Terra Stories: News from the Field

Join host Laura Anthony with Sarah Locke, the head of programs in South Africa for Four Paws International. Learn about her work fighting wildlife trade and trafficking, including big cats in Sub-Sarahan Africa, and how she has navigated her career thus far in wildlife conservation.

In the premier episode of Terra Stories: Youth News from the Field, join hosts Kim Langbecker and Laura Anthony in a discussion with Callie Broaddus, Founder and Executive Director of Reserva, The Youth Land Trust. Reserva bridges the gap between youth environmental activism and tried and true methods of biodiversity conservation. Learn how this innovative group empowers youth to make an impact through conservation by creating youth funded reserves, educational initiatives and multimedia storytelling.

Host Kim Langbecker is kicking off season 2 of Terra Stories: News from the Field with Laura Anthony, Terra Conservation Initiative's (TCI) Conservation Fellow. Laura discusses her background, what drew her to work in the field of community based conservation, and how she's working closely with TCI partner organizations. In addition, we're excited to announce a new Youth News from the Field series, hosted by Laura and highlighting youth leaders and exploring how they collectively make an impact in helping to solve the complex issues facing conservation today.

Sarah Evans and Kathryn Bergmann join host Kim Langbecker to discuss their success in bringing sustainable, clean water to communities in East Africa. What started as a passion project for founder Sarah Evans soon became a mission, and her work has taken her far beyond drilling a hole in the ground. With a commitment to a 100% success rate, working collaboratively with communities, Well Aware is making a profound impact that enables long-term development.

Join host Kim Langbecker in a discussion with world-renowned Kenyan paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey. Learn about the formation of his visionary new project and Terra Conservation Initiative partner, Ngaren: The Museum of Humankind. Dr. Leakey feels that the story of human evolution has to be told in an integral way, in which humans are not superior to, working against, or threatened by nature, but are part of it. Ngaren’s goal is to utilize innovative design and technologies to bring our collective history to the world from the heart of where our story began, the Rift Valley in Kenya.As the son of the famous paleoanthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey, Leakey has made numerous discoveries in the field of human evolution and published extensively on his work. He heads Kenya’s Turkana Basin Institute, where students and experts come together to do fieldwork, study fossils and explore and exchange knowledge. And he was director of the National Museum of Kenya in Nairobi and made a name for himself as a powerful fighter against wildlife crime in his role as director of all wildlife parks in Kenya. 

In honor of Women’s History Month, join host Kim Langbecker in conversation with Dr. Sara (Suki) Hoagland, Lecturer in the Earth Systems Program of the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University. Terra Group Founder Tony Saxton met Dr. Hoagland while attending the International Environment and Development Semester program she created while Assistant Professor at the School of International Service at American University. His experience with her in East Africa served as inspiration for his current work in sustainable technologies and conservation. Here she shares her innovative work and career, as well as her deeply personal story as a woman of great accomplishment who came to terms with the struggle of living in a world of limitless expectations.

As a follow up to their guest blog post on TerraStories.bz, Born Free President Will Travers and Programs Director and Sanctuary Manager Dr. Liz Tyson joined Kim Langbecker on News from the Field podcast to give a more in-depth perspective on their mission, history and far reaching efforts –from conserving wild lions in Northern Kenya; to fighting the ravages of the ongoing ivory trade; and fighting to end the cruel trapping of wildlife on US National Wildlife Refuges. And the primate sanctuary that Dr. Tyson manages in south Texas is the largest in the United States. Terra Conservation Initiative is proud to support Born Free USA through raising awareness as well as funds for much-needed sustainable technologies.

Meet Grant Fowlds, South African conservationist and author of the best-selling Saving the Last Rhinos (cowritten with Graham Spence). Fowlds and host Kim Langbecker discuss his extensive work combating rhino poaching, the importance of education, and being inclusive of the community that surrounds game reserves. Fowlds’ current focus is the establishment of the Loziba Wilderness Reserve, situated In the heart of spectacularly scenic Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This new wildlife conservation area is fast becoming a catalytic revenue generator for local communities in the area and an extraordinary example of sustainable community conservation. It’s also a destination on the 2021 roster for our Terra Explore Expeditions. If you’d like to join in the effort and experience its beauty, learn more here.

Environmental innovator Kristian Gustavson champions the efficacy of biofuels, and he and his team have the algae-fueled motorcycle land speed records and Baja 1000 chops to prove it. In Kristian’s words: “The concept of village stability operations—where you’re creating alternatives or other economies to combat illicit ones or to provide opportunities where they didn’t exist—they all come back down to education, renewable energy, agriculture, sanitation and clean water. Very simple things, and if people have that they can begin to incorporate them and take care of them… We need to energize that, and we need to do it with renewable and electric and push it forward. And if we’ve got to turn some heads by dashing down a desert wash at 100 miles an hour or setting some land speed records to start the conversation then I guess that’s something we’ll have to do.”

Meet Marc McDonald, founder of ICORP (International Coalition of Rhino Protection) and a 35-year veteran of counter-poaching in Africa. Marc is a true Wildlife Warrior with many tales to tell from the African bush. No one champions and values his rangers more passionately than Marc. Learn about his work and the harsh realities they face each day.Music: “Mother Earth” Written and Performed By Carlos VillalobosHost: Kim LangbeckerProducers: Ellen O'Connell and Ann VolkweinEditor: Eliot Korb