The Thing About Wildlife

The Thing About Wildlife

By IshikaScienceNature
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The Thing About Wildlife episodes

  • #53 The Thing About Spiders and Spinning Stories
    Today's guest is a very cool spider specialist and all-round natural history enthusiast with a penchant for storytelling, photography and zooming into every living being in every environment he finds himself in: Samuel John. John is someone who first made strides in the corporate sector as he began his career, and within the last decade, decided he wanted to switch gears entirely! He is currently a fantastic nature educator and is now the co-founder of an exciting initiative: Spiders and the Sea. In addition to his photography and teaching, he's also a prolific writer, with his words appearing frequently in places like Roundglass Sustain where he's written over 50 articles!
    1 hr 53 min
  • #52 The Thing About Elasmobranchs and the Coast
    Today we're in conversation with Alissa Barnes - a marine biologist who wears several hats - from illustrator and social scientist to diver and shark anatomy specialist! She has been working to understand elasmobranch fisheries since 2015, and much of her work has focussed on gathering baseline information about fishing practices across multiple states along the west coast and understanding the drivers behind the fisheries. With about a decade of interdisciplinary and diverse experiences under her belt, she is now co-leading the Sharks and Rays project in the Marine Conservation Programme at the Wildlife Conservation Society!
    1 hr 47 min
  • #51 The Thing About Coexistence and Negotiation

    Dhee is a researcher interested in the human dimensions of wildlife conservation, specifically the psychological and socio-cultural factors that shape people's perceptions towards wild animals. Currently, she is the Program Manager for the Coexistence Fellowship Programme. She continues to be curious about human-wildlife entanglements and how they shape and get shaped by stories, social institutions, cultures and histories.

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    We want to take a moment to shout out to Feedspot! They are a platform that discovers, categorizes, and ranks podcasts across a wide range of niche categories and geographies, and we were thrilled to be ranked third among India's Top Science Podcasts! Thank you so much, Feedspot, and every listener who has tuned in, it is truly an honour.

    https://podcasts.feedspot.com/india_science_podcasts/

    1 hr 23 min
  • #50 The Thing About Big Picture Conservation

    Rushikesh Chavan tells us about how he's been diving deep into large-scale conservation issues ever since he got into this field a couple of decades ago. He's worked across 19 states and spearheaded campaigns that have become milestones in Indian conservation. Currently the head of The Habitats Trust, he has spent several years with the Bombay Natural History Society and the Wildlife Conservation Trust too.

    1 hr 44 min
  • #49 The Thing About Writing Storybooks

    Today, I'm in conversation with Priyadarshini Panchapakesan - a young English language school teacher who grew up inspired by the nature around her in Kodaikanal. Her fascination for the natural world, concern for the environmental issues she observed over time, and love for writing have led her to create and publish several storybooks for children - from short stories to novellas that explore ecological facts, folklore, adventure and magic. Her books include some exciting titles like The Myth of the Wild Gaur and The Guardians of the Forest - and she already has a couple more in the pipeline!

    48 min
  • #48 The Thing About Birding for Science

    Today, I am joined by an old friend - Tarun Menon - birder supreme. Having completed his masters from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, he's now at the tail end of his PhD at the Indian Institute of Science, where he is studying altitudinal migrations of birds in the Eastern Himalayas.

    2 hr 13 min
  • #47 The Thing About Camouflaged Identities

    The spaces of wildlife and conservation are home to LOTS of queer-identifying individuals around the world, each one doing inspiring and important work. The risks of being openly and visibly LGBTQIA+ are, unfortunately, still very real - a topic that we have been discussing since June on The Thing About Wildlife, and in our safer silos like the Queer Wildlifers' Circle.
    Each voice MATTERS. Every story MATTERS. Visibility matters, even when kept completely confidential and anonymous.
    Keeping this in mind, earlier this month, I called upon the discreet, quiet LGBTQIA+ identifying ecologists and conservationists out there, hoping to provide a safe space for them to share their stories. Today, I’m humbled to lend voice to their words - written from their lived experiences and their hearts - a mix of happy moments, anguish, optimism, pleas for the future and the desire for our professional spaces to do better by the queer community.
    Today’s episode features a series of anonymous stories shared by queer-identifying wildlifers from India. While you won’t get to hear all their voices, I implore you to pay attention to their words.
    I thank Ishaan and Tanisha for lending their voices to these tales, and hope you enjoy, relate to and mull over all that lies in the upcoming minutes.

