Let's Talk Conservation - Coral Sea Connection - Dr Andy Lewis

Coral Sea Connection - Dr Andy Lewis

03/10/21 • 38 min

Join me this week in sunny Australia where I talk to Dr Andy Lewis, CEO and founder of the Coral Sea Foundation. Andy has a PhD in coral reef ecology from James Cook University and, along with his extensive experience in small ship adventure cruising, he has become one of the most skilled and widely traveled ecotourism professionals in the Indo-Pacific region. He managed the ecotourism activities aboard the luxury vessel True North for over a decade, exploring a wide variety of tropical locations, from the Rowley Shoals to the Kimberley in Australia; Komodo, Raja Ampat, and West Papua in Indonesia; the Bismarck Sea and Louisiade Archipelago in PNG, and the Western Province of Solomon Islands. Andy’s passion for the reefs, islands and people of the South-Pacific is what inspired the birth of the Coral Sea Foundation. The aim of which is to be a platform for delivering a vision for sustainable reef management and the ultimate marine ecotourism experience. As part of this, Andy was able to setup the amazing Sea Women of Melanesia program which empowers indigenous women in the region, through scuba diving and marine science skills, so they can take an active role in creating and monitoring marine protected areas on their own coral reefs and inspire their island communities to protect and sustainably conserve this resource for generations to come. Check out the links below to find out more.
Website: www.coralseafoundation.net
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjmwu7uoVi70MK32hQuZgQ
Instagram @coralseafoundation and
twitter @coralseafound

Send us a text

Previous Episode

Networking for Conservation - Kimberly Ray

Send us a text

This week we head to California and meet Kimberly Ray, Founder and CEO of Marine Conservation Network (MCN)! An original water baby from Florida, Kimberly was always in the water and became fascinated with the ocean and the mysteries of what waited below the surface. This love eventually led to a serious interest in scuba diving, getting a degree in Marine Biology, and working hands on with marine life. at the aquarium in Santa Barbara. Kimberly became known as the Shark Lady because of her relationships with the smaller sharks. The sharks would be hand-held and brought to the surface for the public to get a closer view and to touch. During her time there, Kimberly found that there was disconnect between scientific conservation and the general public. So she started talking and relating to the public on a more general level and in doing that, she found there was more retention and more connection. It was this realisation that led to Marine Conservation Network being born six years ago. Now, MCN, is going global on building an ocean community by interpreting a common language for all to be on the same page. MCN have two departments that are working to spread the word of ocean conservation:
1) Networking through videos and interviews, promoting the lesser-known conservation organisations that no one knows about and educational videos, and
2) Our Youth Ambassador Program - youths of ages 8 to 15 who are actively making an impact on saving the oceans, doing well in school, and spreading the word of all forms of ocean conservation and education. For those who are continually successful and actively participate in the program, we offer a scholarship to the college of their choice when they graduate high school.
To find out more about MCN and their mains for conservation check out the links below:
https://marineconservationnet.org/
twitter: @MCNnetwork

Next Episode

Best Things About Bats - Dr Hernani Oliveira

Send us a text

This week I am joined by my friend Dr Hernani Oliveira to talk about bats! Hernani is a tropical conservation ecologist with fieldwork experience across different environments, including: the savannahs and rainforests of Brazil, the dry and rainforests of Costa Rica, the lowland and pre-montane forests of Cameroon, and the limestone forests of Rota Island. During his expeditions, Hernani worked with a range of techniques (DNA barcoding, mist nets, radio telemetry, and camera recording systems) and statistical analysis (geometric morphometry, network analysis, and ecological analysis) to understand the response of bat communities and populations to natural and anthropogenic changes in their environment. Bats have been one of the main groups that he has studied, but he has been involved in research and publications across a variety of mammalian species. He has a big passion for environmental education and bringing awareness into the conservation issues that the world is facing nowadays. Hernani’s photos and videos of rare species of bats he has encountered, are being used to bring people closer to the species and places that he works. Check out the links below to learn more about Hernani’s work and the wonderful world of bats.
Website: https://hfmoconservationandscience.weebly.com/
Twitter: @HernaniFMO
Instagram: hernanif77
Articles: Protecting the Cerrado: where should we direct efforts for the conservation of bat-plant interactions?- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-019-01793-w
- The Response of Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to Habitat Modification in a Neotropical Savannah - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940082917697263
- Improved survival for an albino - https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2302?af=R