Conservation Connection

Latest Episodes:

Janet Clarke: Sitka Sound Science Center, WhaleFest 2019 | Science For Everyone | Episode 022 Dec 01, 2019

Show notes

This week we're continuing our Sitka, Alaska series with the Education Director of the Sitka Sound Science Center! Janet Clarke's job is to help connect the people and students of Sitka to the incredible research that's taking place in their backyards. She spearheads the SSSC's Scientists in the Schools unit, which brings a working scientist into every Sitka school classroom every single year and which has bolstered Sitka's science literacy rates way above the statewide average! Listen in as we discuss the programs that the Science Center is currently involved in, as well as the importance of programs like the Sitka WhaleFest celebration!

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Click here to learn more about Sitka Whalefest: https://sitkawhalefest.org

Click here to learn more about the Sitka Sound Science Center: https://www.sitkascience.org

Todd Tanner: Conservation Hawks | Hunters Love Nature | Episode 021 Nov 24, 2019

Show notes

Todd Tanner is the driver behind Conservation Hawks, a nonprofit group of hunters and anglers that are working to protect the environment. They're taking it upon themselves to identify and address the single biggest threat to our hunting & fishing activities: climate change. The more time a person spends outdoors the more they'll care for the health of our planet, and who spends more time outdoors than hunters and anglers? Listen in to hear about the waves that Todd Tanner and Conservation Hawks are making in the world of environmental protection!

Click here to learn more about Conservation Hawks: https://www.conservationhawks.org

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Keisha Bahr and Danny Coffey: Marine Researchers at WhaleFest 2019 | Coral Bleaching and Shark Tagging | Episode 020 Nov 17, 2019

Show notes

To kick off Season 2 of Conservation Connection, we're starting with our first ever husband and wife team, Keisha Bahr and Danny Coffey! Keisha is a coral researcher who has been examining the causes and effects of the global phenomenon called coral bleaching, and Danny investigates the movement patterns of large pelagic fish and sharks with advanced wildlife tagging technology. We caught up with this duo at Sitka WhaleFest 2019 in Sitka, Alaska, where Keisha was presenting her research to ocean-loving members of the public. Listen in to hear about their journeys from high-schooler to researcher, their current work, and their favorite moments from the field!

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Click here to learn more about Sitka Whalefest: https://sitkawhalefest.org

Click here to learn more about the Sitka Sound Science Center: https://www.sitkascience.org

Glenn Prickett: Rock Creek Strategies | The Economic Value of Nature | Episode 019 Oct 06, 2019

Show notes

Glenn Prickett is the mastermind behind Rock Creek Strategies, a consulting firm that "helps companies, investors, and organizations incorporate the value of nature in economic development". So what does that mean? It means that Glenn crunches the numbers to find ways for businesses to help protect nature AND their bottom line at the same time! Need to remove carbon pollution that your factory is producing? Well you could pay to install carbon scrubbers on the top of your smoke stacks, or you could protect native forests that provide the same amount of carbon pollution removal! When you take into account all the economic value that nature provides, you realize that it makes financial sense to protect our planet.

Click here to learn more about Rock Creek Strategies, LLC: https://www.rockcreekstrat.com

Click here to learn more about our nonprofit: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Sarah Thompson & Daniel Morrow: San Antonio NISD | The Future of Aquatic Science | Episode 018 Sep 22, 2019

Show notes

Sarah and Daniel sit down with us at SeaWorld's Park to Planet Weekend to describe the ways in which they are inspiring the next generation to care about aquatic systems and the environment. These two incredibly passionate educators go above and beyond for their students, exposing them to real world aquatic systems and the ways in which every day choices impact them. Listen in to discover why their aquatic science program has doubled in size in just four years!

Don Hartsell: World Air League | A Race Around the World! | Episode 017 Sep 15, 2019

Show notes

Don Hartsell, the first commissioner of the World Air League and a member of The Explorer's Club, is promoting energy efficient cargo transportation by organizing a world first: an airship race around the globe! Harkening back to the days of new frontiers and untested technology, the World Air League is organizing an eighteen-leg circumnavigation race where the vessels competing are lighter-than-air crafts that float across the sky with minimal energy consumption. This is the first time in human history that an airship race has sought to circle the globe, and the organizers are hoping to use it to bring attention to possible solutions that greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with cargo transportation! With an incredible story to tell and the passion to tell it, Don Hartsell will have you wondering why airship cargo transport isn't commonplace today.

