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Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠ and catch up on seasons one through three ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, ⁠⁠X⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

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As a science journalist, Ed Yong spends a lot of time writing about nature without actually being immersed in it. After three years of covering the COVID pandemic, Ed found himself anxious, depressed, and in need of a change - despite winning the Pulitzer Prize. He took a step back from pandemic reporting to write a book about nature.

During this time, Ed also discovered something that prompted him to fall in love with nature in a way he never had before. Birding brought him renewed joy and helped him realize that curiosity, empathy, and a “childlike” fascination with nature might be precisely what we need to reconnect with and save the world around us, as well as to foster community in times of need.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four ⁠HERE⁠ and catch up on seasons one through three ⁠HERE⁠. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, ⁠X⁠, and ⁠Facebook⁠. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Sign up for Nature's newsletter: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/

Ella Al-Shamahi grew up a creationist, but her perspective shifted when she studied evolution at university. Today, she’s a paleoanthropologist who hunts fossils in unstable territories to uncover the overlooked stories of human evolution. Ella is a fierce advocate for conducting research in places where people don’t usually do science, and she believes these under-researched places are the frontier of scientific discovery. 

Through her archeological pursuits, Ella is not only working to eliminate the blind spot of Western science, but she’s also shedding light on the least understood people and places on Earth. She envisions a world where “conflict zones” aren’t just seen as war-torn landscapes, but as places where life continues and discoveries are possible. 

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four HERE and catch up on seasons one through three HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on Instagram, TikTok, X, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Sign up for NATURE's Newsletter here: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/

Growing up in her Lubicon Cree community in northern Alberta, Melina Laboucan-Massimo witnessed the destruction of her once-pristine boreal forests for oil.

A massive oil spill in Melina’s community became the catalyst to launch an initiative that would bring not only clean energy jobs to her community, but a vision for a just and equitable transition to renewable energy.

But after decades of putting her body on the line to fight for the land and her people, Melina hit a breaking point. Learn how she redefined what it means to care for the collective while also taking care of herself. 

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four HERE and catch up on seasons one through three HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on Instagram, TikTok, X, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

For more NATURE, sign up for our newsletter: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/

Alexis Nikole Nelson, better known to her millions of fans as @blackforager, was raised by a mother who is an avid gardener and a father who loves to cook. Foraging allowed Alexis to fuse her love for wild plants and food from a very young age. But before Alexis became the @blackforager we all know today, there was a period in her life where Alexis lost that love and connection to foraging, and where food became very much the enemy.

By rediscovering her childhood love of foraging and falling back in love with food and plants, Alexis has inspired millions of her fans to discover the abundance growing freely around them and rethink their own relationship to food.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. We're really excited to share the rest of this season with you! You can learn more about season four HERE and catch up on seasons one through three HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on Instagram, TikTok, X, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Welcome back to Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn Grant, a different kind of nature show about the human drama of saving animals. This season, we're talking to all sorts of nature advocates. From a paleoanthropologist who hunts fossils in conflict zones to someone who helped save an endangered species while in prison. We will hear from real-life heroes with widely different expertise and life experiences that led them to be champions for the natural world. 

What transformation did they undergo to create change within themselves, their community and the world? Together, we'll discover how these ordinary people fell in love with nature and became their most extraordinary selves. This is Going Wild.

As a climate solutions advocate, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is often asked “What are some small things people can do to reduce climate change that don’t require sacrifices?” But the truth is electric cars and solar panels won’t be enough. Climate success will require us to change our relationship with the natural world. We must not view nature as resources to manage, but as kin. 

In this final episode of the season, we’ll explore solutions to our climate emergency via a conversation with close friends Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant and Dr. Johnson. They dive deep into how we can actually protect our bodies of water.

Follow Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and author of What If We Get It Right?  on her Website and on Instagram. Credit for the photo used in this podcast art: Marcus Branch.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season three HERE and catch up on seasons one and two HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

You can also get updates and bonus content by following me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and PBS Nature on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

In a city that loves celebrities, one mountain lion became the mascot for conservation efforts that eventually led to the creation of California’s first wildlife corridor. But one wildlife corridor, even if it’s the largest in the world, isn’t enough.

Some populations of mountain lions in Southern California are struggling to survive — threatened by habitat loss caused by urban developments, lack of genetic diversity, and vehicle collisions.

As wildlife conservationists are working to save these endangered mountain lion populations, another debate is ensuing over how to include indigenous perspectives in the conservation efforts. Because mountain lions aren’t the only native beings struggling to survive in a world with an unchecked appetite for sprawl and urbanization.

Follow Desireé Reneé Martinez, Tongva Tribal Archaeologist and the President of Cogstone Resource Management on Facebook and LinkedIn and follow Miguel Ordeñana, Natural History Museum wildlife biologist, and environmental educator on Instagram.

Photo credit for Miguel's episode art: Noé Montes / High Country News.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. We're really excited to share the rest of this season with you! You can learn more about season three HERE and catch up on seasons one and two HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

You can also get updates and bonus content by following me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and PBS Nature on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

In 2016, Hurricane Earl devastated Belize, causing over $100 million worth of damage and displacing thousands of Belizeans across the country. But humans were not the only victims of the storm. Deep in the mangroves, an infant manatee was separated from her mother and washed onto the mainland. She was so tiny when Jamal Galves found her, with her umbilical cord still attached. He named her Hope.

After 7 years in rehabilitation, Hope the Manatee is soon to be released back into the wild. But as development and climate change continue to affect the waterways she calls home, what will her future hold? 

Hope's savior, Jamal Galves, also known as The Manatee Man, was just 11 years old when he began his journey in manatee conservation, volunteering with a crew of scientists in the small Belizean fishing village where he grew up. At one time, manatees were such a common sight in the area that the village of Gales Point Manatee itself was named after them. But today there are less than 1,000 Antillean Manatees left in this part of the world. In the 25 years since his first volunteer expedition, Galves has worked with hundreds of these animals, but Hope holds a special place in his (and the nation's) heart. 

Follow Jamal on Instagram.

Photo credit for this episode art: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. We're really excited to share the rest of this season with you! You can learn more about season three HERE and catch up on seasons one and two HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

You can also get updates and bonus content by following me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and PBS Nature on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Long before the infamous Central Park incident went viral (where a white woman called the cops on him during a birdwatching outing), Christian Cooper had been obsessed with birds. It was a love nurtured through his involvement in The Audubon Society, an environmental organization dedicated to bird conservation. 

But recently, Christian’s dedication to and love for this organization has been put to the test. We’ll hear how growing up as a closeted queer person in the 80s, a career contributing to Marvel comics, and a life spent paying attention to birds has prepared Christian to navigate controversies and side with what is right.

Follow Christian Cooper on Instagram.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. We're really excited to share the rest of this season with you! You can learn more about season three HERE and catch up on seasons one and two HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

You can also get updates and bonus content by following me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and PBS Nature on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.