Life’s Tough, Explorers Are TOUGHER!

What if becoming a conservationist didn't start in a rainforest, an ocean, or some distant wilderness—but in your own backyard?

On this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, Richard Wiese sits down with conservationist, biologist, filmmaker, and storyteller Justin Grubb. Justin traces his career back to a childhood creek in central Ohio, where watching a place he loved change because of development taught him just how fragile local habitats can be.

Justin shares how habitat restoration gave him hope, why America's obsession with manicured lawns leaves enormous opportunities for wildlife conservation, and why insects deserve far more appreciation than they get. He also explains how filmmaking can make conservation more relatable, why hopeful storytelling matters, and how he's designing his own home to coexist more intentionally with wildlife.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

Imani Black grew up near the Chesapeake Bay, but a third-grade science camp changed the trajectory of her life. What started as a childhood fascination with oysters, blue crabs, and marine restoration eventually became a career in aquaculture—and a mission to make sure more people have an opportunity to build careers on the water.

In this episode of Life's Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Richard Wiese talks with Imani about founding Minorities in Aquaculture (MIA), the barriers she encountered as a young woman of color working on oyster farms, and why representation alone isn't enough. Imani explains how MIA has grown into a workforce-development organization creating internships, training, community, and pathways into the seafood industry.

Imani also opens up about the realities of becoming the CEO of an organization she initially wished existed for herself, why leadership can be lonely, and how the changing DEI conversation has forced her to become more intentional about communicating MIA's mission. Her ultimate goal is ambitious: make MIA a household name in aquaculture and create a pipeline of people employers immediately want to hire.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In todays episode of Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher Richard Wiese sits down with Nigerian conservation scientist Charles Emogor, to explore why pangolins have become the world's most trafficked mammal and what it actually takes to protect them. 

Charles shares his journey from growing up in southeastern Nigeria to becoming one of the leading voices in pangolin conservation. Along the way, he explains why successful conservation is far more complicated than simply telling people to stop hunting wildlife. Through science, community partnerships, education, and local leadership, Charles is building a model that could reshape conservation efforts across Africa.

This conversation explores wildlife, psychology, leadership, storytelling, and why lasting change always starts with understanding people first. 

Photograph by Omini Bassey (ngs6); Edet Etim (ngs7-8) and Joel Porter/Alex Moore (other photos) 

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Andreas Heide, Norwegian marine biologist, filmmaker, expedition sailor, and explorer talks about a life shaped by the ocean. From receiving his first small boat at age ten to training as a military combat diver and leading expeditions into Arctic waters, Andreas explains how curiosity, freedom, and extreme environments shaped the person he became.

The conversation moves through some of his most extraordinary wildlife experiences, including the emotion of seeing blue whales that humanity once pushed close to extinction and the calculated risk of entering freezing water with wild orcas. Andreas shares what years of tracking killer whales have taught him about their behavior, why he worries more about losing his boat than being attacked, and what it feels like when a massive bull orca moves behind you underwater.

But this episode goes beyond adventure. Andreas wrestles with the complicated ethics of whaling, fishing, industrial agriculture, plastic pollution, and personal responsibility. As a filmmaker, he argues that people are saturated with statistics and fear. His goal is to show the beauty still worth protecting, the species that have recovered, and the reason no one should dismiss their own impact by saying they are only one person among eight billion.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Richard Wiese sits down with Icelandic innovator Björk Brynjarsdóttir, who is reimagining one of humanity’s oldest problems: waste.

By transforming food scraps through microbial fermentation, Björk’s work turns household waste into a powerful tool for restoring degraded soils. Her mission is especially urgent in Iceland, where landscapes once covered in birch forests have suffered centuries of erosion and now require new approaches to bring life back to the land.

The conversation explores everything from the hidden world beneath our feet to the global consequences of synthetic fertilizers and food systems. Björk reveals how local, convenient waste solutions can reduce transportation, strengthen communities, and give people a direct connection to environmental restoration.

At its heart, this episode is about changing our relationship with what we throw away—and discovering that the things we consider worthless may hold the key to rebuilding the natural world.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Richard Wiese speaks with filmmaker, explorer, and ice diver Andrew Budziak about his project Freeze the Future — a conservation initiative studying the hidden ecosystems beneath frozen lakes.