If you'd like to learn more about the World Sky Race, visit their website! http://www.worldskyrace.com

David Marquis: Dallas Activist | Beyond the March | Episode 016 Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

David Marquis is an activist, writer, political powerhouse, and all around renaissance man with a burning passion for creating lasting environmental change. We sat down with him at EarthX in Dallas to discuss his goals for the city over the next few decades, including the ways that Dallas needs to respond in order to conserve the largest urban forest in America and the Trinity Watershed that serves half the population of the Lone Star State. His goal is to take the energy of activist movements and carry it "beyond the march" by implementing lasting changes to city ordinances and institutional policy that will protect the environment for years to come! He also stressed that each person has a role to play in this movement: no matter what you do you can do it green!

If you'd like to learn more about the venture capital firm mentioned in this episode, click here to listen to episode 009!

Here are some of our favorite quotes from this episode:

"We’ve got to ask how do we move people around, not how do we move cars around"

"Everybody has a place in this movement, in changing the world and making it a better place. Whether its becoming a city planner, or a conservationist... whatever it might be."

"We can’t all be speakers, we can’t all be politicians, we can’t all be elected officials, but there’s a place for everyone doing this work to save the environment, to save our planet."

"Whatever you do, do it green and make it last."

REU Mini-Series: Episode 04 | Lilia Garcia, Pressley Wilson, Ana Silverio, & Jordan Penn | Boots in the Mud Sep 01, 2019

Show notes

Underwater robots searching for deep sea coral, algae-loving bacteria that might solve wastewater problems, and an invasive seaweed that is shifting ecosystems and bringing bacterial hitchhikers; quite a broad range for undergraduate research! Lilia, Pressley, Ana, and Jordan are three undergraduates from across the country participating in the Fort Johnson REU program this summer, and they sit down with the Conservation Connection team to share their experiences and discoveries.

Not only are these undergrads pushing the boundaries of scientific understanding in their topics, they're practicing valuable skills in science communication that they'll need for the rest of their careers as researchers! Communicating science to other researchers is one thing, but helping the public understand why their research matters is a different skill set entirely.

Want to read more about their work this summer? Check out the Fort Johnson REU Blog: https://blogreu.wordpress.com

Mark Victor Hansen, Crystal Hansen, & Preston Weekes of Metamorphosis Energy | From Soup to Solar | Episode 015 Aug 29, 2019

Show notes

The Hansen name was made famous when Mark Victor Hansen co-created the best selling book series Chicken Soup For the Soul, and he and his family are using their success to make this planet a better place! We sit down for a mini episode with the team that's pushing to make water-purifying technology available across the globe. Powered by table salt and a tiny solar panel, this device can fit in a pocket and purify up to 10 gallons of water a day! Listen in to hear all about its development and how it can save lives.

Check out these links to learn more:

metamorphosisenergy.us

https://ecoworldtechnologies.com

Here are some of our favorite quotes from this episode!

"I wanted to be involved in something that was game-changing and positive for the world so I became a part of Metamorphosis Energy." -Preston Weekes

"9000 people die a day from drinking contaminated water. 5000 of those are children." -Crystal Hansen

"You can disinfect this water with no power, no resources. You can do it anywhere in the world." -Preston Weekes

"We’re a solution company, and there aren’t many of them around. Both philosophically and technologically." -Mark Victor Hansen

REU Mini-Series: Episode 03 | Sam Daughenbaugh, Carolina Rios, & Kelsey Coates | Marine Contaminates Across the Spectrum Aug 25, 2019

Show notes

Intersex snails with a story to tell, dead shrimp that are validating a mathematical model, and the hidden dangers of oceanic micro-plastics; quite a broad range for undergraduate research! Sam, Carolina, and Kelsey are three undergraduates from across the country participating in the Fort Johnson REU program this summer, and they sit down with the Conservation Connection team to share their experiences and discoveries.

Want to read more about their work this summer? Check out the Fort Johnson REU Blog: https://blogreu.wordpress.com

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