In this episode we feature Dr. Bill Laurance of James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, talking about his team's work documenting the planetary infrastructure boom and the need for more positive, less 'doom and gloom' science communication, and then we welcome Dr. Michelle LaRue to the program. She is a research ecologist with the University of Minnesota’s Department of Earth Sciences, and her current work is focused on using high-resolution satellite imagery to study the population dynamics...
May 17, 2017•56 min•Ep. 18
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with Leah Barclay , a sound artist, acoustic ecologist, and researcher with Griffith University in South East Queensland, Australia. We discuss the ever broadening field of acoustic ecology, the many ways that marine bioacoustics is growing in importance, and she describes the new spectrogram app she's developing plus the creative ways she uses her interactive soundscape art to get kids excited about engaging with nature via hydrophones connecte...
May 03, 2017•56 min•Ep. 17
On this episode we speak with Crystal Davis, the director of Global Forest Watch , a near-real-time forest monitoring system. GFW uses data from satellites and elsewhere to inform forest conservation initiatives and reporting worldwide. Davis shares her thoughts on how GFW's being used and the ways Big Data is changing how we approach conservation. We also speak with Francesca Cunninghame, Mangrove Finch Project Leader for the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands . In this Field N...
Apr 18, 2017•36 min•Ep. 16
During this episode we speak with Sue Palminteri, editor of Mongabay’s WildTech site which highlights high- and low-tech solutions to challenges in conservation. She shares with us some of the most interesting technologies and trends that she sees as having the biggest potential to transform the way we go about conserving Earth’s natural resources and wildlife. Also on the program we feature a live-taped conversation with Jonathan Thompson and Clarisse Hart, two scientists with the Harvard Fores...
Apr 04, 2017•53 min•Ep. 15
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we’re thrilled to feature a conversation with the one and only Paul Simon, who's just announced a tour in support of the environment. The 12-time Grammy-winning musician recently announced on Mongabay.com that he is embarking on a 17-date US concert tour , with all proceeds benefitting Half-Earth , an initiative of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. We play parts of the interview with Paul Simon as he discusses his long-time friendship with E.O. Wi...
Mar 21, 2017•54 min•Ep. 14
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we welcome contributing editor Glenn Scherer to the program, who is responsible for Mongabay’s “Almost Famous Animals” series , which just wrapped up its second year with a focus on little-known Asian wildlife . Many conservationists argue that protecting charismatic species like tigers, rhinos, and orangutans will also lead to the protection of less widely known species such as pangolins and langurs, but that has not always been the case. Many lesser kn...
Mar 07, 2017•44 min•Ep. 13
With so much uncertainty around the new Trump Administration's environmental priorities, especially its energy and climate policies, this episode is dedicated to trying to answer some of the biggest questions. We welcome three guests: firstly, Harvard professor, climate historian, and noted author Naomi Oreskes talks about what stories she’s worried will get lost in the media’s hyperfocus on the chaos surrounding the new Trump Administration, and she makes an evidence-based case for why scientis...
Feb 21, 2017•58 min•Ep. 12
This week we speak with journalist Sue Branford, a regular contributor to Mongabay who has been reporting from Brazil since 1979 for the BBC and others. Branford is one of the writers behind a hard-hitting new series in English and Portuguese that Mongabay.com is producing with The Intercept-Brasil exploring the many impacts of massive dam development projects in Brazil’s Tapajos Basin. The reports have already resulted in a federal investigation being opened over official misconduct. Read all t...
Feb 07, 2017•41 min•Ep. 11
On this episode, we feature excerpts from a conversation with author and biologist E.O. Wilson , one of the greatest scientists of the last 100 years, who was recently interviewed by Mongabay senior correspondent Jeremy Hance about the Half Earth biodiversity initiative, the Trump Administration, and how he maintains hope for the future. We also welcome back Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler, who answers a listener question about the natural sounds heard in the background at the start of eve...
