The Wolf Connection

Sami Godlove is the is the Central Oregon Field Coordinator at Oregon Wild, which works to protect and restore Oregon’s wild lands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Sami spoke about his early influential moments in nature, the importance of the Roadless Rule, potential large environmental rollbacks, and the effects these policies have on large ecosystems, old growth forests and other natural places that they protect. 

Oregon Wild

@oregonwild

@thewolfconnectionpod

A Handful of Dirt - Watch on YouTube

Marc Bekoff is a professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Marc has published over 30 books and has won many awards for his research on animal behavior, animal emotions (cognitive ethology), compassionate conservation, and animal protection. He worked closely with Jane Goodall as co-chair of the ethics committee of the Jane Goodall Institute, and is a former Guggenheim Fellow.

Marc discussed his book Rewinding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence, describing ways to bring compassion back into conservation work, understanding the human impacts on rewilding, how we can shape future generations to become passionate, compassionate conservationists, and his admiration for the late Jane Goodall. 

Marc Bekoff Website

Rewilding Our Hearts

Love In Their Hearts (Pre-Order)

A Handful of Dirt - Watch on YouTube

Naïma has been a professional artist for over 6 years, after her work as a graphic designer for a decade. She describes her connection through art in this way: "Each work is conceived as an intimate space, where anyone can project their own story, emotions, and memories. Over time, I’ve come to understand that this silent connection between a painting and the viewer lies at the heart of my work. It is in this resonance, often hard to explain, that the artwork truly finds its place."

Naïma reflects on how her connection with wolves has shaped her path into art, sharing insight into her creative process and the deeper themes woven through her work. She explores the presence of the feminine, the wild, and the natural world in her paintings, and the lasting impact she hopes they leave with those who experience them.

Naïma Fine Art 

@naimanamaste

@thewolfconnectionpod

Cadence Truchot has been the Tribal Community Engagement Fellow with Grand Teton National Park for over a year and a half. Her work within the park helps underserved Indigenous communities reconnect with their ancestral lands in week long programmatic settings. 

Cadence shares her deep connection to the natural world and how those values shape the programs she leads in Grand Teton. She speaks to the vital role of tribal partners in guiding storytelling, leadership, and mentorship, and reflects on the ongoing repair and relationship-building between tribal nations and the National Park Service.

@cadence_truchot

Grand Teton National Park (website)

Rebuilding Burned Bridges

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