Conservation Cast

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Dr. Hennen about the underappreciated work and beauty of millipedes. Throughout the podcast, Maya showed photo after photo of millipedes taken by Dr. Hennen himself. Both Maya and her viewers were surprised at how interesting and nice-looking millipedes are up close. Dr. Hennen expressed an infectious passion for his favorite arthropod which helped everybody fall in love with them. By showing their ecological importance and beauty, Dr. Hennen hopes to inspire his readers to protect millipedes.

Maya’s community raised $2268.40 for The Nature Conservancy, a worldwide environmental organization impacting 72 countries and protecting over 125,000 million acres of land.

During this special episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with her Mom, Vicki, about the rehabilitating effect animals can have on adults and kids alike. Vicki shares stories showcasing their animal’s ability to brighten up one’s day or be there for those in need. Vicki also emphasizes their animal’s unique ability to connect with kids with special needs and give them a friend to open up with. After seeing these effects firsthand, Vicki hopes to continue to spread smiles using her non-profit. Throughout the podcast, Vicki also explains how Maya became so passionate about animals and shares embarrassing stories of Maya growing up.

Maya’s community raised $5340.80 for Animal Assisted Happiness (AAH), a non-profit founded in 2009 with the goal to spread smiles using rehab animals. AAH focuses on giving moments of joy to kids with special needs and their families, a unique experience they claim only animals can bring.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Jonathan about what exactly chytridiomycosis is, and how it became one of the main factors in the dramatic decline of amphibians in many parts of the world. Jonathan explained the way in which it infects and attacks the amphibian’s keratin production, thus negatively affecting levels of keratin in the skin which they require to function on land. The two discussed the effect of the harsh decline on the ecosystem, and emphasized the importance of amphibian conservation, answering the important question of what we can do to help aid their protection through supporting HARCC.

Maya’s community raised $2613 for Honduras Amphibian Rescue & Conservation Center (HARCC), a non-profit rescue program founded with the aim to carry out rescue efforts to reduce both short and long-term extinction threats to 3 critically endangered frog species in Cusuco National Park, Honduras.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Samantha about what it means for an animal to be an ‘ambassador’, and their significance in educating the public about how to share our environment with them, and how to reduce the negative impact we might have on them. Samantha introduced a few ZooToYou ambassadors including Bruno the harris hawk, Gumbo the alligator, and Disco the grey fox. Samantha and Maya answered viewer-sent questions about the ambassador friends and shared stories and experiences from working with them. The two also discussed the recently finalized plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and explained how this decision will affect conservation efforts across the 19 million acres in the Alaska North Slope region. This special milestone episode of the Conservation Cast concluded with Maya sharing her gratitude for the ongoing support each week, and to Samantha and ZooToYou for sparking her love for falconry and exotics.

Maya’s community raised $5770 for ZooToYou Conservation Ambassadors, an organization founded as a forever home for abandoned, disabled, or permanently injured local wildlife and exotic animals.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Kelsey about her studies into the ecology of ground pangolins and how she fell in love with them. Kelsey highlighted the value of pangolins and the important role they play within their ecosystem as pest control as a result of their ant and termite diet. The two discussed the threats that pangolin face, including droughts, poaching, and trafficking for their scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Kelsey shared stories from her experiences with CRASH and pangolins in Namibia and answered a range of viewer-sent questions, regarding their diet, defensive mechanisms, lifespan, and gestation period. Another point of emphasis made by Kelsey was the importance of spreading awareness of not only how incredible these mammals are, but of the threats they face and what they can do to support the conservation of pangolins.

Maya’s community raised $1002.14 for CRASH Wildlife, a non-profit organization that aims to address the issue of a lack of transparency in the way in which donations are used within wildlife organizations. Through partnering with other organizations, they may accurately track the use of incoming funds and ensure that each donation helps as many animals as possible with the minimum amount of overhead expense, waste, or abuse.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Nick Gladstone, an evolutionary biologist and doctoral student at Auburn University who works in freshwater snail conservation. Nick shared his current studies and research, as well as his story of how he got into the field of freshwater life, particularly freshwater snails. Nick also shared his myriad of experiences in cave biology, detailing the way in which biospeleologists study organisms that live in caves. The two answered viewer-sent questions such as why freshwater snails are important within their ecosystem, what their main conservation threats are, and how giant african land snails became one of the most invasive species in the world.

