Wild Connection

Welcome back everyone for another great episode of Wild Connection the Podcast. One of the many reasons I love doing this podcast is getting to highlight some of the people I have known or worked with in the area of conservation. I have been so fortunate to connect with some incredible people over the years and my guest this week, international wildlife conservation expert Craig Bruce, is one of them. As you will hear Craig has dedicated his life to conservation, sustainable utilization, and community engagement. Although the latter two are rather trendy right now, he has been practicing both for a long time. In many ways Craig has lived the life I dreamt of years ago when I read Cry of the Kalahari by Mark and Delia Owens, two biologists that struck out on their own path to study hyenas and lions in the Kalahari desert. I never imagined I would end up in academia, or the Academy. Instead I was sure that I was going to be more like Craig, doing realon the ground conservation in communities for species around the world. His impact, like his personality, has been large and I am grateful that he is my friend and that I was able to have him on the show.

In this episode we invite you to think about how we can and should come together, work together, have respect for one another, understand each other, help each other while being committed to protecting all the species that we share the planet with so that they and we can continue to be, well, alive.

If you want to keep up with Craig and the critical work Jamma International is doing, here are a few links:

www.jammainternational.com

https://www.facebook.com/jammainternational

https://www.linkedin.com/company/21610505/admin/

https://www.instagram.com/jammainternational/

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Next Sunday is Independence Day in the US and I am going to talk about wildlife independence. What are the rights of other species for autonomy and freedom in a world dominated by humans? What are some of the most recent legal decisions that are beginning to redefine our relationship and how much further should be go? All that and more next week.

Thanks for supporting the show and keep an eye out for how you can sponsor an episode.

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

This episode is all about butterflies, or the pandas of the sky. Check out this cool art I had my friend and artist extraordinaire, Kry Hookuh create. You can check out her work at kryshookuhdoodles.com and follow her on Instagram @kryhookuh

With the release of two new papers looking at what is happening to butterflies as a consequence of climate change, Katy Prudic, Assistant Professor of Data and Citizen Science in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona and colleagues are revealing that big changes are happening for butterflies. One study, published in Science, shows a decline in butterfly populations over the past 40 years. Given continuing warming, especially in Fall, this decline will likely continue. What does this mean for butterflies? For many it means they won’t be able to take the heat. For some, though, like the Giant swallowtail, they may be able to shift northward to escape the increasing temperatures. That comes from the second important paper Katy and her colleagues also just published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

We talk about these studies and more. Like why do people love butterflies? And of course, because people do love butterflies, they are helping scientists get science done. Plus, you’ll learn some interesting little tidbits about butterflies you may not have known before. I know I did. You can follow Katy on Twitter @Envirokaty

Lastly, I was lucky enough to be part of the monarch butterfly tagging effort. Check out the video of me tagging one on my YouTube Channel, Wildlife Connection TV, here.

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Thanks for supporting the show and keep an eye out for our Patreon link coming up soon!

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

Welcome to the fourth episode of Wild Connection The Podcast. In this episode I share a little about how I came to even study animal behavior, some of my early experiences with great apes, and talk with literary scholar Gregory Tague about what he calls an ape ethic.

I got my start as a volunteer for the Center for Great Apes (https://www.centerforgreatapes.org), a sanctuary dedicated to providing a safe haven of life long care for chimpanzees and orangutans in need of a home. They are always in need of donations, so please consider giving. You can also support them by buying some of the wonderful artwork created by the apes, some of whom love to paint for enrichment. I have shared a piece I own as the cover art for this episode

My guest for this episode is Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D. (1998), New York University, who is a Professor in the departments of Literature, Writing and Publishing / Interdisciplinary Studies and founder and senior developer of The Evolutionary Studies Collaborative at St. Francis College, N.Y. He is also the founder and organizer of a number of Darwin-inspired Moral Sense Colloquia and other multidisciplinary events. Recent, relevant books include An Ape Ethic and the Question of Personhood (Lexington Books, 2020), Art and Adaptability: Consciousness and Cognitive Culture (Brill, 2018), Evolution and Human Culture (Brill, 2016), and Making Mind: Moral Sense and Consciousness (Rodopi, 2014). Tague has written or edited a number of other academic books, such as Character and Consciousness (2005) and Origins of English Dramatic Modernism (2010). He is the founding editor of the peer-reviewed ASEBL Journal (ethics/arts/evolution) and general editor of the Bibliotekos literary website as well as Literary Veganism: An Online Journal. Tague has also edited five literary anthologies, notably, Being Human (2012) and Puzzles of Faith and Patterns of Doubt (2013). Tague is currently working on a book about veganism and evolution.

We first discuss his book An Ape Ethic and his perspective on why we can look to other species for developing a better ethical relationship with nature. We spend that last part of the interview talking about his latest work on the evolution of veganism.

You can find out more about Gregory, his books, and other works at his website https://sites.google.com/site/gftague/an-ape-ethic

He also co-authors an online journal called Literary Veganism which you can check out here www.litvegan.net and another journal of ethics/art/evolution, ASEBL www.asebl.net

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Last week climate refugees came up and this week it’s time to talk about conservation refugees. Many Indigenous communities are losing their ancestral lands for conservation. This week's guest is one of the Indigenous Batwa clan leaders currently living in Buhoma in a settlement at the edge of his former home, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

It was an honor and a privilege to sit with him and his community to talk about who they are as a people, what life used to be like, and what they are hoping for in their future. During our interview, the rains came so you’ll hear how heavy the rains were toward the end. If you want to see one of the Batwa traditional dances you can see it here.

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

YouTube: Wild Connection TV

Today's episode is all about insects and is a theme for the next 3 weeks. I discovered Dr. Jeff Lockwood, a Professor of Natural Science and the Humanities at the university of Wyoming, when I was doing research for episode 9, Love is a Battlefield, I came across his work sharing how insects have been used as weapons in human warfare. That stopped me in my tracks and I knew I had to dig deeper. After much digging and reading it was clear that I needed two episodes to cover this special topic. This is Part I. From direct attacks and using insects to cause disease to indirect attacks by destroying agricultural crops and starving your opponent to death, humans have an uneasy and well ugly history with some insects. Join us as we talk about his book Six-legged Soldiers .

You can keep up with scientist, author, and librettist Dr. Jeffrey Lockwood by visiting his website at

https://www.jeffreylockwoodauthor.com

Twitter: @J_A_Lockwood

I was inspired by his book to design a cover for this episode. As always the talented Krys Hookah brought my vision to life with this amazing piece. You can find more of her work at her store You can also folder her on Instagram @KrysHookuh