Andrew explains how scientists recently discovered productive algae communities growing underneath lake ice, reshaping assumptions about winter freshwater ecosystems. Through dangerous under-ice diving expeditions across Canada, his team is gathering some of the first-ever direct samples of this algae to better understand how climate change and disappearing winters may impact freshwater food webs.

The conversation also explores the power of storytelling in conservation. Andrew shares how cinematic visuals and emotional narratives helped transform a seemingly niche scientific subject into a project that captured public attention and funding support. He argues that conservation storytelling must first inspire awe before audiences are willing to care about the science behind it.

The episode closes with reflections on discomfort, adventure, modern society’s disconnect from nature, and why exposing younger generations to the outdoors may be one of the most important investments we can make.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Richard Wiese sits down with Serena McCalla — National Geographic Explorer, molecular scientist, educator, and mentor featured in the acclaimed documentary Science Fair.

Serena shares her journey from growing up in a hardworking immigrant family to building one of the most successful high school science research programs in the country. She explains how curiosity, discipline, and sacrifice shaped her path, and how she pushed students beyond traditional academic expectations to compete on a national and international level.

The conversation dives into the realities of modern education, the pressure students face today, and the growing challenge of misinformation in the digital age. Serena argues that schools must move beyond memorization and focus on teaching students how to think critically, solve problems, and pursue work they genuinely care about.

At its core, this episode is about ambition, resilience, mentorship, and the belief that education can completely change the trajectory of a life.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Hugues de Kerdrel joins Richard Wiese to share the story behind Mission William - a global initiative aimed at protecting whale sharks and the ecosystems they depend on.

What began as a promise to a young boy evolved into a large-scale conservation effort focused on creating safe migration corridors across the Southeast Atlantic. Hugues explains how little data exists on these animals and how his team is working with governments, scientists, and local fishing communities to build both knowledge and protection systems from the ground up.

The conversation goes beyond conservation to uncover the human cost of global fishing practices. From forced labor at sea to the impact of fish consumption on African communities, Hugues highlights the unseen consequences behind everyday choices. He also challenges common beliefs about sustainable seafood, arguing that even farmed fish contributes to environmental and economic harm.

Through personal stories and hard truths, Hugues emphasizes the need for both policy change and emotional connection to drive real impact. His journey reflects a deeper message about humility, responsibility, and the role each person plays in shaping the future of the planet.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Bertrand Piccard joins Richard Wiese for a conversation about exploration, failure, innovation, and the mindset required to build a better future. Piccard reflects on how repeated failures shaped some of his greatest achievements and explains why curiosity, perseverance, and respect matter far beyond expeditions. For him, exploration is not only about going farther, but about challenging comfort, accepting risk, and staying open to what life can teach.

The conversation also dives into Piccard’s latest project, Climate Impulse, and his larger mission to prove that cleaner aviation and smarter environmental solutions can be practical, profitable, and inspiring. He argues that real change happens when pioneers prove what is possible and when environmental progress is framed not as sacrifice, but as opportunity. Along the way, he shares reflections on spirituality, crisis, aging, and death, describing life itself as the ultimate exploration.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life's Tough, Explorers are Tougher, we celebrate the life of Dr. Birute Galdikas. The amazing life lived, and the legacy that continues to this day.

Dr. Birute Galdikas dedicated over 50 years of her life to studying and protecting orangutans in the rainforests of Borneo. As one of the legendary “Trimates” chosen by Louis Leakey — alongside Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey — Birute helped pioneer the field of primatology and conservation.

She reflected on her journey from graduate student to global conservationist. She shared deeply personal stories about bonding with wild orangutans, the challenges of navigating foreign cultures, and the evolution of orangutan behavior under environmental stress. Birute also opened up about the sacrifices she'd made, her unique role in Indonesian society, and her enduring hope for change.

Hosted by Richard Wiese, this conversation is a tribute to endurance, compassion, and what it truly means to dedicate your life to a cause greater than yourself.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative. 50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

 This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

 This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative.  50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.