Welcome to the thirty-fourth episode of the Zoology Ramblings Podcast!
In this special episode, Emma and Robi answer their most commonly asked question: how did you get into zoology/conservation? Emma and Robi offer a personal dive into their professional pathways, looking at how they got into the jobs they are in now, outlining the challenges of the environmental sector and what makes it all worth it.
Emma and Robi also share some news to start, including welcoming our first Patreon members - thank you for supporting the podcast! Robi gives an update about the silver-backed chevrotain, which now has its own conservation breeding programme. Emma explores the first documented case of tool use in orca, talking about how orca are using kelp to mutually remove parasites from each other. Robi also talks about the exciting African Parks Rhino Rewild initiative, which has see 70 southern white rhinos transferred from South Africa to Rwanda. For their species of the week, Emma talks about the basking shark and Robi discusses the forest-dwelling Guam kingfisher.
Robi Watkinson is a Conservation Biologist and wildlife filmmaker specialising in the spatial and movement ecology of large carnivores, camera trapping survey methods, rewilding, metapopulation dynamics and conservation planning. He has an MSc in Conservation Biology from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, and the Institute of Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town. He is based between Cape Town and London, and has strong interests in equitable and inclusive conservation, palaeontology and wildlife taxonomy and evolution!
Emma Hodson is a Zoologist and wildlife content creator, currently working in the community and engagement team at Avon Wildlife Trust. Emma’s role as a Wildlife Champions Project Officer involves supporting and upskilling people to take action for nature in their local communities. Emma has experience in remote wildlife fieldwork, and has been part of Arctic fox, macaw and cetacean research teams in Iceland, Peru and Wales respectively. She has also been involved in animal care and rehabilitation work in Costa Rica and South Africa. Emma is particularly passionate about the interface between community engagement and wildlife monitoring, and enjoys running workshops and giving talks on topics including camera trapping, beaver ecology and rewilding.
You can watch "Rewilding A Nation" for free on WaterBear by following this link: https://www.waterbear.com/watch/rewilding-a-nation . You can follow more of our weird and wonderful wildlife adventures on instagram: @zoologyramblingspodcast & @robi_watkinson_wildlife & @emma_hodson_wildlife
