Eric Washburn is a fifth-generation Coloradan who is a big game hunter, who is a Senior Policy Advisor for Pioneer Public Affairs. PPA works on clean energy technologies and advocacy movements to combat the climate crisis, protect natural wonders, and empower marginalized communities across America. 

Eric discussed many issues from affecting winter, water and wildlife in Colorado, including the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease within elk and deer herds, pushing for the reintroduction of more beavers and wolves in the state, generational knowledge and traditions within the hunting communities, and climate change. 

@thewolfconnectionpod

Colorado Politics Article

The Future of Winter, Water and Wildlife in Colorado

@rockymtnwolf

Brianna Godberson is the host of the Find Your Wild podcast, an artist, and business owner of Femme Sauvage based in Long Island, NY. 

Brianna reflected on her transformative visits to three wolf sanctuaries in California alongside Candace Dyar, sharing the lessons, and teachings she's taking with her from the wolves and wolf dogs that she experienced on this trip. She spoke about taking a step back to recharge from her podcast and business, while being reinvigorated with new energy through these visits. 

@findyourwildpodcast

@shopfemmesauvage

Femme Sauvage Store

Find Your Wild Podcast YouTube

Candace Dyar is a nature and conservation photographer, educator, wildlife & wolf advocate based in Washington State for two decades. She has used her platform to collaborate on environmental issues with organizations including Wildlife for All and Team Wolf. 

Candace reflected on her transformative visits to three wolf sanctuaries in California alongside Brianna Godberson, sharing the profound growth and expansion she experienced along the way. Through this journey, she offers a powerful message to women, rooted in the wisdom of wolves, about intuition, resilience, and reconnecting with one’s true nature.

@candacedyar

Candace Dyar Website

@thewolfconnectionpod

Eleri Lopp is a photographer, videographer, and nature guide in Estonia. She has been tracking wolves for over a decade and observing ecological changes happening within her country. 

Eleri described wolf populations and movements within Estonia, the difference between EU protections and Baltic countries enforcing them for wolves, and the underfunding of science and research to conduct research on carnivores within Estonia. 

Eleri Lopp Photography

@elerilopp_fromestonia

@thewolfconnectionpod

Eleanor Keisman is an American writer living in Vienna, Austria. She holds a BA from The New School and an MFA in creative writing from Drexel University. Her short stories, poetry, and essays have appeared in Litro Magazine, The Bangalore Review, Tough Crime, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, and The Wild Umbrella, as well as adapted for "The Other Stories" podcast. New Animal is her first novella.

Eleanor described her path to writing, the influences that guided her in writing New Animal, and the overall themes that present themselves within the novella. 

Eleanor Keisman Website

Purchase New Animal from Broken Tribe Press

@e_keisman

@thewolfconnectionpod

Paul Koberstein cofounded Cascadia Times in 1995 and has been its editor ever since. Paul, a journalist for forty years, was a staff writer for The Oregonian and Willamette Week in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the co-author of Canopy of Titans examining the global importance of the Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest that stretches from Northern California to Alaska. 

Paul discussed the book Canopy of Titans which details the threats facing this vital environmental resource, and celebrates the beauty and complexity of one of the world's great forests. 

Cascadia Times

OR Books (Order Canopy of Titans)

@cascadiatimes

@thewolfconnectionpod

The Anderson family is a multi-generational ranching operation in Tom Miner Basin, the grizzly bear corridor near Yellowstone National Park's northern boundary. Rather than dominate nature, the Andersons work to prevent predation of livestock by coexisting more harmoniously with wildlife. 

Malou has implemented holistic regenerative grazing management so that these grasslands become more abundant and draw down more carbon into the soil.

She discussed her personal relationship with the land describing peaceful partnerships, breaking down stereotypes within the ranching community, and how  to promote “shared landscapes” where livestock and predators co-exist to protect ecosystems.

@m.tealeye.a

@tomminerbasin

Tom Miner Basin Association

The Forever Ranch 

Teal Tag

Doug Smith retired as the Senior Wildlife Biologist in Yellowstone National park after 28 years of service where he supervised the wolf, elk, and bird programs. Doug has studied wolves for 44 years, done over 2,000 interviews, and appeared on numerous documentaries about wolves and birds for National Geographic, BBC, and CBS 60 Minutes. He is a member of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team, the Re-Introduction Specialist Group, and the Canid Specialist Group for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

He talked about the lessons he's learned from wolves, his experiences in captive facilities, including observations he made while visiting Wolf Connection, and his continued mission to advocate for wolves, wild places and and ecological restoration.

Wolf Connection 

@wolfconnection

@thewolfconnectionpod

Annick Hus is a Belgian Freelance Journalist who has studied Animal Welfare Science and Ethics and Law at the University of Winchester. Arie Trouwborst is a Nature Conservation Law Professor at Tilburg University. They have both chronicled the political, societal, and legal perspectives of wolves naturally recolonizing Europe. 

They both discussed the challenges within each of these categories, as each country within the European Union is looking to navigate coexistence with wolves and other predators on many levels. 

The Unravelling of a Success Story: How Politics Is Killing Europe’s Wolves

Wolves in Europe: From Conservation Icon to Political Flashpoint

Who Should Adapt: The Wolf or Us?

Large Carnivores and The EU Habitats Directive – Legal
Obligations to Restore and Coexist

@thewolfconnectionpod

John Potter grew up in the Upper Great Lakes region, spending his formative years immersed in the lush forests of the Great Northwoods, where he developed a profound love for the natural world that continues to inspire his work today.

After a successful 20-year career as an award-winning illustrator, John transitioned to painting full-time in 2002. 

John visited Wolf Connection for 3 days, immersing himself in the on-site programs, interacting with the wolf pack, and experiencing all the sanctuary had to offer. He spoke about his time at Wolf Connection and what impacted him the most. 

John Potter Website

@johnpotterart

@thewolfconnectionpod