Fancy Scientist with Dr. Stephanie Manka

I was recently featured on an Instagram live hosted by @shine.science and I was asked the question, “How do you handle negative comments on social media?” I had such a long answer that I thought it would make an excellent podcast episode!

I’ve been putting myself out there (and by there I mean the Internet) since about 2010 when I started a professional Twitter account and blog. Eleven years later (where has the time gone??) I am still here and in the last few years I’ve put myself even out there more with the creation of a YouTube channel and this podcast.  

No matter how amazing you are, you will receive some negative comments if you do science communication. In this episode, I talk specifically about how I handle my negative comments and what you should expect if you put yourself out there just as much as me. 

Specifically I talk about and cover:

• What is science communication and why in the world would a scientist choose to do it? 
• Why I choose to do science communication and why it’s important
• What scientists are scared of if they were to put themselves out there
• A summary of my experience with negative comments and my categorization of comments: Trolling,
• negative, but informative, and disagreements
• All of the tools, techniques, and thoughts I use to deal with these comments such as:
• Reprogramming my brain using neuroscience
• Putting things in perspective and changing the meaning of comments
• How to immediately disarm nasty comments
• Why getting haters is a good thing
• Evaluating myself: Am I doing anything to attract negative comments?
• Use my comments as sources of material for content creation
• Creating a happy folder
• Visualizations that help me
• AND MORE!

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: 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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

What you eat has a huge impact on wildlife and that’s true for the ocean too. Commercial fishing can have large-scale negative impacts on dolphins, turtles, and whole ecosystems. Overfishing can endanger the species that is fished affecting ecosystems and our food availability.  

Some people advocate for stopping to eat seafood all together, but this may not be the best option for us and sea life. A better option is sustainable seafood – but what is this? And how do you know what to buy? 

I invited Jackie Marks of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to the podcast to talk about everything sustainable seafood. I’ve been looking for the MSC logo every time I buy fish for the past few years now. In this podcast we talk about what that certification represents. 

Specifically we talk about:

• What is sustainable seafood? How does it differ from regular seafood? Is there such a thing as sustainable fishing or it is a myth? 
• What is the Marine Stewardship Council? How do companies earn the certification on their products? What does it mean to be certified? 
• Do we still need to buy dolphin safe tuna? How is MSC different than dolphin safe?
• Should people go completely vegan/vegetarian? What would be the consequences of that? 
• Are there specific species we should avoid? General recommendations when ordering seafood? 
• What did Seaspiracy get wrong? And what did they get right? How did they misrepresent the MSC?
• and MORE!

Remember, when it comes to change, he key is to always move towards progress – not perfection. It is way better to have lots of people taking action imperfectly than few people getting it all right. 

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Sunday at 7 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Do you have a backyard? Front yard? Balcony? Access to a rooftop? Then you can help wildlife!

I invited naturalist David Mizejewski on the podcast to talk about how you can make your yard, balcony, or whatever you have access to more wildlife friendly. David is an author, TV host, and naturalist who works for the National Wildlife Federation spreading messages about conservation in your own backyard. He’s worked for the National Wildlife Federation for 21 years, where they’ve been promoting backyard habitat since he 1970s. 

I’ve talked about backyard habitat before on the podcast, but David goes into much more detail. I am not a plant person and David talks about the importance of building the foundation using native plants. You’ll learn how to restore habitat in your yard one native plant at a time. 

Are you overwhelmed like me? David has you covered with plenty of resources to make landscaping with native plants easy. 

Specifically we talk about: 

• What can people do to make their yards friendlier towards all kinds of wildlife?
• What can you do if you have a small backyard? Or no yard? Can you still help out native wildlife? 
• How backyard habitats help out wildlife and what kinds of wildlife
• Where can you get native plants from? What kinds of native plants should you plant? 
• Where can you go for help if you don’t know what species to plant?
• Should we stop feeding the birds? What is the best way to support birds in your backyard? 
• What should people stop doing to make their yards friendlier to wildlife? 
• and MORE!

For full show notes click here.

