Vanessa Pirotta is a passionate science communicator who uses drones to collect whale snot and AI to detect illegal wildlife trafficking.

She is a successful author on the topic of humpback whale biology and ecology in Australian waters.

More Information

https://www.vanessapirotta.com

https://www.wildsydneyharbour.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEN8pxOh0fU

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Tonight’s guest has lived his passion from the age of fifteen. Little did he know, he would become an underwater photographer and filmmaker. His underwater career has spanned sixty years and he has won numerous underwater photography awards. He is also a dive tour pioneer and recently has extended his tours to include wildlife photography safaris in Africa. He was a dive centre owner and PADI dive master instructor. From Sydney Australia, welcome to the show, Kevin Deacon

More Information

https://www.dive2000.com.au/

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It's widely believed that the Australian cane toad problem belongs to Queensland. Tonight's guest tells us news to the contrary.

Daniel McCawley trained and worked as a computer game designer but found that reality was more fun than virtual reality.

On the show, describes how the cane toads have migrated south into the Clarence Region.

His new game is being on the front line of defence in New South Wales to help eradicate the Queensland cane toad.

Are you ready to play?

More Information:

https://clarencelandcare.com.au/

https://www.frogid.net.au/

https://www.feralscan.org.au/

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Today’s special guest is a marine biologist, marine ecologist and an internationally renowned whale researcher, Dr Olaf Meynecke.

He graduated in Environmental Sciences at the University of Lueneburg, Germany and then travelled to Australia and completed a PhD at Griffith University, Queensland. His PhD research focused upon the relationship between commercial fish harvesting and the environmental drivers influencing fish populations. 

He is currently managing an international research project on the impacts of climate change on whales and studies the health of humpback whales primarily in south-eastern Queensland. 

He is also the CEO and co-founder of Humpbacks & High-Rises Inc, a not for profit research organization dedicated to marine mammal research and protection. This organisation is supported by a number of associate Researchers and also Citizen Scientists.

More Information

https://www.hhr.org.au/

https://www.dr-olaf.com/

https://experts.griffith.edu.au/8358-olaf-meynecke

https://twitter.com/DrOlaf_

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-olaf-meynecke-8b504b39/

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Stephen Axford is a world renowned fungi photographer. His time-lapse photography of fungi has featured in award-winning documentaries including Planet Earth II and the IMAX feature, Fungi: Web of Life with Merlin Sheldrake.

Catherine Marciniak is a Director, Cinematographer and Editor. Together they produce a wonderful YouTube channel called Planet Fungi and their latest project is a new feature documentary called Follow The Rain.

More Information

https://www.planetfungi.movie/

https://www.youtube.com/@PlanetFungi

https://fungimap.org.au/

https://www.spun.earth/about/team

https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/imax-movie

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Today’s special guest is a Marine Biologist, an internationally renowned Coral Reef Ecologist & Researcher, a Prawn Aquaculture researcher and a highly experienced and highly qualified Scuba Diver.

Dr Paul Muir talks about his coral reef scientific research.

Paul describes the makeup and structure of corals and comments on the latest coral bleaching event that is happening on The Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

More Information:

http://www.mesophotic.org/members/123

https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=IokNTz0AAAAJ&hl=en

https://blog.qm.qld.gov.au/2021/04/19/5-minutes-with-dr-paul-muir-research-officer-and-collection-manager-corals/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Muir

https://www.museum.qld.gov.au/learning-resources/learnings/stem-careers-dr-paul-muir-marine-biologist

https://youtu.be/PtvUp4u_sks?feature=shared

Thumbnail image copyright Queensland Museum

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Gina Mascord is a true wildlife warrior and citizen scientist with a heart of gold and the patience of a saint to get the magnificent images of the underwater marine life that are dear to her heart. In this episode Gina talks about her recent experience helping to clear out fishing line from Swansea channel and offers some advice for those people who love to dive in the channel.

Gina has submitted an impressive amount of observations to nature databases:

iNaturalist

Red Map

When not planning trips or doing photography volunteers time to groups:

CHUG Combined Hunter Underwater Group

OCCI Ocean Coastal Care Initiatives

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast

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Les Graham is not just living proof that a lifetime of dedication can make a difference to the environment but also to people. He started his SCUBA diving in 1958. He could not afford to buy a regulator on an apprentice wage so decided to build one himself.

Les came from England with his wife Fran as 10 Pound Poms and became dedicated SCUBA divers. In 1968 together they opened a dive centre at Terrigal Haven in New South Wales. Les and Fran were active divers and citizen scientists on the Great Barrier Reef and locally for the Australian Museum. He is responsible for positioning the anchor at Terrigal Haven and highly influential in the scuttling of the EX HMAS Adelaide.

More Information:

https://terrigalunderwatergroup.com/

https://www.urgdiveclub.org.au/

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Judy was introduced to birdwatching when she was a child by her Grandmother. This began a life-long love of bird watching but it wasn't until 2009 that she got her first set of binoculars.

Today, Judy holds an A-Class bird banding licence and is an active member of the Hunter Bird Observers Cub. She explains how the birds are caught and banded, what are the common threats to birds and bird habitat and the important role that bird banding plays in the scientific study of birds.

More Information

https://www.dcceew.gov.au/science-research/bird-bat-banding

https://www.hboc.org.au/

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Lisa first got involved in citizen science as a project officer at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy (ICRAR) where she managed the citizen science project AstroQuest for three years.

She originally studied Astronomy, then moved into a career in 3D animation and game development. After years of working as a technical artist on animations, visualisations, games, and educational projects, Lisa became interested in “serious games” – games that have other goals than just entertainment. She has completed a PhD about engaging the public in climate change using games, and has also worked on serious game projects for organisations like the Department of Road Safety and Surf Life Saving WA.

More Information

https://citizenscience.org.au/author/lisa-evans

https://astroquest.net.au/

https://www.zooniverse.org/

https://www.icrar.org/

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