Maya’s community raised $1554.10 for Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society. FMCS is a non-profit organization aiming to inform the public of the incredible life history of freshwater mollusks, as well as raise awareness of the issues that have caused the decline.

Maya speaks with Dr. Andrew Halloran, director of chimpanzee behavior and care at Save the Chimps who is in charge of direct non-veterinary care of the chimps in the sanctuary.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Andrew about his role in the sanctuary and when he first started working with chimpanzees. Andrew spoke of his studies into vocal communication of chimps prior to his involvement in the sanctuary. The two delved deep into the saddening history of scientific experimentation and exploitation of chimpanzees. Explaining the origin of the sanctuary and its purpose of providing a space for victimized chimps who have had these challenging paths to receive care. Andrew answered an array of viewer-sent questions regarding the sanctuary such as the lifespan and diet of a chimp in the wild compared to in captivity, the misconceptions surrounding chimps, how covid has impacted the operation of the sanctuary, and if the chimps are at risk of contracting coronavirus. Andrew informed viewers of the many ways in which they themselves can help support the conservation and protection of the species.

Maya’s community raised $2039 for Save the Chimps, the largest privately funded chimp sanctuary in the world which was established in order to provide a refuge for victims of exploitation and scientific experimentation of chimpanzees.

Maya speaks with Sonam Tashi Lama, a representative of Red Panda Network who became involved in the organization after contacting its founder who was studying red pandas in his remote area within Nepal.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Sonam about the red panda and their important role in our ecosystem as an indicator species. The duo discussed some of the many threats faced by red pandas, as well as the severity of habitat loss on the species. Other topics included their defense mechanisms, social behaviors, and the issues with pet trade, and the perception of them as pets. Sonam shared his experiences with capturing and handling red pandas for monitoring purposes, giving viewers a look into his daily life working with the incredible species. In addition to explaining what he and Red Panda Network do to monitor and protect red panda habitat, Sonam informed viewers of what they themselves can do to help contribute to red panda conservation.

Maya’s community raised $1777.77 for Red Panda Network, a non-profit organization that has become a world leader in efforts to protect red pandas and their habitat through conservation programs extending across one million acres of forest in Nepal.

Maya speaks with Shah Selbe, an engineer with 10 years of experience in spacecraft propulsion engineering who started his own non-profit organization in order to answer the question ‘how can technology play a bigger role in conservation?’.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Shah about the origin of Conservify, and the issues in conservation which Shah aimed to address with the creation of open-source field kits. The two discussed the significance of a Field Kit's ability to provide a platform which allows people to monitor their environment, and not only visualize the collected data, but give the ability to share said data with others. Shah shared his experience as a National Geographic Explorer and explained how it led to his creation of one of the only non-profit tech labs in the world. Additionally, Shah answered viewer’s questions such as his ideas for future advancements to the Field Kit, and some of his favorite stories from people’s usage of Field Kits.

Conservify

Maya’s community raised $2207.77 for Conservify, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower conservationists and communities by lowering the barriers to entry for effective conservation. Conservify provides platforms, apps, and connected devices in order to build an open conservation community within conservation technology.

Maya speaks with Susan Tsang, a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, whose primary interest is in the evolution and biogeography of flying foxes.

During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya spoke with Susan about the wonders of flying foxes and their important roles in their ecosystem as a pollinator. Susan explained that one of the largest issues faced by flying foxes in the Philippines is hunting, with causes ranging from bushmeat trade to medicinal superstition. Viewers were taught ways in which conservationists tackle the issue of hunting through educating provinces on flying foxes and teaching them more sustainable meat hunting methods such as chicken farms. Susan answered the Viewer’s questions regarding their use of echolocation, the origin of their name, and their social systems and colonies.

Progres

Mayas community raised $1112.04 for the Progres, a nonprofit organization that began as a community effort that works with government partners to prevent the unlawful hunting of flying foxes through signed agreements with local community chiefs and education.