The impact of wild horses on our national parks: David Watson
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In June 2017, ecologist David Watson resigned from the NSW Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee over the wild horse debate. He posted his letter of resignation on Twitter, where it quickly went viral. Historic icon, convenient resource or environmental vandal – brumbies are both revered and reviled in Australia. Scientists say that the animals are doing irreparable harm to Australia’s alpine region, brumby lovers say the animals are cultural icons. David says you can have horses and you can have protected areas. But you can´t have horses in a protected areas.
Join the debate on our social channels!
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Legendary journalist and passionate nature photographer: Ray Martin
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Ray Martin is a true broadcast legend – he has been a beloved and familiar companion for a lot of Aussies over the past decades. So much so that Ray was even honoured with his very own postage stamp. As a journalist he has pretty much done it all. Working around the globe and across Australia for TV and radio he was exposed to millions of viewers and listeners. But he kept his biggest passion in life a secret for many years. Ray Martin is such an ardent nature photographer that his family even had to call an intervention three days into a holiday to make him put down the camera.
On this episode he shares his love for photography and some of the stories that influenced his passion for it. He also reveals his next photographic expedition to remote central Queensland, a spot so special it may well become one of the country’s next national parks.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
What it takes to ride a bicycle to the South Pole: Kate Leeming
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Kate Leeming has taken cycling to a whole new level. She has pedalled a distance greater than twice the world’s circumference and crossed almost every continent, through scorching deserts and bitterly cold polar regions. She has experienced different cultures and people, and bent the ideas of what’s possible to achieve on a bike. She also started the Breaking the Cycle education program to give back to people in regions she visited during her adventures.
On this episode she´ll be discussing her next major challenge: The first-ever bicycle crossing of the Antarctic continent via the South Pole.
You can find out more about Kate´s adventures here:
www.breakingthecycle.education
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Justin Walker (Editor Australian Geographic Adventure) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
The truth behind Australia’s deforestation crisis: Rebecca Spindler
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Rebecca Spindler is a passionate conservationist that works for the NGO Bush Heritage Australia whose mission it is to protect land from deforestation and raise awareness for the effects of land clearing for the Australian habitat. The organisation WWF has estimated that with the current deforestation rates the koala will be extinct in the state of New South Wales around the year 2050.
On this episode Rebecca shares her path to becoming an advocate for this matter and what can be done to preserve Australia´s forests and why we have to protect these areas from extinction.
Here you can find out more about Rebecca & Bush Heritage Australia:
www.bushheritage.org.au/who-we-are/people/rebecca-spindler
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
How to save our oceans from extinction: Sylvia Earle
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Sylvia Earle is a living legend of ocean exploration. She’s been a marine scientist and explorer for seven decades. In 2009 her TED talk called “My Wish: Protect Our Oceans” was a huge success and not only did she win the TED prize that year but her message reached a whole new generation. The innovator and scientist has always been an advocate for the protection of the world’s oceans and keeps pushing for support for marine protected areas.
On this episode she shares her journey to becoming one of the most respected and powerful voices for the ocean environment and how she hopes that her story will inspire a whole new generation of young female oceanographers, engineers, inventors and conservationists.
You can find out more about Sylvia here:
https://mission-blue.org/about
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
A rock star of climate change science: Lesley Hughes
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Lesley Hughes is an ecologist and professor of biology who has been researching the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems for over two decades. She is a councillor with the Climate Council of Australia, formerly known as the Climate Change Commission, making her one of the most prominent voices on climate change. In 2013, following the successful election of a coalition government she was one of the first people fired when the Climate Change Commission was controversially disbanded. Since then, Lesley has published numerous scientific papers that warn of the impacts of climate change, as well as speaking candidly about what it’s like when planetary catastrophe is your day job.
Here you can find out more about Lesley:
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/author/lesley-hughes
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Why light pollution is bad for us and the night skies: Fred Watson
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Fred Watson is a professor of astronomy, a popular author, musician, and beloved TV and radio personality and has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson). He is also Australia’s first Astronomer-at-large which is not only a pretty impressive work title but more so a testament to all of his accomplishments over the years in the field of astronomy. It also means Fred knows better than most of us what’s at stake when talking about the issue of light pollution. In some urban areas our night sky environment has shrunk to just “a hand full of stars” due to the amount of bad light that is radiating into the atmosphere. But light pollution also has negative effects on wild life and our own health.
On this episode Fred is talking about his own involvement with dark sky tourism and the efforts for urban dark sky parks to show people the beauty of an untouched night sky environment. He also shares what can be done to stop light pollution.
Here you can find out more about Fred:
http://www.fredwatson.com.au
https://www.darkskytraveller.com.au
This is a link to the Australian Dark Sky Alliance:
https://www.australasiandarkskyalliance.org
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Ron Allum is a pioneering cave diver and inventor who originally started out as a broadcasting technician for the ABC. Not only has he broken records as a cave diver but also discovered his talent for inventing state of the art underwater equipment used in film. His abilities brought him together with legendary film-maker and deep-sea enthusiast James Cameron. The mission was nothing less than to build a submarine that could take James to the deepest-known point in the Earth’s seabed – the Mariana Trench, with a depth of almost 11,000m.
Despite all of these accomplishments, Ron is as quiet and humble man who seems most happy enjoying his myriad achievements in relative silence.
In the second part of our conversation, Ron talks about how he became involved in the world of epic film-making and how he ended up meeting legendary director James Cameron and ultimately becoming the man that took James to the deepest-known point in the Earth’s seabed. He shares his path from technical trouble shooter to successful inventor for highly specialised underwater equipment, and starting his own company.
You can find out more about Ron here:
www.ronallum.com
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Ron Allum is a pioneering cave diver and inventor who originally started out as a broadcasting technician for the ABC. Not only has he broken records as a cave diver but also discovered his talent for inventing state of the art underwater equipment used in film. His abilities brought him together with legendary film-maker and deep-sea enthusiast James Cameron. The mission was nothing less than to build a submarine that could take James to the deepest-known point in the Earth’s seabed – the Mariana Trench, with a depth of almost 11,000m.
Despite all of these accomplishments, Ron is a quiet and humble man who seems most happy enjoying his myriad achievements in relative silence.
This is the first part of the conversation with Ron in which he talks about his early life and how he discovered his passion for the dangerous sport of cave diving. He also shares how he led an expedition to Cocklebiddy Cave in the 1980s, pushing 6.24km into the cave system, which resulted in a world-record. He also talks about how his invention of a specialised communication system saved him and the rest of the team when they got trapped underground in the Pannikin Plains expedition in 1988.
This man is truly in a league of his own.
You can find out more about Ron here:
www.ronallum.com
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
How to turn sailing into a time-travel adventure: Captain Gary Wilson
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Gary Wilson turned his passion and love for the sea into a unique career. The master mariner guides guests around the coastline of Australia and its neighbours for pioneering Australian adventure cruise company Coral Expeditions.
Another passion of Gary’s is marine history, and over the years he has learned to master the art of sailing replica ships around the globe. Historic vessels such as Captain James Cook´s legendary Endeavour (originally built in 1764) and more recently an exact replica of the lesser-known Dutch ship Duyfken (originally built in 1595), the first to reach Australia.
On this episode Gary talks about some of the upcoming once-in-a-lifetime experiences you can share with him and Coral Expeditions, and explains what it feels like to travel back in time sailing historic ships.
Here you can find out more about Gary Wilson’s adventures.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
