When it comes to sustainability, shifting away from coal generated power makes complete sense. But what does the transition mean for communities who depend on 'dirty' industries for their survival? This episode is all about the journey to renewables, and how we can make sure no one gets left behind. Features: Danny Boothman - Former Hazelwood worker and musician Professor Peter Sheldon - Director of the Industrial Relations Research Centre at the University of New South Wales Dr Sven Teske - Res...
Apr 10, 2019•23 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Termites are often written off as a pest, but there is more to the little creatures than meets the eye. This episode is all about termites; what they destroy, but also what they build. And all the things we could learn from them, if only they could talk. Featuring: Dr Sebastian Oberst - Senior Lecturer, Centre for Audio Acoustics and Vibration at the University of Technology Sydney Carolyn - Artist Therese - Artist Lyn - Artist Kat - Artist Rob Adams - Director of City Design at the City of Melb...
Apr 03, 2019•35 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Deciding to have a baby can be one of the most important personal choices you will make in your lifetime. And yet, bringing new life into the world won’t just impact you and your family. This episode is all about Australians who are choosing to think differently, and see their personal family planning as a type of environmental action plan in an overpopulated world. But can individual action really make a difference? Featuring: Phoebe Mark Graham Pyke - Adjunct Professor in the School of Life Sc...
Mar 27, 2019•22 min•Season 4Ep. 2
The environmental movement in Australia has a race problem. White led governments continue to form policies based off research rooted in western science. Western science will often position itself as the only answer, actively excluding knowledge belonging to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In this episode we ask, is western environmentalism racist? Featuring: Bradley Moggridge - PhD Candidate at the University of Canberra. Tania Searle - PhD Candidate at Flinders University. Natal...
Mar 20, 2019•24 min•Season 4Ep. 1
As we continue to trash our oceans and terrestrial environments, many are pitching the model of the circular economy as an answer to our problem with waste. Building on the reduce, reuse, recycle model, the circular economy promises an end to overflowing dumps where products are continually repurposed. While the promise of circularity sounds so good, this episode we unpack how a circular economy universe might see us produce even more waste and cause greater social inequity. Featuring: Trevor Zi...
Dec 10, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Where we've typically ascribed trauma to the individual, climate change now sees large groups of people sharing the same damaging experience in what's being called 'collective trauma'. But as post-disaster care continues to prioritise physical safety, the mental health of survivors often falls to the wayside. This episode we explore the global implications of climate change on mental health and why our mental health services aren't ready for what's to come. Featuring: Lucy Chen - Student at the ...
Nov 29, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 28
When tobacco company Philip Morris sued Australia over our plain packaging laws, it's fair to say we were taken by surprise. How can a foreign company take a nation's government to tribunal for protecting its citizens health? The answer is Investor State Dispute Settlement, an obscure clause in free trade agreements allowing corporations to sue foreign governments for what it perceives be unfair discrimination. In practice, this tends to end up happening over regulations in two area: health and ...
Nov 26, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 27
What can the sounds of the stratosphere tell us about the nature of noise on the ground? Featuring: Julius Ambroisine - PhD Student at the University of Technology Sydney.
Nov 12, 2018•16 min•Season 3Ep. 26
There are over 400 parks and open spaces in the City of Sydney. Some are lush, vast open spaces while others small pockets of green hidden among suburban streets. But are these treasured environments just another reminder that we've buried our histories? This is part two of a series exploring the classism of the environmental movement. Featuring: Professor Jaky Troy - Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research at the University of Sydney. Peter McNeil - Distinguished Professor in D...
Nov 05, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 25
While many fret over their calorie intake or whether or not their food is certified organic, others are struggling get dinner on the table. There are many barriers to food, but it's the motivations behind food distribution pushing vulnerable communities even further into food distress. In this episode, we unpack what these motivations are and why Australia as a nation is failing to address food security. This is part one of a series exploring the classism of the environmental movement. Featuring...
