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ZSL Wild Science Podcast

ZSL Wild Science Podcast

Zoological Society of London

Delve into topical issues in zoology, conservation and the environment, from saving species and protecting the planet, to finding out about the animals living across the globe, including in London’s own river Thames. Learn more about the science behind the conservation work being done by ZSL and others, in this podcast from ZSL’s Institute of Zoology. Hosted previously by Dr Monni Böhm and Ellie Darbey, and now by Harriet McAra.
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Top 10 ZSL Wild Science Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best ZSL Wild Science Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to ZSL Wild Science Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite ZSL Wild Science Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Indigenous communities around the world possess an extremely rich body of knowledge about local environmental resources and biodiversity, which has the potential to be an invaluable conservation tool. However, this local ecological knowledge is being progressively eroded worldwide. Hear Monni and a diverse panel of experts discuss the challenges and opportunities for incorporating indigenous knowledge into conservation management. How can social science help? And why should more trees be ordained as monks?

*Listener note: we apologise for the variety in sound quality on this episode, we experienced some technical issues during recording.

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ZSL Wild Science Podcast - ZSL #020 Marine plastic pollution: the science story
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05/17/19 • 38 min

Hold your breath while we remain underwater for this next episode - Monni and a team of specialists investigate the science behind marine plastic pollution. What are the impacts of plastic on wildlife, people and our coasts? What are the future avenues for tackling this issue? What can each one of us do to reduce single-use plastic in our everyday lives? And how many washing machines can you fit into one small laboratory?

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The marine environment is vast and until recently its sheer size and inaccessibility have hindered our ability to understand the impacts of environmental changes on marine life. Monni and a team of marine wildlife experts reveal how advances in electronic tracking equipment have allowed us to remotely monitor marine animals. How do you tag marine animals? What are the challenges we face when using tagging equipment in the marine environment? How can this help to improve conservation management? And fin-ally, why are plungers and egg timers involved?

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ZSL Wild Science Podcast - ZSL #018 Rewilding in a changing climate
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02/27/19 • 36 min

Conservation often tries to restore habitats to what they were - but given that our climate is changing fast, this kind of ecosystem restoration may no longer be possible. Monni and guests explore how rewilding can help build resilient ecosystems for the future. Why is rewilding often so contentious? How can it be applied to help threatened species? Can humans derive benefits from rewilding? And how do classic cars come into all of this?

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ZSL Wild Science Podcast - ZSL #016 Wildlife and wellbeing in urban landscapes
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12/10/18 • 20 min

Nearly half of the world’s human population lives in urban environments and this is projected to increase in future. While many species suffer the effects from urbanisation, other species thrive (or at least persist) in our urban landscapes. Monni and guests explore what creatures are lurking in our cities at night, how we can improve our urban landscapes for nature and our own well-being and what you should (and shouldn't) do when you find a camera trap in a park.

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Monni explores the ins and outs of biodiversity indicators with IOZ’s Indicator and Assessments Research Unit. Biodiversity indicators are measures of how biodiversity is doing worldwide, and we see them reported in the media: the Living Planet Index, for example, was recently published as part of the 2018 Living Planet Report and shows that populations of vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish) have decline on average by 60% since 1970. How do such metrics come about and why do we need them? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Who are the people behind these biodiversity indicators? And... are spiders “huggable”? You’ve come to the right place to find out.

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ZSL Wild Science Podcast - ZSL #013: Cetacean by-catch: casting the net for solutions
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09/07/18 • 27 min

By-catch is defined as the accidental entanglement of non-target species in fishing gear and is a principal cause of strandings for cetaceans. Monni is joined by researchers from the Cetaceans Strandings Investigations Programme (CSIP) and its partners to discuss by-catch as both a welfare and a conservation issue. With the scale of fishing in global oceans increasing, what solutions are available to reduce the impact of by-catch on cetacean populations around our shores?

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ZSL Wild Science Podcast - ZSL #012: ZSL at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2018
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07/04/18 • 13 min

In this special mini-episode join Monni at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition for a teaser of what our researchers will be talking on our ZSL stand ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. Learn about the camera traps, tags and trackers being deployed around the world to study and monitor wildlife in remote locations, and what we can learn from the data they capture. Find out why should come along to the exhibition and what you can see and do at our exhibit, from animal top trumps, a cuddly shark, display camera traps and trackers, and an interactive game flapping an albatross!

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We have probably all heard about threatened species that are close to extinction, but how do we measure this? Monni travels to the IUCN Red List Unit in Cambridge to find out about the ins and outs of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the extinction risk of species. How do we measure extinction risk? Who compiles the Red List and why? Which species have been assessed, what data do we need and where are the main data gaps? And what has Frank Zappa got to do with it all? Find out more about this flagship conservation tool and the people who eat, sleep and breathe the IUCN Red List.

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After our Nature’s Negotiators miniseries, where we learned all about the complexities, challenges and importance of United Nations climate and biodiversity meetings, we wanted to give the gift of a bonus episode to round things off! We catch up with Bethan to hear how things went after she attended COP29, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Azerbaijan.

Overview

00:11 Harriet McAra, Host of Wild Science, Episode introduction

00:54 Bethan Laughlin, ZSL’s Senior Policy Specialist, on how the finance negotiations at COP29 played out

06:37 Bethan on the strength of language used in texts agreed at COP29, and how that came to be

10:38 Bethan on the accuracy of the portrayal of COP29 in the media

12:38 The other themes discussed at COP29

14:04 What can be expected at the next climate COP in Belem, Brazil

16:17 Outro

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Get in touch

  • Email [email protected] with your questions, comments, and thoughts for future episodes!
  • Tweet us @ZSLScience with the hashtag #ZSLWildScience
  • Follow us on Facebook @ZSLScienceAndConservation
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FAQ

How many episodes does ZSL Wild Science Podcast have?

ZSL Wild Science Podcast currently has 45 episodes available.

What topics does ZSL Wild Science Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Animals, Conservation, London, Environment, Natural Sciences, Nature, Wildlife, Podcasts and Science.

What is the most popular episode on ZSL Wild Science Podcast?

The episode title 'ZSL #022 Can we find better ways to live with wildlife?' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on ZSL Wild Science Podcast?

The average episode length on ZSL Wild Science Podcast is 34 minutes.

How often are episodes of ZSL Wild Science Podcast released?

Episodes of ZSL Wild Science Podcast are typically released every 40 days.

When was the first episode of ZSL Wild Science Podcast?

The first episode of ZSL Wild Science Podcast was released on Feb 1, 2018.

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