Category: Podcast
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Episode 108: Communicating about Nature with Lucy McRobert
Communication is by far the most important, yet most difficult, factor in any undertaking. Whether managing a business project with many stakeholders or leading a team to accomplish a goal, excellent communication is the key to success. It is no different in the world of conservation and nature-related endeavours. Anyone who has tried to communicate the benefits of hunting for conservation to uninformed people, with a distaste for killing animals, knows what I’m talking about! The complex and highly emotional…
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Episode 107: Remarkable Creatures with Aga Grandowicz
In many conversations on my podcast, we have observed that long-term success in nature conservation will be impossible without engaging and educating future generations. Today kids, like their parents, are more and more disconnected from the natural world. Even the children’s dictionary has replaced words about nature with newer words. And so acorn has been replaced with analogue, buttercup with broadband, clover with chatroom, and so on. That’s why, if you are a conservation-minded parent who cares about the future…
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Episode 106: Irish Cave Bones with Ruth Carden
Regular listeners have already heard that this episode was coming. And we’ve been planning it for a long time. Conflicting schedules, travel plans and life, in general, were always getting in the way. But boy, was it worth waiting for! And so, we sat down for a chat with Dr Ruth Carden, a zoologist, who specialises in the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal assemblages. To the casual reader, Ruth is probably best known for her groundbreaking discovery of butchering marks on…
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Episode 105: Human, Nature with Ian Carter
Keeping a diary can be a useful thing. Especially if the diarist focuses on events and experiences pertaining to their area of expertise. Ian Carter, naturalist, ornithologist and author, has kept his wildlife diary for over three decades. Ian worked for Natural England, a governmental advisory body, for twenty-five years. He has written articles for respected wildlife magazines and has co-authored papers in scientific journals. Ian was also involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme and other bird reintroductions and…
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Episode 104: Project MarPAMM with Naomi Wilson, Anuschka Miller and Alex Callaway
Conservation of the marine environment is prominently featured in many episodes of my podcast. Regular listeners have heard on many occasions the opinion that marine protected areas, or MPAs for short, is where it’s at. But as always in these cases, if you start digging and asking questions everything is more difficult than it looks at first glance. To start the discussion about MPAs, today I bring you an introduction to an environmental project called MarPAMM. Our guests are Dr…
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Support the Podcast and Buy Me a Coffee
For the past four years, I’ve been providing you with recorded conversations about wildlife and the natural environment. My guests range from the world’s top scientists, members of environmental organizations and award-winning authors, to hunters and anglers with a lifetime of experience. We often discuss difficult and unpopular topics. This is all in the name of sharing ideas and understanding different points of view on critical environmental issues. For all of you who want to support Tommy’s Outdoors podcast and…
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Episode 103: Hunter-Gatherers with Graeme Warren
The term hunter-gatherers is often understood as a description of primitive people who live in an idyllic state of harmony with nature. In reality however, the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers is way more complex than most of us think. To shed some light on this fascinating subject and to clarify some misconceptions I bring you my conversation with prof. Graeme Warren of the University College Dublin, School of Archaeology. Graeme is a specialist in the Archaeology of Hunter-Gatherers, the leader of…
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Episode 102: Humane Animal Treatment with Alick Simmons
You often hear hunters and anglers boasting about humane animal treatment. Whether it is a “quick humane kill” in the case of hunters or “fish welfare” in the case of anglers practising catch and release, this subject is mentioned a lot. Also, environmentalists frequently bring up humane treatment and animal welfare in their conversations. But what does it actually mean to do something in a humane way? In this episode, we try to shed some light on these issues with…
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Episode 101: Beak, Tooth and Claw with Mary Colwell
Last month, I wrote a review of an excellent book titled “Beak, Tooth and Claw: Living with Predators in Britain” by Mary Colwell. At the end of that blog, I said that I would really love to have an opportunity to talk with Mary on my podcast. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait too long! After a brief exchange of messages, Mary and I agreed to get together and record an episode. Mary Colwell is an environmentalist, campaigner, freelance producer…
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Episode 100: Deer, Sheep and Fires with Ashley Glover
There are no two ways about it. It’s a milestone episode. Episode 100. To mark the occasion we get together with environmentalist, hunter and axe thrower, Ashley Glover to discuss some of the most interesting subjects from the past three years. And while the title says “Deer, Sheep and Fires,” in reality it should have said, “Deer, Sheep, Boar, Wolves, Mink, Trout, Seals, Woodland, Rhododendron and Fires.” You get the picture! In our conversation, you will be able to identify…