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Sunday at 7 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology 

George Gehrig subscribes to the Fancy Scientist and responded to an email of mine asking about the impact of iNaturalist data on science. I thought that sounded like a great topic to discuss, and when I found out that George was the organizer of the City Nature Challenge for Bonner County, I thought – even better!

iNaturalist is an app that anyone with a smartphone can use to take photos of different things in nature, upload them to the platform for identifications, and to connect with members in their community or across the world. 

The City Nature Challenge is an annual event where cities “compete” to find the most species and activate the largest groups of people to get outside and document nature using iNaturalist.

In this episode, we talk about the importance of the City Nature Challenge to science and society, the many reasons why George is organizing one, and how you can get involved. 

Specifically we chat about:

• What is the City Nature Challenge? How was it started? 
• Why do we have a City Nature Challenge? 
• What is a bioblitz?
• How useful are iNaturalist data to scientists? 
• Why and how the City Nature Challenge has meaning beyond spotting species
• How to get people involved and to participate
• What impacts the City Nature Challenge can have on people
• How is a winner determined
• and MORE!

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Sunday at 7 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology 

I became a wildlife biologist because I wanted to save species from extinction. But I’ve learned over my nearly two decades in this field, that we really can’t save species without focusing on ourselves first

When people think of wildlife conservation, they often conjure up images of scientists in the field with animals, studying where they move, what they eat, or how many there are. This definitely helps in conservation planning, but it doesn’t relieve the threats placed on animals.

To really get to the core of conservation, we have to turn to humans. But how do we do this? 

In this episode, I talk about, in my opinion, the most important aspect of getting people to care about nature – allowing them to have experiences with nature. I believe that the “Extinction of Experience” is the greatest threat to biodiversity conservation. 

This episode is all about explaining the concept of the Extinction of Experience, why it’s been increasing with each generation, and what we can do about it. I go into specifics about how I believe that community science (citizen science) is a means to reverse the extinction process. 

Specifically I talk about:

• How I went from a scientist who only wanted to study animals to one who is super interested in people
• What is the Extinction of Experience? 
• What does going outside have to do with conservation?
• The important components of having an “experience” in nature
• How community science is uniquely suited to reverse the Extinction of Experience
• Results of a study I conducted on the outcomes of community scientist volunteers
• What we can do to encourage people to get involved in community science
• and MORE!

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Sunday at 7 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology 

Last week I talked about how you can make your front and backyard wildlife-friendly, and this week, I’m talking specifically about mammals! Lots of people want to welcome mammals into their yards, but don’t do it in the best way. In fact, by doing some things wrong, you could actually end up hurting and even indirectly killing mammals. 

As a wildlife biologist who has studied mammals for nearly two decades, in this episode I talk about what you can do to welcome mammals into your yard in a way that aligns with the animals’ natural ecology. 

I also talk about what kind of mammals you might expect to see in your yard if you live in the Eastern United States and a study I was a part of where we assessed the species richness and biodiversity of mammals across wild, rural, exurban, and suburban backyards in Raleigh, NC and Washington DC. 

At the end of the podcast, I share some results from my study on animals from a different kind of yard: schoolyards. I worked with teachers and their students in four different countries around the world to photograph mammals that visited schoolyards in Kenya, India, Mexico, and North Carolina. We were shocked by what we found!

Specifically I go over:

• The best ways that you can help wild mammals and welcome them into your yard naturally
• Things that people should stop doing that actually harm mammals in the long run
• What kind of mammals you will see if you live in the eastern US and some fun facts about them
• Results from our study on mammal richness and diversity across an urban to wild gradient
• Results from our study on kid camera trappers and what species they found in their schoolyards

Do you welcome mammals into your back yard? Post your photos on Instagram or Twitter and tag me in it. I’d love to share what you find.

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Sunday at 7 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology 

When most people think of conservation, they tend to think of faraway animals like tigers, elephants, and jaguars, or faraway places like the Amazon rainforest, Serengeti plains, or Yellowstone National Park. But conservation can start in your own backyard! 

Historically, we tend to think of protecting animals in parks and other protected areas, putting animals in a separate space than humans. But the truth is that animals are all around us and they need us. 

