Note: This interview was recorded before the Supreme court decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Nonetheless, Nandita and Carter present a deep look into the driving cultural and political forces behind it. About Nandita Bajaj, Executive Director, Population Balance A Humane Educator and a passionate advocate for planetary health, Nandita’s area of interest is on the intimate links between pronatalism, anthropocentrism and overpopulation and their impacts on human rights, animal protection, and environmental preservation. As faculty with the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University, Nandita teaches two courses – Human Rights as well as Pronatalism and Overpopulation, a first-of-its-kind open online course that she designed to explore the impacts of the pervasive and oppressive pressures on women to have children and the resulting impacts on them, other humans, animals, as well as the planet. (See full bio) Carter Dillard, Policy Director and Board of Directors, Fair Start M...
About Renee Renee Seacor is an interdisciplinary environmental advocate with a background in wildlife ecology and environmental law and policy who has dedicated her professional career to using science-based advocacy to guide and develop policy solutions to challenging conservation issues. She currently serves as the Carnivore Conservation Advocate forProject Coyoteand The Rewilding Institute, where she advocates for the conservation of carnivores and wild nature through rewilding and science-driven advocacy. Renee grew up in the beautiful Hudson Valley region in New York, where she developed her deep appreciation for nature and wildlife. She followed her love for wild landscapes out west and spent over ten years exploring and living in the beautiful states of Montana and Oregon. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Rocky Mountain College in Montana and a J.D. with a concentration in environmental law from the University of Oregon School of Law. It was in learning and conn...
About Bethanie Walder joined the Society for Ecological Restoration as Executive Director in September 2015 and has more than 20 years’ experience in environmental conservation, restoration and education. Prior to joining the SER, Bethanie served as the Executive Director of Wildlands CPR, where she oversaw several highly successful conservation and restoration campaigns. Today she is responsible for helping guide SER’s overall work to achieve its mission of advancing the science, practice and policy of ecological restoration. Bethanie has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Studies from Duke University and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. She lives, works, and plays in Missoula, Montana. Topics * Really big restoration projects * Really small restoration projects * Tree planting or ecosystem restoration? * What you can do to help: Make a Difference Week! * Why it’s not just corporations on the hook. Our colle...
About Fran is an interdisciplinary researcher and nature advocate with over a decade’s experience in conservation and animal science, ethics and policy issues. He is the Big River Connectivity Science and Conservation Manager for Project Coyote and The Rewilding Institute, where he helps promote compassion and respect for wild carnivores and nature, their protection, and the rewilding of the Mississippi River Watershed. His work explores the application of nature ethics to our mixed-community of humans, animals and nature, with a focus on the promotion of worldviews rooted in an ethic of care and justice towards nonhumans, and a reverence for life. He is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras (BA, Political Science and Economics), Duke University (Masters in Public Policy and Environmental Management), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD, Environment & Resources). He has worked on a variety of environmental and conservation issues, from state wildlife ...
Welcome to a special Earth Day episode of the Rewilding Earth Podcast! About Cara Nelson is a Professor of Restoration Ecology and the Chair of the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana’s W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservationand a leader of the Restoration Thematic Group of theIUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management. Cara has helped develop theguiding principles for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restorationand she contributed to the paper, “Guiding principles for rewilding,” which appeared inConservation Biology. Topics * Are the terms ecosystem and ecological restoration the same? * The relationship between rewilding and restoration. * Concrete accomplishments so far on the UN Decade. * Key challenges for successful implementation of the UN Decade. * Why principles and standards of practice are needed. Extra Credit * Check out the latest issue of Biohabitats’ free publication, Leaf Litter. * Visit the United Nations Decade on ...