Oct 29, 2018•22 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Virtual reality immerses us in artificial experiences of the real world with research also showing VR can create empathy with the environment you're experiencing. But how far does this empathy go? Featuring: Ryan Watson - Head of Community Engagement at New Horizons. Catherine Maree Smith - Ambassador for Parallel Parks. Glenn Albrecht - Retireds Lecturer in Sustainability at Murdoch University. Jeremy Walker - Lecturer in Environment, Culture and Society at the University of Technology Sydney. ...
Oct 22, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 23
When City of Melbourne launched the Urban Forest Visual strategy to gather data on the city's 77,000 trees, something happened they didn't plan for. In an attempt to engage the community in the data collection process, they added an email function so residents could notify the council if a tree needed help. Instead, the council received an outpouring of love letters, drawings and tributes to the urban environment. So they decided to write back... Featuring: Councillor Cathy Oke, City of Melbourn...
Oct 15, 2018•18 min•Season 3Ep. 22
With the public consultation period for the Sydney Marine Park ending today, Marine Ecologist Dave Booth discusses the future of the park and how the scrapping of sanctuary zones could endanger fragile marine ecosystems. You can have your last minute say by following this link to the Marine NSW website.
Sep 27, 2018•17 min•Season 3Ep. 21
There are currently more than 10 million refugees worldwide and approximately every minute 24 people around the world are forced to flee their homes. Living conditions within the refugee camps displaced people settle are often characterised by limited resources. But typically, the environmental considerations are put aside while refugees deal with the healthcare deficiencies caused by this global refugee crisis. Even though these humanitarian concerns are linked to the environmental ones. Featur...
Sep 24, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 20
The superannuation scheme was introduced in Australia to ensure people have the money they need when they reach retirement. But some 26 years after the scheme was sworn in, at what point did your retirement savings become a means to fund a renewable energy future? Featuring: Michael Bones - Head of Engagement at Future Super. Glen Klatovsky - Deputy CEO of 350 Australia. Stuart Palmer - Head of Ethics at Australian Ethical. Dr Scott Dwyer and Dr Yohan Kim from the Institute for Sustainable Futur...
Sep 17, 2018•20 min•Season 3Ep. 19
The rise of artificial intelligence has as many anxious as it does excited, with people concerned that autonomous technologies could automate them out of a job. But as technology continues to make huge leaps forward, there's very little in the way of policy to ensure these innovations don't disrupt people's working lives and contribute to a more unequal society. Featuring: Nicholas Davis - Head of Society and Innovation, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum. Nik Dawson - PhD S...
Sep 10, 2018•39 min•Season 3Ep. 18
The International Seabed Authority has issued 29 exploration licenses for deep sea mining. But with the deep sea falling under the protections of outdated international agreements and largely remaining a mystery, how can we be sure mining the ocean floor won't bring about ecological destruction? Featuring: Ngenge Sasa - Local Level Government President in Balopa LLG, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea and Member of the Alliance of Solwara Warriors. Elsa Dominish - Senior Research Consultant at the...
Sep 03, 2018•22 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Two climate engineering technologies have been inscribed into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report outlining they'll be crucial in ensuring we don't exceed 2 degrees of global warming. However, with little evidence as to how these technologies work in the field, is this just another attempt to stall more proactive climate action? Featuring: Jonathan Marshall - Future Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Kerry...
Aug 27, 2018•23 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Warfare is destructive and absolute, but when conflict ends there is often surplus of weaponry. However, in burying or dumping these munitions when they're no longer needed, we've threatened the fabric of fragile ecosystems. Featuring: Stephen Billings - Geophysicist with GapEOD (Gap Explosive Ordnance Detection Pty Ltd). Julie Konzuk - Principal Environment Engineer with Geosyntec Consultants. Dr Megan Phillips - Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at Head of PhytoLab at the University of T...
Jul 30, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Thanks to overpopulation and man made climate change, global food stocks are running low. Enter ‘future foods’ - the gross, weird and wonderful things clickbait articles tell us will be on our dinner plate in ten years time. But as Think: Digital Futures host Cheyne Anderson finds out, there’s more to this debate than just eating worms. Featuring: Jacqui Newling - Colonial Gastronomer at Sydney Living Museums. Dr Janice McCauley - Research Fellow in the Climate Change Cluster at the University o...
