the land grab, many of whom have connections to powerful Cambodian military officials and their families, managed this land grab. Local community members who have resisted currently face legal intimidation and arrests. While community forests, such as Phnon Chum Rok Sat, are supposed to belong to the public, this kind of corporate acquisition of land is commonplace in the nation, Flynn says. “As we see a lot in Cambodia, it's public forests being turned into private fortunes.” Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Image Credit: Lin Vatey's original mining site inside Phnom Chum Rok Sat threatens to consume the entire forest according to documents seen by Mongabay. Image by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay. --- Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (02:56) A once vibrant community forest (06:04) Cordoned off from the land (08:48) Liv Vatey moves in (17:03) Letter number 1456 (26:24) Arrests and intimidation (30:06) Ecotourism efforts shut down (34:14) The 'mental gymnastics' of a government spokesperson (37:12) Credits

Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse welcomes back our friend Charles Lyons for a report on the Brazil and the Amazon. Charles Lyons is a multimedia journalist and filmmaker. He recently completed a feature documentary about former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In 2023, Charles received a Conservando Juntos/ Earth Journalism Network grant (supported by USAID), to report on the continuing violence due to illegal gold mining within the Yanomami territory in the Amazon. His resulting article was published in Mongabay. Based in Rio, Charles has produced coverage of the 2022 Brazilian election for PBS NewsHour and long-form news reports on deforestation and Indigenous rights in the Amazon supported by The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. Prior to that, he received an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to produce coverage of the pandemic in Brazil, also for PBS NewsHour, with a focus on marginalized communities in tribal lands and favelas. He has written editorials for The New York Times about suicides among the Guarani tribe in the southwest of Brazil and about the controversial Belo Monte dam in the Amazon. More recently, Charles has covered illegal gold mining in Amazonian countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Suriname. Production Credits: Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer Karen Martinez (Mayan), Studio Engineer, Radio Kingston Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Audio Editor Kevin Richardson, Podcast Editor Music Selections: 1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song) Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters Album: Tahi (1993) Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand) 2. Song Title: Peyote Healing Artist: Robbie Robertson, Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike Album: Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy (1998) Label: Capitol/EMI 3. Song Title: For the Earth Artist: Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Ettie Luckey (unreleased), 2013 Album: Unreleased Label: N/A 4. Song Title: What's Going On Artist: Marvin Gaye Album: What's Going On (1971) Label: Tamia (Motown subsidiary) 5. Song Title: Away From Here Artist: Smokey D. Palmtree Album: Peace of Mind (2021) Label: Gila River Records AKANTU INTELLIGENCE Visit Akantu Intelligence, an institute that Tiokasin founded with a mission of contextualizing original wisdom for troubled times. Go to https://akantuintelligence.org to find out more and consider joining his Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/Ghosthorse

As early as the second episode of the Fancy Scientist podcast, I've been talking about the negative impacts  of "animal selfies.” This refers to when people post photos of themselves with an exotic animal. Although selfies are new in the digital age of photography, photos like these are not. For decades, private zoos and individuals have made money by keeping exotic animals often in horrific conditions and getting people to pose with them for photos. These are most often baby mammals (think tiger, lion, and bear cubs ala Tiger King), but can also be birds, reptiles, and fully adult mammals. While operations like these are clearly bad for animals and have nothing to do with conservation once you understand how they work (read Is Cub Petting Conservation for Big Cats?), what's less clear is when scientists pose with their study species for photos. I totally get it! Being with a wild animal is an amazing opportunity and you want to capture it in a photograph (I am guilty of this myself), but what happens when we share those images? We've all seen those images of researchers posing with their study subjects, and while it might seem harmless, research has shown that this can actually encourage people to engage in unethical or even illegal wildlife interactions. It's safe to say that this has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. Photos like those are pervasive throughout the scientific community, even when advertising our career to others and I've been trying to spread the word. .A couple of months ago, a story went viral on X (formerly Twitter) where people took wild bear cubs from a tree just for selfies. I tweeted not only about this, but about how scientists need to stop posting photos of themselves with wildlife so people don't get the misconception that it's ever okay to do something like this. I also emphasized that studies show that photos like those make people want to engage in animal selfies. This tweet gained considerable attention, one of which was from Dr. Cassie Freund, the director of science communication at the Frost Science Museum in Miami, who tweeted back that that was her research! . This fortuitous interaction led me to ask her  for an interview in this podcast  to talk about her research on scientists taking selfies with animals, especially primates, and how it has  been shown to negatively influence public behavior and perceptions, making people less likely to understand the endangered status of these animals. On this podcast, she discusses  the results of her and other studies, which found that even providing captions trying to explain the "proper permissions" obtained to handle animals with research permits and as a professional  don't mitigate the negative impact of those kinds of photos on the public. Additionally, Cassie has a fascinating background in primate behavioral research, and is a strong science writer and editor with over five years of experience telling engaging stories about the world around in outlets like Mongabay, Massive Science, and Hakai Magazine.Cassie's insights were so valuable, and I know this is a topic that many of you are passionate about as well. I encourage you to share this episode with your scientist friends and colleagues - let's all do our part to raise awareness and change the narrative around how we present wildlife on social media.Specifically, we go over:Cassie's background in orangutan conservation and rainforest researchThe surprising findings from her studies on how people perceive images of scientists with their study subjectsTips for effective science communication that prioritizes animal welfare and conservationChallenges of navigating social media as a scientist who wants to share their workReal-world examples of both positive and negative wildlife-related social media postsAnd more!I'm Dr. Stephanie Manka (formerly Schuttler), a wildlife biologist of nearly 20 yrs with 20+ peer-reviewed scientific publications, author of the book Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It's Like and What You Need to Know (https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Job-Wildlife-Biology-What/dp/B08JDYXS4G/) and founder of Fancy Scientist. My channel and the Fancy Scientist LLC is dedicated to connecting people to science and nature, breaking stereotypes of, and empowering scientists. I help aspiring and struggling wildlife biologists get the right training so they can get jobs, live out their life's purpose and make a difference in this world.Sign up for my next free job training: https://stephanieschuttler.com/trainingwaitlist/ Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ I'd love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientistInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiologyListen to the Fancy Scientist Podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fancy-scientist-material-girl-living-in-sustainable/id1509587394 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29swiuHG4TWKbS9gRZrORW#wildlifebiology #wildlifebiologist #wildlife #conservation #wildlifemanagement #wildlifeconservation #zoology #zoologist #ecology #ecologist #scientist #animals #science #graduatestudent #graduateschool #wildliferesearch #animalcareers #animaljobs