Let’s Hope The Weather Holds

I speak to Fokko van der Schans and Sabrine van Rossum from Harvest Collective about their idea of starting a farm near Wellington where +- 200 families get together and employ a farmer to grow food in a way that respects nature. On their website they say “Our big dream is to have a Harvest Collective farm in every community of people in Aotearoa that want to grow food in harmony with nature.” The idea works in The Netherlands, why not here.

I speak to Dr. Finn Ross about the mountain rescue of Riley Meason, reaching the Pole of Inaccessibility, New Zealand's most remote spot, The Weekend Mish, regenerative agriculture and changing mindsets, his PhD and how seaweed is a climate solution. Find him here

I speak to Associate Professor Nic Rawlence, Director of the Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago about elephant seals. He tells me about a recent paper published titled Postglacial Recolonization of the Southern Ocean by Elephant Seals Occurred From Multiple Glacial Refugia. We discuss climate impact on elephant seals in the past and in the future. The effect of commercial hunting and traditional harvest. Dark intraspecific extinction. We touch on how animal numbers looked in New Zealand when humans arrived, how to save elephant seals, if ChatGPT is any good for DNA work and more.

I speak to Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, at the University of Otago about how current loss of forests, loss when people arrived in New Zealand and loss of forest during the ice age have an effect on native birds and on bird colonisation. An interesting read is the article Pascale collaborated on that was published in The Conversation.

I speak to Jonny Harrison who has done three trips to Antarctica as an electrician and group leader. He also hosts the Everything Antarctica podcast with Matty Jordan. Jonny tells me about how water is sourced, how you get a job in Antarctica, staying alive and more. Podcast link YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EverythingAntarctica Link to, a book Jonny says is a must read  'The Worst Journey in the world'

Fonterra and Nestle are running a project trying to achieve a net zero farm. The pilot, run with Dairy Trust Taranaki, aims to create New Zealand’s first commercially viable net zero dairy farm within ten years.  Since 2022, the Fonterra-owned 290ha farm has achieved an approximate 27% reduction in absolute emissions and a 5.5% reduction in emissions intensity.  I spoke to Talia Grala, environment programme manger at Fonterra, about the project. Have a look at a press release about the project here.  

I speak to Resource Management Officer at Southland Fish & Game Jacob Smythe about his duck decoy collection. We talk handmade decoys, the gear you want vs. the gear you need, old shotguns, perceptions about abundance, habitat and more. I suggest visiting my Instagram to look at the photos of the decoys we discuss. An FYI, you can hear chairs creaking and we have deafening bouts of laughter.

Rob Vaz is a well known New Zealand fishing guide. He talks to me about his background and a trip he recently took to fish Taimen, the biggest Salmonid in the world, known as river wolves, in Mongolia. He talks fly gear for Taimen, how crazy the trip was, and lots more.   Rob's website https://www.robfish.co.nz/ His Instagram https://www.instagram.com/robfish.co.nz/

This episode is basically a consult by legendary sports nutritionist Mikki Williden as she advises me about nutrition as I train for the Luxmore Grunt 27km trail run. Topics we cover is her background and her own adventures, nutrition for older athletes and those upping their game, sugar, protein and salt intake, mental fitness and more. We geek out a bit about how cool podcasts are and more. Book an appointment with her at https://www.mikkiwilliden.com/ or listen to her nutrition advice on https://podcast.mikkiwilliden.com/episodes

This podcast is another collaboration between myself and Ryan O'Connor from the Stag Roar podcast. In this episode Ryan talked to Ben who previously worked as a hunting guide/culler in Scotland. Ben's instagram page is a way of getting people to appreciate the necessity for responsible wildlife management and that hunting maintains healthy animal populations for future generations. Thanks again to Ryan for the collaboration.