About Brad Meiklejohn is a member of the Rewilding Institute Leadership Council, and he is currently Senior Alaska Representative for The Conservation Fund, where he has worked since 1994. Brad has directed hundreds of conservation projects protecting over 500,000 acres of wild land in Alaska, and he recently completed a major dam removal project on Alaska’s Eklutna River. Brad was successful in removing cows from 200,000 acres in Nevada’s Great Basin National Park and he is working on constructing wildlife highway crossings in New Hampshire. Brad served as President of the Patagonia Land Trust, as President of the American Packrafting Association, as Associate Director of the Utah Avalanche Center, and as a board director of The Murie Center. Brad is a birder and wilderness explorer, and he recently published The Wild Trails, a book that is part memoir, part conservation polemic, and part Buddhist training manual. Rewilding Earth Podcast listeners keen to have their own copy of B...
NicoleRosmarino, Ph.D. co-founded the Southern Plains Land Trust(SPLT) in 1998 and has served as its Executive Director since 2011. In her work for SPLT, she is striving to create large shortgrass prairie wildlife refuges that emulate the “American Serengeti” that once occurred in the Great Plains. Dr. Daniel Kinka is American Prairie Reserve’s Wildlife Restoration Manager. His primary responsibilities include restoring and monitoring wildlife on the Reserve and managing the wildlife-friendly ranching program “Wild Sky.” He also acts as a liaison to scientists conducting research at American Prairie, other non-governmental organizations, agencies, and other external entities. Topics * Hard vs soft rewilding * Wildlands philanthropy * Coexistence and tolerance as a key factor in the density of wildlife on the Great Plains * The big vision and how we can bring back the American Serengeti Extra Credit Visit and support these great organizations! * Southern Plains Land Trust * Amer...
About Chad Hanson co-founded the John Muir Project in 1996. He first became involved in national forest protection after hiking the 2,700-mile length of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada with his older brother in 1989. During this hike he witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by rampant commercial logging on our National Forests in California, Oregon and Washington. Chad finished his Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA after completing the Pacific Crest Trail and then attended law school at the University of Oregon, during which time he also began his career as an environmental advocate working for Native Forest Council and volunteering for the Sierra Club. Chad earned his law degree in 1995, and started the John Muir Project shortly thereafter. In 2003 Chad returned to school, and earned his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California at Davis in 2007, with a research focus on forest and fire ecology and the rare wildlife species that depend upon post-fire ...
About John Davis is executive director of The Rewilding Institute and editor of Rewilding Earth. For Rewilding, he serves as a wildways scout, editor, interviewer, and writer. He rounds out his living with conservation field work, particularly within New York’s Adirondack Park, where he lives. John serves on boards of RESTORE: The North Woods, Eddy Foundation, Champlain Area Trails, Cougar Rewilding Foundation, and Algonquin to Adirondack Conservation Collaborative. You can read more about John’s epic journey “Trek West” in 2013, hiking, biking, and floating along the Spine of the Continent from Mexico to British Columbia to promote a Western Wildway. A big chunk of which we are talking about with John today. Topics * The proposed Mogollon Wildway boundaries * Protections already in place * The “Lobo Trail” initiative * Wildlife overpasses and underpasses * The Mogollon Wildway coalition Extra Credit * MOGOLLON WILDWAY Ramble FIELD NOTES from Autumn 2018 Scouting * The Mogollo...
About Kelly Borgmann grew up on a historic farm in rural east-central Indiana. Spending her days playing in the woods and taking care of the land gave her a deep appreciation of nature, while participating in 4-H and FFA taught her how to be a productive member of rural and agricultural communities. Following her passion for wild nature, Kelly earned an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology from Ball State University. She then spent the next several years travelling and has spent time working as a field guide in South Africa, a human-manatee interactions researcher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Florida, a National Park Service cowgirl in Montana, and a conservation educator in Ohio. And now she is part of the Rewilding Institute and Project Coyote team working on our new rewilding and carnivore coexistence program in the Mississippi River Watershed. Topics * Rewilding challenges in states like Iowa * How farmers view carnivore coexistence * A 9 million acre rewilding ...