Earth to Humans

Today we are digging into our interview archives to explore a particularly bizarre and fascinating question - how can an endangered species recovery program assist in solving a missing-persons case?  The interviews that you’ll be hearing in today’s episode were recorded during production for my first film, Scavenger Hunt, an hour long documentary about California condor recovery and the issue of lead poisoning from spent ammunition.  In addition to former condor recovery program field manager Eddie Feltes, you’ll also be hearing from condor field biologist Sean Putz, as well as from myself.  I spent 4 years working as a condor biologist, and recorded several self-interviews while working on this film project almost a decade ago. Now, most of the time when we discuss the benefits that saving an endangered species might have on human populations, we’re talking about the intrinsic beauty of an animal, or the biological role that animal plays in an ecosystem.  Sometimes we might even delve into the topic of ecosystem services - what benefits does an ecosystem as a whole provide to human communities and how does this one species help that ecosystem thrive. But today, we’re talking about how California condors are able to directly assist law enforcement officers in the recovery of the bodies of people who go missing in Grand Canyon National Park. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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Today’s guest on the show rode his bike over 2,000 miles from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific coast - carrying a trailer with a life-sized rhino behind him!  Matt Meyer is a South African safari guide who was inspired to take action to help protect declining rhino populations - and just this past week he completed what he calls the Rhino Ride! Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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Today’s guests on the show are working to empower local entrepreneurs and bring solar power to the Buffer Zone communities of Nepal.  Moira Hanes is the co-founder and board chair of Empowered by Light, and Anya Cherneff is the co-founder and executive director of Empower Generation.   These two organizations have come together to implement a project that will provide solar  power to ranger stations within Chitwan National Park in Nepal.  These rangers are on the front lines of protecting wildlife from poaching, which is serious problem in this unique National Park.  But Empowered by Light and Empower Generation are doing so much more than just assisting park rangers in protecting wildlife - they are empowering local entrepreneurs, and demonstrating the ability of solar power technology to leapfrog fossil fuel infrastructure. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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Today’s guest on the show is Monica Bond from the Wild Nature Institute.  Monica was one of our first guests on the podcast - she was featured in episode 6 of the show.  At that time we had recently completed two short films about the research and conservation work being conducted by the Wild Nature Institute in Tanzania - and we’ll get a quick update on these important conservation projects going on in East Africa before delving into the main topic of today’s conversation - the ecological importance of the hottest, most intense forest fires. In addition to today's podcast episode, we have just released a new short film, produced in partnership with the Wild Nature Institute on this topic of forest fire ecology and research, called A New Message for Smokey. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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In today’s show we are exploring and comparing the extinction crises experienced by two very different wildlife species - the California condor, and the vaquita. If you’ve been following the latest news about the vaquita, then you’ve probably already heard a number of comparisons between the situation faced by this small species of porpoise and that faced by the condor in the early 1980s.  A lot of folks have been drawing this comparison between these two high profile endangered species issues - but how similar are the situations faced by these two animals really? Having spent six years of my life working very closely with the California condor recovery project - first as a biologist, then as a filmmaker and storyteller, I have been steeped in the natural history and the conservation history of this unique scavenging species.  This is in part why I was so interested in getting involved in telling the story behind the vaquita - I saw it as an opportunity to document this species’ extinction crisis as it unfolds.  So let’s start with the most obvious similarity that folks have been pointing to - the rate of decline and the low population numbers.  The wild population of California condors dropped to 21 individuals in 1981.  This is quite similar to the latest population estimate that we’ve gotten for the vaquita - 30 individuals as of fall 2016.  Listen in to hear more about these two unique endangered species issues, including interview clips from prominent experts on both the condor and the vaquita. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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Today we are bringing you a very special episode from Eyes on Conservation correspondent Kristin Tieche.  Some of you may recognize Kristin’s voice from the episode that we did on the March for Science - she was reporting from the San Francisco March for Science event in episode 119 of the show. As many of our listeners are likely aware, the following Saturday after the March for Science was another day of action - the People’s Climate March.  Kristin didn't just participate in this march - she volunteered with Rock the Bike, an organization that creates pedal-powered events and activities.  This is the story behind what Kristin experienced at the People's Climate March in Oakland, CA. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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We’re taking this week off, but thought we’d dig into our archives and re-visit one of our most popular episodes of the show - episode 53 about the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  This interview with the conservation director of the Audubon Society of Portland, Bob Sallinger, was conducted back in January of 2016 while the occupation was still going on.  