Eric Eaton - Field Guide for a Career Entomologist

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10/12/21 • 73 min

Eric R. Eaton is a writer and is author of Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect (Princeton University Press, 2021), and the forthcoming Insectpedia (Princeton University Press, 2022). He is also lead author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007), and co-author of Insects Did It First (Xlibris, 2018) with Gregory S. Paulson. He has contributed to several other books including Wild in the City: a guide to Portland’s natural areas (Oregon Historical Society Press, 2000); and has written articles about insects and other animals for Natural History, Birds and Blooms, Ranger Rick, Missouri Conservationist, and other magazines. Eric studied entomology at Oregon State University, and has worked as an entomologist at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), Cincinnati Zoo, and Chase Studio, Inc., as well as on private contract for the Smithsonian Institution, and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Eric writes the blogs Bug Eric and Sense of Misplaced and as "Bug Eric" he has built a loyal following on social media (Facebook, Twitter, iNaturalist).
We speak about Eric's career trajectory as an entomologist which doesn't follow the typical academic route, we spoke about some our shared frustrations with academia and how it can impact your love and motivation for science, and of course, we spoke about wasps - about how and why they make us feel they way they do, about how interesting and diverse they are outside of yellow-jackets and hornets, and how we can learn to appreciate what we've been trained not to.

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Bram Büscher - Conservation & Capitalism

Dr. Bram Büscher is Professor and Chair of the Sociology of Development and Change group at Wageningen University and holds visiting positions at the University of Johannesburg and Stellenbosch University. His research looks at the political economy of environment and development, including in the politics of conservation, energy and extraction, ecotourism, new media, violence and social theory. He is the author of ‘The Truth About Nature. Environmentalism in the Era of Post-Truth Politics and Platform Capitalism and co-author of ‘The Conservation Revolution: Radical Ideas for Saving Nature Beyond the Anthropocene’ . He is also a senior editor of the journal Conservation & Society.
In this conversation we talk about the interaction between capitalism and conservation, and how the neoliberal fascination with growth influences our relationship with the natural world. We discuss the historical context of this ideology, the supply and demand approach to natural commodities including the green energy transition, and alternative ways we might relate to nature and the economy.
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Sally Gepp - The Environment in the Eyes of the Law

Sally Gepp is an environmental lawyer and has practises as a barrister sole in New Zealand. She worked for nine years with environmental NGO Forest & Bird specializing in environmental law, and since 2019 has been working in environmental law independently. She has appeared as counsel in a number of high profile cases including in relation to the Ruataniwha Dam and the proposed the East-West Link highway development in Auckland. Sally was also a trustee of the Biodiversity Collaborative Group tasked by the Minister for the Environment with developing a draft National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity, and she is a member of the New Zealand Conservation Authority, and is President of the Resource Management Law Association.
We talked today about Sally's entry and motivation to study law as a means to effect environmental change. We spoke about the connection between policy and enacting environmental law, and the high-level proclamations we all make about environmental change. We spoke about her past and current environmental hearings on freshwater policy , about feral and domestic cats and their impact on dolphins, and how a lack of political courage can explain a lot about environmental inaction.
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