In Episode 10 - last episode of the first season - join me in conversation with Lisel Alamilla, an award winning conservation leader passionate about bringing about positive change for people and biodiversity in her home country of Belize. Lisel is a change maker to her core, with immeasurable passion for her homeland and an incredibly generous heart. 

Lisel has worn many hats through her career, working in international and local conservation organisations, as well as in the Government of Belize following her appointment as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development back in 2012. Today, she leads from behind the scenes supporting others as they speak out and act in support of biodiversity and people in Belize. 

In this conversation we chat about her time in government and how she handled the transition from working in the NGO sector, advocating for change from outside of government, to becoming a decision-maker within it. We talk about taking brave decisions, turning to nature to restore our wellbeing and consider what it will take to bring people together to find solutions to some of the complex challenges facing people, land and biodiversity. 

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Mentions and resources

Ya'axché Conservation Trust

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Website and newsletter www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 9, I’m joined by Shaza Khan, Montessori educator, creative and mother, nature writer and poet, and a beautiful soul with immense wisdom to share. Shaza studied Literature and Art in college but was encouraged to pursue business, and so began her career in telecom and database administration.

When the opportunity to study and work in education arose, Shaza embraced it and became a Montessori teacher, teaching children aged 2-12 years both in Pakistan and in Canada where she lived, worked and raised her young family for over a decade.

Shaza has since returned to Pakistan and following major shifts in her personal life has embraced nature writing, poetry and a closer relationship with the natural world. However, this has not come easy, as there remain many barriers to nature connection for women living in Pakistan.

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You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Mentions and resources

Kathryn Aalto's creative non-fiction courses: https://kathrynaalto.com/

Connect with Shaza

Instagram: @migrainemuse

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Instagram: @nickyjenner_hawksdawn

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 8, join me in conversation with conservation scientist Dr. Bárbara Goettsch from Mexico. Barbara has a background in botany, a PhD in Ecology and Conservation Biology from the University of Sheffield and is co-chair

In this episode Bárbara invites us into her world, the vast and diverse desert ecosystems that host such rich biodiversity, and she takes us behind the scenes of the IUCN Red List for threatened species assessment process. We talk desert fog, climate change and what it feels like to meet some of the iconic cactus species she has studied in the wild for the first time.

We chat about the importance of human connection in catalysing conservation action, Bárbara's passion for dance, and how we can embrace both science and our own spirituality in an ever deepening relationship and understanding of the natural world. 

I hope this conversation inspires you and sparks your curiosity to discover more about these remarkable desert ecosystems and the wondrous plants that have evolved to thrive in such extreme environments.

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You can follow Unearthing Wild Wonders on your preferred platform of choice and if you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating, a review or perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Mentions and resources

IUCN SSC Cactus and Succulent Plants Specialist Group (website)

⁠IUCN SSC Cactus and Succulent Plant Specialist Group ⁠ (instagram)

Elevated extinction risk of cacti under climate change

Biodanza UK

Connect with Bárbara

Linked In

Instagram @barbara_goettsch

Follow Nicky

Instagram: @nickyjenner_hawksdawn where you can also see pictures of some of the cactus species mentioned.

Website and newsletter: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 7, I’m joined by Marian Boswall, a leading landscape architect and horticulturist whose work has regeneration, connectivity, kinship and kindness at its core.

Through her design practice Marian creates safe havens – from gardens to vast rural landscapes – in partnership with the land and its human and more than human inhabitants. Marian’s beautiful book, Sustainable Garden, was shortlisted for garden book of the year and her new book, The Kindest Garden, will be published in February 2025.

In this episode, Marian shares precious moments and major life events that have shaped her relationship with the natural world and her route to creating sustainable gardens and regenerative landscapes. We explore the immense life force

We talk about listening, trust and gratitude as foundations for living more in tune with the land and life around us and Marian shares encounters with beavers, bees and so much more. We chat about invisibility as a superpower, too, both in our relationship with the human and more-than-human world.