Bob put the situation in context by providing some important historical background on the refuge, which was created back in 1908.  Bob also told the fascinating story behind the establishment of a new set of management goals that were recently created for the refuge, and how local residents were included in this decision making process in an unprecedented way. It’s been over a year since the armed occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  Since this episode aired we saw the dramatic conclusion to the standoff, as well as the acquittal of those who participated in the armed occupation.  A new Frontline documentary, called American Patriot tells the story behind this armed occupation, as well as the larger movement behind the occupation.  The film premiered on PBS just this week, and is available to stream online - follow the link below to check it out. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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Today’s guest on the show is Zak Smith from the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Zak is a Senior Attorney at NRDC, and has been running the group’s Marine Mammal Protection Project for the past 10 years.  Through this work, he has become deeply involved in efforts to save the vaquita from extinction. If you’re wondering what a vaquita is - it’s a small species of porpoise found in the northern Gulf of California, and is considered to be the world’s most endangered marine mammal with fewer than 30 individuals remaining on the planet.  If you’re a regular listener of the show - you’re likely very familiar with the vaquita issue since we’ve been covering it extensively here on the show for the past two years, and just released a 30-min documentary about the struggle to save it from extinction.  The film, by the way, is called Souls of the Vermilion Sea, and is available for free online streaming if you click here. Zak’s most recent role in the fight to prevent the vaquita’s extinction has been the implementation of a boycott of Mexican shrimp.  Although the vast majority of shrimp fishing that goes on in Mexican waters does not impact the vaquita (because it occurs outside the vaquita’s range), Zak hopes that this boycott will put pressure on the Mexican government to step up enforcement of the existing regulations that are designed to protect the vaquita - including the ban on the use of all gillnets in the region. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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Today on the podcast we are discussing a particularly interesting viral media story that I’m guessing a bunch of folks out there in the audience may have come across recently. Researchers Evan Buechley and Ethan Frehner recently published a scientific paper about an interesting and previously undocumented behavior of a very common species here in the North American West - the American badger.  Evan and Ethan captured time-lapse footage showing a badger bury an entire cow carcass. Now not only did they publish a scientific paper about the discovery of this behavior of badgers, but they also released a clip of the timelapse video footage showing this badger bury the carcass over the course of several days. The video, and the entire story went viral.  The original video clip uploaded to the University of Utah’s YouTube channel now has well over 1 million views, and the story has been covered by the New York Times, National Geographic, NPR, Science Magazine, USA Today - and countless other mainstream news outlets. So Evan and Ethan have been busy giving interviews and talking about a species that they didn’t even intend to be the subject of their research!  Luckily for us - Evan is a close friend of mine - we worked together as California condor field biologists 10 years ago, and Evan actually joined us for an early episode of the EOC podcast - episode 16 about his research on Egyptian vultures in Ethiopia. So I was able to convince Evan to join us again for today’s episode - but I also wanted to take this opportunity to talk about the reasons why this story went viral.  As scientists and science communicators, we’re constantly striving to reach people beyond our inner circle with important research and information about science and conservation, and this story presents an unique example that we can learn from. To aid in this learning process I also invited Dr. Brad Okdie, who studies the psychology behind viral media at Ohio State University. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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As many of our listeners are likely aware, we engaged in an experiment this past weekend and sent five EOC correspondents out to cover five different March for Science events all across the US.  Today’s episode is the end result of that experiment! The episode starts off in Washington, D.C. - the main event this past Saturday, Earth Day 2017.  The Washington, D.C. march was attended by tens of thousands of people, and featured a number of prominent speakers.  Although many scientific issues were raised, a common theme throughout the day was climate change.  Speakers addressed the need for politicians to recognize the scientific consensus regarding our role in causing this crisis, as well as the role of science in finding ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Our goal with this episode was to create something of a soundscape, allowing listeners to understand what it felt like to participate in one of these March for Science events.  In addition to the Washington, D.C. march, you'll hear interviews and audio from marches in San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, OR and Boise, ID.  The interviews range from highly prominent scientists and researchers, to curious onlookers experiencing their very first event of this type. In addition to this podcast episode, many of our EOC March for Science correspondents were recording live footage directly to our Eyes on Conservation facebook page, and these videos are still available to view on that page.  If you want to share an experience that you had at a March for Science event, we encourage you to either leave a comment at the bottom of this page, or head on over to our EOC podcast facebook group (we keep this group private to protect people's privacy, so you'll have to request access if you want to join the discussion) where we'll be facilitating ongoing conversation about the March for Science and other upcoming events. Join private conversations with top authors and access exclusive bonus content!

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