No Such Word as Can’t

Isa Brasseur has been a marine mammal trainer for over two decades. Beginning at Boudewijn Seapark in Belgium, she then moved to Marineland Antibes to work with the killer whales. After building a bond with Valentin and Freya, she was lucky enough to get into the water and swim with the whales too. Nowadays, she is the head of conservation, research and education at Marineland - organizing research projects that benefit wild marine animals, as well as ensuring that park visitors are educated by her staff. 

Want to know more about Marineland Antibes:

https://www.marineland.fr/

Liv Marks is an entertainment reporter and content producer who routinely seems to ask all of the right questions! Whether she is rubbing shoulders with Hollywood elite, or chatting to us on this podcast - she has the gift of the gab! I made sure to record an episode with her before she becomes the next Graham Norton because believe me - this woman is going places! 

Find her: @olivialilymarks everywhere

https://www.tiktok.com/@olivialilymarks

https://twitter.com/OliviaLilyMarks

https://www.instagram.com/olivialilymarks

https://olivialilymarks.wixsite.com/olivialilymarks

Part 2 of my conversation with Ken Ramirez where we discuss how animal training can be implemented to benefit conservation efforts. Whether that is training wild animals to alert to the presence of poachers, or re-routing elephant migrations - Ken talks about the importance of studying these animals in human care, to better understand and help their wild counterparts. 

A 40+ year veteran of animal care and training, Ramirez is a biologist and animal behaviourist. Ken Ramirez is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training. Ken previously served as the Executive Vice-President of animal care and animal training at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and is well known for authoring numerous texts on Animal behaviour and training. 

This week I recorded an episode with my mum! You guys had been asking for it so here it is - she shares her own experiences of life, what inspired the name for this podcast, and what it was like supporting her daughter as she tried to make a seemingly impossible dream her reality - enjoy!

Luke is the Executive Director at Island Dolphin Care, Key Largo Florida. Starting out working with horses in the UK, his passion for animals only grew to encompass marine mammals. When he took a leap of faith and applied to intern at Dolphins Plus in Florida, it turned into a career! 

He talks about the positive effects of the people he has seen experience dolphin assisted therapy - and how these animals can touch the lives of people who need them most. 

Want to learn more about Island Dolphin Care?

https://islanddolphincare.org/

So Beautifully Broken:

https://sobeautifullybroken.com/

Dr. Kelly Jaakkola is a cognitive psychologist, marine mammal scientist, and Director of Research for DRC. She earned her Master's degree in Psychology from Emory University, where she began her career studying cognition in chimpanzees and human children and received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from MIT. Her past research includes studies on number concepts, object permanence, imitation, and communication in dolphins, chimpanzees, and human children. Her current work focuses on dolphin cognition, communication, and welfare.

Art of Amy Michelle:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtofAmyMichelle

https://www.facebook.com/artofamymichelle/

Andy Donaldson is attempting the Ocean Seven challenge - a marathon swimming challenge where he needs to complete the seven most famous channel crossings in the world. Battling dangerous swells, currents, and wildlife - Andy has already completed the freezing waters of the North Sea to swim the Irish-Scottish channel and the furious currents of the English channel from Dover to Calais. Remaining now are the straits of Gibraltar, the Cook Strait, the Moloka'i channel, Tsugaru strait and the Catalina channel. 

Andy talks about the importance of resilience and mental health and is completing this challenge in order to aid mental health charity The Black Dog Institute. If you wish to donate or read more about Andy, follow the links below:

https://www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/oceansseven

https://www.instagram.com/andy.swimming/

Part One of my conversation with Ken Ramirez involves discussion around the advancement of positive reinforcement training and the idea of human care being 'non-natural'. Ken Ramirez is a veteran animal trainer and has practically written the book on animal training. I was so privileged to be able to speak with him - enjoy!

Dr. Stephanie King is a behavioural biologist with a primary focus on communication systems, having over a decades worth of experience! She has been studying the dolphins in Shark Bay Western Australia and studies how their communication systems have evolved to help mediate complex social behaviours. 

Find out more here:

http://www.sharkbaydolphins.org/

Charlie Follet, fresh off the back of her recent European Championship win, sits down to talk about the sport of Modern Pentathlon and what it takes for an athlete to excel in not just one discipline - but five! 

So Beautifully Broken:

https://sobeautifullybroken.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@sobeautifullybroken