Jan 24, 2017•41 min•Ep. 10
This week we’re joined by Joel Berger, a professor at Colorado State University and a senior scientist with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, who recently wrote a commentary for Mongabay arguing that there are too many large mammals like yaks and Saiga antelope living in remote regions (so-called “edge species”) that are wrongfully overlooked by conservation initiatives. Then from Peru, Dr. Andrew Whitworth, a conservation and biodiversity scientist with the University of Glasgow...
Jan 10, 2017•42 min•Ep. 9
This being the last Mongabay Newscast of 2016, we’re bringing you the top new species discoveries of the year. Here at Mongabay we report on a lot of environmental science and conservation news. It’s not always the most cheery subject matter, especially when we’re reporting on endangered or extinct species. But it’s important to remember that we’re also discovering new species all the time. Mongabay staff writer Shreya Dasgupta rounded up all of the top new species discovered in 2016, including ...
Dec 27, 2016•24 min•Ep. 8
On episode seven of the Newscast we talk with Mongabay contributing editor for Southeast Asia Isabel Esterman, who is based in Cairo, Egypt, about the plight of Asian rhinos. Potential new evidence recently emerged that suggests there might be some undiscovered wild Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia, where they were declared extinct in the wild last year — though not everyone is convinced the new evidence is all that compelling. We also speak with Richard Bowden, a professor of environmental science a...
Dec 13, 2016•52 min•Ep. 7
Noted ecologist and author Carl Safina appears on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the current state of marine conservation and its future under the Trump presidency. His latest book is " Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel ," which is now out in paperback. We also welcome to the show Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler, who fills us in on the origins of Mongabay and where it’s going in 2017. (There are many more answers to questions you might have about Mongabay here .)...
Nov 29, 2016•36 min•Ep. 6
On this week's Newscast we hear from writer Justin Catanoso who's at the COP22 climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco filing reports for Mongabay.com. He shares his latest observations from this important UN conference and the mood of the delegates following the shocking U.S. election result favoring Donald Trump. Read his reports from the UN conference here . We also hear from Mongabay editor and Newscast producer Erik Hoffner who answers a reader question about salamander conservation in Mexico, ...
Nov 15, 2016•27 min•Ep. 5
Andrea Crosta of the Elephant Action League (EAL), one of the stars of the new Netflix documentary The Ivory Game , discusses how Chinese demand is driving the multi-billion dollar trade in ivory, as well as EAL’s project WildLeaks and the undercover investigations in mainland China and Hong Kong that have helped expose the illegal ivory being laundered through legal ivory markets. The Ivory Game premieres on Netflix on November 4. We also speak with Borneo Futures founder Erik Meijaard about hi...
Nov 01, 2016•37 min•Ep. 4
Mongabay’s India-based staff writer Shreya Dasgupta appears on this episode of the Newscast to discuss key votes held at the seventeenth congress of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, also known as CITES CoP17. Representatives from more than 180 countries gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for CITES CoP17, which closed on Oct 5. One of the largest environmental agreements regulating the international trade in wildlife, CITES currently regulates more t...
Oct 18, 2016•33 min•Ep. 3
On this episode of the Newscast, Mongabay’s Indonesia-based editor Phil Jacobson makes an in-studio appearance to talk about a new series launched this week focusing on the Mekong Delta. No other delta region in the world is more threatened by climate change than the Mekong Delta, which is why the first installment of the series, asks: “ Will climate change sink the Mekong Delta? ” Three more articles by Mongabay correspondent David Brown, who traveled extensively in Vietnam to report these stor...
Oct 04, 2016•28 min•Ep. 2
For Mongabay Newscast #1, host Mike Gaworecki rounds up the week in top conservation news from around the world and then speaks with Mongabay.com editor Rebecca Kessler about the environmental impacts of the Barro Blanco Dam in Panama on indigenous communities, biodiversity, sacred sites, and the wider watershed. Mongabay has been covering this 28 MW hydro project for three years. The indigenous Ngäbe and Buglé indigenous groups maintain that they were not properly consulted about the project, y...
Sep 16, 2016•20 min•Ep. 1