While protected areas are critical to maintaining healthy populations of wildlife species, they alone cannot support biodiversity. This is especially true for larger animals, like the tigers, elephants, and jaguars mentioned above. Most protected areas are not big enough for large populations and animals often go outside of park boundaries.

Animals use green spaces in between protected areas to make up their home range. Or they may completely live on these green spaces. These spaces include places like undeveloped land, office parks, schoolyards, and your own backyard.

Backyards are especially important for species that migrate, as they need safe places to rest and forage for food. 

In this podcast, you’ll learn how to make your backyard more wildlife friendly. Even if your yard is small, there is still a lot you can do to help out animals. Listen to this podcast for all of the tips and let me know what you do to help wildlife. 

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Sunday at 7 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

The inspiration for all of my writing and videos stems from animals. So often people want to become a wildlife biologist because they want to help animals. They envision themselves conducting important research to grow populations or captive-rearing animals for reintroductions. But I’ve learned through all of my years of research, that to really help animals we need to take a look at ourselves. 

And the truth is all animals will be affected by climate change – including us. So if we really care about animals, we have to think and do something about these larger issues and we can’t only talk about species-specific problems. 

For my Earth month series, I’m kicking it off by talking about this big issue of climate change. Most Americans now recognize it is human caused and that we need to so something about it. Many are even experiencing climate anxiety and/or grief. 

I recently read an article about how doing something about climate change can actually alleviate grief. I thought now would be the perfect time to empower you all with actions that you can do to help alleviate climate change. 

In this week’s podcast, I offer you 21 different ways you can contribute to fighting climate change starting off with the most impactful things you can do based on research to the ones you still should do, but that have less of an effect. 

The key is to always move towards progress – not perfection. It is way better to have lots of people taking action imperfectly than few people getting it all right. 

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: 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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Show notes: https://stephanieschuttler.com/climate-change-empowerment-changes-you-can-make-for-maximum-impact/

This week I talked to Dr. Mark “Merriweather” Vorderbruggen about foraging for your own food. I’ve blogged and podcasted before about having a more sustainable diet, but foraging is not something that came across my mind until Mark reached out to me. I’ll have to add it to my posts!

In brief, foraging is the practice of people going out and collecting their own food from the wild. Usually it is limited to plants and fungi (as with animals it is called hunting). 

I went into this podcast pretty much knowing nothing about foraging – and I had so much fun talking with Mark about what it is, how to get started, and why so many people are doing it. I was shocked at how available many wild edible foods are! 

Specifically we talk about:

• What is foraging and the many ways it can benefit humans
•  Why are so many people turning to foraging? 
• Where can you forage? Do you have to go far? 
• The many benefits of foraging for people
• How to do foraging right so you don’t get sick
• How to know what to forage and how much to take
• The difference between foraging and poaching
• and MORE!

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Wednesday at 12 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

In today’s podcast, I talk to academic Coach Dr. Katy Peplin of Thrive Ph.D. Katy founded Thrive PhD in 2017, where she started out coaching acquaintances to now having a thriving business with clients all over the world and in all disciplines, who have achieved all kinds of success.

Katy helps academics going through grad school because “she gets it.” She is an advocate for students and prides herself on being a real human too.

I hope you enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Katy. Specifically we talk about:

In this chat, we talk about what she does as a coach, what kinds of services she offers for students, and how you can benefit. We also talk about turning from academics into entrepreneurs and her research on cute animal videos – for real!

• Katy’s path to becoming an academic coach after her Ph.D. 
• What is a career coach and how graduate students can benefit from having one
• Why your advisor and committee members may not offer all of the support you need while in graduate school
• Why is graduate school so hard? How it differs tremendously from undergrad
• What are the things that students struggle with in graduate school
• The types of services Katy provides: her one-on-one coaching and membership group
• Imposer syndrome: advice and how rampant it is in academia
• Starting and running a business after being an academic
• Cute animal videos (for real!) – Katy did her Ph.D. on this. We chat briefly about how animals in videos, documentaries, and social media affect the way people think about them
• and MORE!

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” here: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/

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/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

I go live in my Facebook group every other Wednesday at 12 PM EST to answer a wildlife biology question. Join me! https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/ 

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/gettingajobinwildlifebiology