    25 min
  • #46 The Thing About Risky Waters

    Welcome back to our new series: The Thing About Pride. These are episodes showcasing the work and lived experiences of queer or LGBTQIA+ identifying persons in the fields of ecology and conservation.
    On our fourth episode, I bring to you a professional diver and marine biologist turned queer-affirmative sex educator - Tanisha RK. This was an episode that rang close to home in multiple ways, as Tanisha and I first began our foray into the realms of wildlife and conservation together several years ago, although our journeys have carried us along very different waves in the last decade. In our conversation today, we navigate those waters and reflect upon how our individual identities, sexualities, gender and caste positionings can define the specific challenges and opportunities we face in ecological fields. Tanisha co-founded Sangya Project, and is currently its Chief of Social Voice, helping people navigate the little-known world of sexual health and pleasure in a truly sensitive and inclusive manner. They speak of how they continue to draw inspiration from nature and its myriad alternate sexualities and empathy to work towards personal calm and building more compassionate human communities!
    If you are a queer-identifying individual in the field of ecology/conservation, do consider joining the Indian Queer Wildlifers Circle! To be a part of this group - one that respects your anonymity and keeps your identity confidential - please write in to me at [email protected] or DM me on any of our socials! We are currently a group that is over 80 members strong, and we're still growing. Remember, you're not alone - we're all in this together.

    1 hr 41 min
  • #45 The Thing About Underwater Exploration

    Welcome back to our new series: The Thing About Pride!
    On our third episode, I bring to you a marine biologist and conservationist who truly wants to do it all - and within the last decade, has worked systematically towards making that a reality! Avik Banerjee is currently a Project Manager at Willdife Conservation Society -- India's Marine Programme. From understanding dolphin interactions with fishermen and studying octopus behaviour, to being part of a marine exploration team to the little-known Angria Bank off the western coast of India, Avik shares several stories with us along with his lived experiences as a proud, queer wildlifer.

    1 hr 28 min
  • #44 The Thing About Queer Wildlifers

    On this episode, I speak with 3 fabulous queer wildlifers - all of whom you've heard from before during our second season from early 2022! The fields of wildlife conservation and biology are full of diversity, and I have some of those examples for you today.
    First up, we have Taniya Gill, who you first met in episode 16: The Thing About Personalities. Taniya is a doctoral candidate from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delhi, and works closely with urban rhesus macaques of Delhi, where she studies their myriad personalities.
    Next, we have Ishaan Patil from episode 18: The Thing About Getting Started. Ishaan is a multi-talented, multi-faceted individual who has already forayed into several avenues of the conservation space: from environmental education and better understanding hornbills to social sciences and social justice at the James Hutton Institute.
    And then, from Season-2 Episode 19: The Thing About Landscape Avifauna, we were joined by Jobin Varughese. Landscape architect turned birder and ecologist, he is nearly Dr Jobin at the moment - having completed his doctoral work since we last spoke at IISER Thirupathi.
    Together, we spoke at length about our collective queer experiences and how they link into our careers! If you haven't heard the episodes I just mentioned yet, do give them a listen after this one! The work that Taniya, Ishaan and Jobin do is truly fantastic, interdisciplinary and inspiring!

    If you are a queer-identifying individual in the field of ecology/conservation, do consider joining the Indian Queer Wildlifers Circle! To be a part of this group - one that respects your anonymity and keeps your identity confidential - please write in to me at thethingaboutwildlife.com or DM me on any of our socials! We are currently a group that is over 80 members strong, and we're still growing. Remember, you're not alone - we're all in this together.

    1 hr 31 min

About The Thing About Wildlife

From the publisher's feed

The Thing About Wildlife offers long and insightful conversations with Indians working closest to nature: researchers, educators and conservationists.