Conservation Connection

This week's episode is a power-packed panel of film makers and producers discussing the massive impact that virtual reality films can have for conservation. We sit down with Christophe Balihache (an underwater filmmaker and co-founder of Underwater Earth), Sophie Ansel (a virtual reality filmmaker), Raymond Chavez (a producer for Guardians of the Kingdom), and Susan Grella (an associate producer for emerging media at Vulcan Productions) to hear about the process behind the incredible VR film, Guardians of the Kingdom! The film tells the story of the Tongan people as they transitioned from a whaling economy to one based on eco-tourism. 

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Click here to learn more about the VR film Guardians of the Kingdom: https://www.vulcanproductions.com/guardians-of-the-kingdom

This week we're continuing our Sitka, Alaska series with the Education Director of the Sitka Sound Science Center! Janet Clarke's job is to help connect the people and students of Sitka to the incredible research that's taking place in their backyards. She spearheads the SSSC's Scientists in the Schools unit, which brings a working scientist into every Sitka school classroom every single year and which has bolstered Sitka's science literacy rates way above the statewide average! Listen in as we discuss the programs that the Science Center is currently involved in, as well as the importance of programs like the Sitka WhaleFest celebration!

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Click here to learn more about Sitka Whalefest: https://sitkawhalefest.org

Click here to learn more about the Sitka Sound Science Center: https://www.sitkascience.org

Todd Tanner is the driver behind Conservation Hawks, a nonprofit group of hunters and anglers that are working to protect the environment. They're taking it upon themselves to identify and address the single biggest threat to our hunting & fishing activities: climate change. The more time a person spends outdoors the more they'll care for the health of our planet, and who spends more time outdoors than hunters and anglers? Listen in to hear about the waves that Todd Tanner and Conservation Hawks are making in the world of environmental protection!

Click here to learn more about Conservation Hawks: https://www.conservationhawks.org

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

To kick off Season 2 of Conservation Connection, we're starting with our first ever husband and wife team, Keisha Bahr and Danny Coffey! Keisha is a coral researcher who has been examining the causes and effects of the global phenomenon called coral bleaching, and Danny investigates the movement patterns of large pelagic fish and sharks with advanced wildlife tagging technology. We caught up with this duo at Sitka WhaleFest 2019 in Sitka, Alaska, where Keisha was presenting her research to ocean-loving members of the public. Listen in to hear about their journeys from high-schooler to researcher, their current work, and their favorite moments from the field!

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Click here to learn more about Sitka Whalefest: https://sitkawhalefest.org

Click here to learn more about the Sitka Sound Science Center: https://www.sitkascience.org

To kick off Season 2 of Conservation Connection, we're starting with our first ever husband and wife team, Keisha Bahr and Danny Coffey! Keisha is a coral researcher who has been examining the causes and effects of the global phenomenon called coral bleaching, and Danny investigates the movement patterns of large pelagic fish and sharks with advanced wildlife tagging technology. We caught up with this duo at Sitka WhaleFest 2019 in Sitka, Alaska, where Keisha was presenting her research to ocean-loving members of the public. Listen in to hear about their journeys from high-schooler to researcher, their current work, and their favorite moments from the field!

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Click here to learn more about Sitka Whalefest: https://sitkawhalefest.org

Click here to learn more about the Sitka Sound Science Center: https://www.sitkascience.org

We know you've been waiting patiently, and all of that waiting is about to pay off BIG TIME! One week from today, the Last Chance Endeavors team is launching Conservation Connection Season 2. We've traveled across the country and met with huge names in the field of conservation to bring you a second season of incredible content. Tune in on Sunday, November 17th to hear the first episode of the new season. See you then!

Glenn Prickett is the mastermind behind Rock Creek Strategies, a consulting firm that "helps companies, investors, and organizations incorporate the value of nature in economic development". So what does that mean? It means that Glenn crunches the numbers to find ways for businesses to help protect nature AND their bottom line at the same time! Need to remove carbon pollution that your factory is producing? Well you could pay to install carbon scrubbers on the top of your smoke stacks, or you could protect native forests that provide the same amount of carbon pollution removal! When you take into account all the economic value that nature provides, you realize that it makes financial sense to protect our planet. 

Click here to learn more about Rock Creek Strategies, LLC: https://www.rockcreekstrat.com

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Sarah and Daniel sit down with us at SeaWorld's Park to Planet Weekend to describe the ways in which they are inspiring the next generation to care about aquatic systems and the environment. These two incredibly passionate educators go above and beyond for their students, exposing them to real world aquatic systems and the ways in which every day choices impact them. Listen in to discover why their aquatic science program has doubled in size in just four years!

Don Hartsell, the first commissioner of the World Air League and a member of The Explorer's Club, is promoting energy efficient cargo transportation by organizing a world first: an airship race around the globe! Harkening back to the days of new frontiers and untested technology, the World Air League is organizing an eighteen-leg circumnavigation race where the vessels competing are lighter-than-air crafts that float across the sky with minimal energy consumption. This is the first time in human history that an airship race has sought to circle the globe, and the organizers are hoping to use it to bring attention to possible solutions that greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with cargo transportation! With an incredible story to tell and the passion to tell it, Don Hartsell will have you wondering why airship cargo transport isn't commonplace today. 

If you'd like to learn more about the World Sky Race, visit their website! http://www.worldskyrace.com

David Marquis is an activist, writer, political powerhouse, and all around renaissance man with a burning passion for creating lasting environmental change. We sat down with him at EarthX in Dallas to discuss his goals for the city over the next few decades, including the ways that Dallas needs to respond in order to conserve the largest urban forest in America and the Trinity Watershed that serves half the population of the Lone Star State.  His goal is to take the energy of activist movements and carry it "beyond the march" by implementing lasting changes to city ordinances and institutional policy that will protect the environment for years to come! He also stressed that each person has a role to play in this movement: no matter what you do you can do it green!

If you'd like to learn more about the venture capital firm mentioned in this episode, click here to listen to episode 009!

Here are some of our favorite quotes from this episode:

"We’ve got to ask how do we move people around, not how do we move cars around"

"Everybody has a place in this movement, in changing the world and making it a better place. Whether its becoming a city planner, or a conservationist... whatever it might be."

"We can’t all be speakers, we can’t all be politicians, we can’t all be elected officials, but there’s a place for everyone doing this work to save the environment, to save our planet."

"Whatever you do, do it green and make it last."