Patty Ferguson joins Shea on the podcast to discuss how the Pointe-Au-Chien Tribe is fighting to protect their land against coastal loss and for their tight to be federally recognized as a tribe. The federal recognition would help the tribe in their legal battles with oil and gas companies who cut up their land by creating canals and say that the tribe are trespassing. The battles add to the complications of the land as coastal loss from sea level rise and habitat degradation are becoming very difficult for the tribe to conserve their land and their culture.

Beth Guidry joins Shea on the podcast to discuss how she is dealing with the rapid coastal loss as an educator in Southern Louisiana. Beth tells Shea how her student's lives have changed based on the changes to the landscape. She also gives her perspective on the changes she has seen as someone who grew up in the region and her hope that she sees in the children she teaches.

Dr. Solomon David joins me on the podcast to discuss his recent migration from Michigan to Southern Louisiana, where he is an Associate Professor at Nichols State University teaching and studying aquatic fisheries science. He is THE gar scientist!!!

Solomon tells us why he is interested in studying fisheries science in the region as well as his experience living in Southern Louisiana for less than a year.

Murt Conover joins Shea on the podcast to discuss why Murt settled in Southern Louisiana for 20 years after she had lived in 32 states previously. There is something about this area that entices people to stay here for long periods of time and it's not just work. People, like Murt, fall in love with the area. Murt now works as an Educator at LUMCON to educate students on the wonders and science of the complex habitats that make up Southern Louisiana.

Arlanda Williams joins me on the podcast to discuss how local politics plays a role in protecting the people of Southern Louisiana. Arlanda serves as Vice Chair of the Terrebonne Parrish Council and is also a PhD candidate. I am going to tell you that this woman in AMAZING!

Arlanda breaks down the process of how the Parrish residences voted to raise the sales tax by 1 cent to help pay for a Levee that would protect vulnerable areas. This is not a normal occurrence where people would vote to raise any tax; however, the money comes down to saving their livelihoods.

Dr. Melissa Baustian joins Shea on this episode of the season to tell us about the diverse coastal habitats within the Southern Louisiana Region to give us a sense of the changes that have occurred over the past century. You will notice that Climate Change and Sea Level Rise is not the only problem within this region, other problems such as the creation of canals and habitat degradation compound the overall problem of coastal loss.

Shea also asks Melissa, who is a resident of the area, about her optimism in the region as a scientist and a resident.

I am very pleased to introduce Shea Steingass to you as we collaborate to create a overall narrative of Coastal Optimism through a series of interviews with various members of the community in Southern Louisiana. All of the people we interviewed live in Southern Louisiana for varying periods of time.

Shea and I discuss how we approached this season and what we wanted to present to you about the great people that we interviewed.

Shea will be hosting several of the podcasts this season and does a fantastic job!

Dr. Craig McClain is into Science Communication and when I say he is into SciComm, this is the man who created Deep Sea News, one of the first marine science blogs. Creating innovative science products is not new to Craig, so when he contacted me about OceanDotComm 2108 and asked me to apply to come to LUMCON, I couldn't say no because I knew this event would be huge even though I didn't know what the event would entail as it was a mystery. Craig and his wonderful staff kept it a mystery from all of the other SciComm Experts. He did it for a reason.

Take a listen to find out why Craig kept the SciComm theme a mystery and why he chose the theme he did.

OceanDotComm18 is a new event that brings together 50 science communicators all walks of life and professions to discuss one single topic. There are many forms of science communication products that will be published by the end of the 5 day event. Of course, I decided to use Speak Up For Blue's platform to collaborate with Shea Steingass, a PhD candidate for Oregon State University, to develop a series of short interviews to reveal the resilience and optimism of the local residence from the Southern Louisiana region.

Alain Clavette, a CBC Radio host and avid birder, joins me on the podcast today to talk all about seabirds. We don't talk a lot about seabirds on this podcast because I don't know much about them; however, Alain does know about them and he passionately talks with me about his excursions with other birders on the Bay of Fundy to search for pelagic birds.

Enjoy the Podcast!!!

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