Jul 23, 2018•22 min•Season 3Ep. 14
The practice of pastoralism in Mongolia is unlike any other agricultural practice around the globe. But as pastoralists face growing climatic uncertainty, and ongoing socio-political pressures, are the mobile herders of Mongolia at their end of days? Featuring: Enkh-Amgalan (Enkhie) - Manager of the “Green Gold” Pasture Ecosystem Management Project. Dr Jane Addison - Research Fellow and Social-Ecological Systems Scientist from James Cook University. Bronwen Dalton - Associate Professor in the Ma...
Jul 16, 2018•27 min•Season 3Ep. 13
We have entered the age of personalisation where algorithms filter and feed you your digital experience. But as the power of the algorithm has grown, why are they filtering out the environment? Featuring: Dr Jonathan Marshall - Future Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Cheyne Anderson - Host of Think: Digital Futures
Jul 09, 2018•22 min•Season 3Ep. 12
The data we collect via satellite informs almost all climate research today. So why do half of the earth monitoring satellites currently in orbit restrict the use of climate data? Featuring: Alfredo Huete - Distinguished Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Mariel Borowitz - Assistant Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology and author of Open Space. Rachel Licker - Senior Climate Scientist at the Uni...
Jul 02, 2018•29 min•Season 3Ep. 11
It’s being called the biggest infrastructure project in human history, the likes of which Planet Earth has never seen before. And up until now, the disastrous environmental implications of the Belt and Road Initiative have gone unrecognised and underreported. In a special Think: Sustainability update, you’ll hear exactly what this environmental damage looks like and the forces pressing infrastructure over ecology. Featuring: Bill Laurance - Distinguished Research Professor and Director for Tropi...
Jun 04, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 10
How a community in regional Australia has distanced itself from the electricity grid and powered the town through its own energy system. Featuring: Matt Charles-Jones - President of Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY) Geoff James - Research Principal from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. Donna - Resident from Yackandandah. Producer: Emma Rapaport.
May 28, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 9
How would pumped hydro storage help us transition to 100% renewable energy? Featuring: Tom Morris - Senior Research Consultant at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. Andrew Blakers - Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University. Giles Parkinson - Editor of Renew Economy. Producer: Jake Morcom.
May 21, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Will the political crisis in the Maldives unravel their tourism industry and bring about climate disaster? Featuring: Azim Zahir - PhD Candidate in the Centre for Muslim States and Societies at the University of Western Australia. Stephen Schweinsberg - Lecturer in Sustainable Management at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. David Beirman - Senior Lecturer in the Management Discipline Group at the University of Technology Sydney. Producer: Jake Morcom.
May 14, 2018•26 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Will insurance companies ever offer cover for those living in a high risk flood zone? Featuring: Lance Leslie - Professor of Climatology in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. Elizabeth Mossop - Professor of Landscape Architecture and Dean of the Design, Architecture and Building Faculty at the University of Technology Sydney. Tim Andrews - Principal at Finity Consulting. Gera and Cherina - Business Owners from Lismore, New South Wales. Produc...
May 07, 2018•27 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Free public transport, road space rationing, banning diesel cars; there are plenty of efforts to control levels of air pollution, but with more than 3.5 million premature deaths each year because of it, we’re failing to act quickly enough. This episode we unpick how the framework regulating air pollution in Australia is doing little to reduce toxic emissions, and how a small town in the Hunter region has been devastated at the hands of the coal industry. Featuring: Nic Surawksi - Lecturer in the...
Apr 09, 2018•21 min•Season 3Ep. 5
As humanity continues to ponder its existence, ‘where did we all come from? Why are we here?’, researchers have suggested we may be asking the wrong questions in trying to uncover the answers. This episode we explore our evolving understanding of photosynthesis, and why the answers to some of our biggest philosophical questions could be locked in the process that enabled life to inhabit the planet, rather than what birthed us. Speakers: David Suggett - Associate Professor in the Climate Change C...
Apr 03, 2018•20 min•Season 3Ep. 4