You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Connect with Marian

Website: marianboswall.com

Instagram @marianboswall

Mentions and resources

42 Acres

National Trust

Beaver Trust

Bee Kind Hives

Davies White Ltd

Hannah Ritchie's Substack

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Sign up for my newsletter at www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 6, I’m joined by Silke Tyler, a master healer and hypnotherapist, spiritual teacher and mentor to women around the around, an artist and a passionate gardener. Silke joins me for this conversation from her home in Tennessee and we talk about the things we sense but may lack the insight and language to understand and articulate.

We explore energetics and the different ways in which energy flows in the earth, water and air are constantly influencing the physical forms we see and interact with. How the lunar cycles affect where the energy is in the plants we grow, eat and live alongside, and how by tuning into these natural rhythms of the earth we can enrich both our inner and outer worlds. We talk about the spiritual realms too, faeries and devas of the land, and Silke shares her understanding of these intangible realms.

It is a conversation that stretched by thinking to its edges. On the one hand, challenging the way I understand the world which is grounded more in ecology and conservation science than in energetics and spirituality. At the same time, it's a conversation that resonates deeply with my lived experience. And we can always hold both - the things we know in one way or another, alongside those we can perhaps sense but not necessarily evidence or understand.

Talking with Silke was a joy and I hope that you too embrace this conversation with an open heart and mind, connect with what resonates for you and allow other ways of seeing the world to filter into view. Whether you carry them with you or let them go is of course always up to you. 

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You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Connect with Silke

Website: https://www.thequantumweaver.com

Instagram @thequantumweaver

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Instagram @nickyjenner_hawksdawn

Website to sign up for my biweekly newsletter: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 5 join me in conversation with Emma Dyke, a

Emma shares the journey she has been on in recent years to discover who she really is and how she has started to live life more intentionally through the things that matter most to her. Connecting with nature is one those things and we chat about cultivating a relationship with the natural world in adulthood and the many ways in which this has become an essential part of Emma’s everyday, a pathway to joy and an adventure full of learning, discovery, fun, creativity and connection that has enriched life for her and her family. 

I hope that you enjoy this conversation and that it inspires you to explore what matters to you and how you might deepen your connection with the natural world in your everyday.

Follow the show

You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice. And if you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and perhaps tell a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Connect with Emma

Email: [email protected] 

Mentions and resources

Julia Black’s Lights On Universe

Commit to Joy with Corinne Williams. Reach out to Corinne to find out more and for private sessions (with 20% off if you let her know you are connecting via the podcast). You can connect with Corinne here: [email protected]

Follow Nicky:

Instagram: @nickyjenner_hawksdawn

To be the first to hear about future episodes and receive moments of wonder from the living world in your inbox sign up to my free biweekly newsletter at: www.hawksdawn.co.uk where you can also read more about Lights On Gardens, my monthly membership.

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

On Unearthing Wild Wonders this week, join me in conversation with Christa Avampato - a biomimicry scientist, entrepreneur and writer, based in New York. Christa combines business, storytelling, and science to build a better world for all beings. She is also a sustainability leader and product developer, host of the JoyProject podcast, and an award-winning author, launching her second novel 'Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads' in May this year.

In this episode we talk about finding home and belonging through a relationship with nature and the places that call to us. We explore the fascinating field of biomimicry, what we can learn from the natural world and how the most unlikely species have inspired phenomenal innovations that we now use in our daily lives.

Christa also shares her journey to overcome cancer, how she feels she needed to learn how to heal her own body in order to help heal the planet and how, whilst lying in a hospital bed seriously ill, she saw the immensity of the plastic waste challenge and was determined to do something about it.

I hope that you enjoy this conversation, learn something new and feel inspired to look at the natural world where you live in new ways.

Follow the show

You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review and perhaps share it with a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Mentions and resources

Beyond Plastics

Ask Nature

Christa’s JoyProject podcast

Connect with Christa

Website: https://christaavampato.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christarosenyc

Twitter: @christanyc 

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickyjenner_hawksdawn

Website and newsletter: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In this episode I’m joined by Emily Cunningham, a multi-award-winning marine conservationist at the forefront of

Join me in conversation with Emily as she invites us to get to know the life that thrives under the surface of the sea, both here in the UK and further afield. She talks about her expedition to Antarctica and both the awe-inspiring nature of this iconic place and the stark signs of change she witnessed. We talk climate change, the urgent need for individual and collective action, and the things that bring her hope.

I hope this conversation brings you in closer connection with the ocean and that it inspires you to consider what you might do today to bring about a brighter tomorrow.

Follow the show:

You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a review and perhaps tell a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Connect with Emily:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinebiologylife/

Website: https://emilycunningham.co.uk

Twitter: @EG_Cunningham

Mentions and resources

Motion for the Ocean:

https://lgacoastalsig.com/motion-for-the-ocean/

https://oceanconservationtrust.org/ocean-advocacy/our-campaigns/call-a-motion-for-the-ocean/

Follow Nicky:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickyjenner_hawksdawn

To be the first to hear about future episodes of the podcast and receive micro moments of wonder in your inbox sign up to my free biweekly newsletter at: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In Episode 2 of Unearthing Wild Wonders, I'm joined by Sid Hill, an ecological gardener and designer whose thoughtful, innovative and creative approaches to landscape design and gardening practice embrace the complex relationships among people, plants and place.

Sid is passionate about working with plants and ecology to create beautiful, biodiverse ecosystems that support our health and wellbeing, respond to the challenges of our time, and that regenerate landscapes for the future.

In this episode Sid talks about his childhood living on and with the land, learning skills and nurturing his relationship with plants in ways that underpin his life and work today. We chat about how plant stories and forgotten histories can help us reconnect with plants where we live and Sid shares his passion for creating life-enhancing edible meadows.

We also dive into the complex and fascinating relationship between our gut microbiome and the plants that we eat and interact with in our environment and Sid talks about the Bowel Research UK Microbiome Garden he’s creating for the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show - an innovative edible garden that will captivate, educate and inspire before living on to support people and wildlife for many years to come.

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Follow 'Unearthing Wild Wonders' on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a review and perhaps tell a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

Connect with Sid

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/sidhillecogardens/⁠

Visit his website for more info about Sid’s projects,

Mentions and resources

Microbiome Garden: ⁠https://www.bowelresearchuk.org/get-involved/microbiome-garden/⁠

Project Giving Back: ⁠https://www.givingback.org.uk⁠

The Apricot Centre: ⁠https://www.apricotcentre.co.uk⁠

Follow Nicky

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/nickyjenner_hawksdawn⁠

To be the first to hear about future episodes and receive micro moments of wonder in your inbox sign up to my free biweekly newsletter at: ⁠www.hawksdawn.co.uk⁠

Music © Rachel Catherine: ⁠linktr.ee/rachelmusic

In this first episode of Unearthing Wild Wonders, join me in conversation with Lucinda Warner - a herbalist, illustrator and amateur naturalist who lives near the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England. Lucinda is passionate about finding gateways into connection with the natural world and leads foraging and nature connection groups for adults and children, learning about and celebrating the local plants, trees and associated wildlife.

In this episode we delve into the wondrous world of wild plants, how getting to know the plants where you live can enrich your life, and the beautiful synchronicity between what we as human beings are experiencing through the year and the emergence of plants that can support us with exactly what we need. We chat about creativity too, as an expression of love, and Lucinda shares practical ideas for connecting with your creativity and to begin and deepen your relationship with the plants where you live.

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You can follow ‘Unearthing Wild Wonders’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform of choice.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a review and perhaps tell a friend who you think will enjoy it too.

If you have any insights or feedback on today’s episode or you have suggestions for future episodes I’d love to hear from you: [email protected]

Connect with Lucinda

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whispering_earth

Online shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WhisperingEarthArt

Blog: https://whisperingearth.co.uk/

Mentions and resources

Children’s Forest, a movement to inspire and enable

Follow Nicky

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickyjenner_hawksdawn

To keep up to date with future episodes of the podcast and receive micro moments of wonder in your inbox every other week, you can sign up to my free newsletter via my website: www.hawksdawn.co.uk

Music © Rachel Catherine: linktr.ee/rachelmusic