#4 - Finding Your Purpose Abroad

In this episode of the podcast, I’m joined once again by wildlife filmmaker, Suyash Keshari. We pick up where we left off at the end of Episode 1 of Talking Wild, talking about our amazing experience of filming Africa ReWilded, and the skills and techniques required to successfully filming animals in the wild. If you’re an aspiring wildlife filmmaker or just curious about how we filmed our documentary, then this episode is perfect for you.

On this episode of the podcast I’m joined by Damani Eubanks. Damani is a 2nd year PhD student at the University of Maryland in the Swenson Ecology Lab. His current research focuses on collecting long term tree data to create quantitative definitions of forest ecosystem health around the world. In addition, Damani is very passionate about social justice and African American empowerment here in the United States. With the current Black Lives Matter protests happening around the country, we decided to discuss these issues and how they relate to the fields of science, research, and conservation. We have a fascinating conversation about the impact of race on the inception of the conservation movement around the world and current misguided conservation practices utilized around the world that ignore local communities. We then dive deep into black representation in the natural sciences and how to effectively recruit and support the next generation of conservationists.

On this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Jak Maliszewski. He is a Biologist and conservationist who works with both wildlife and humans to explore new outlets for conservation. Jak has a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin and is currently finishing his Masters in Conservation Biology from the university of Miami. In our conversation, Jak and I cover his conservation experiences abroad, and how they molded him into the environmentalist that he is today. We touch on his current research into plastic pollution and how to live a plastic free life.

On this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Yatin Kalki. Yatin is a biologist with an interest in the ecology and natural history of reptiles and amphibians. He has a bachelor's degree in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has done herpetological research in the United States, the Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, and various parts of India. We discuss various topics regarding snakes, including their vilification by society, modern day conservation efforts around the world, and their fascinating, and often deadly, physiology. If you would like to support Yatin’s herpetological research, please consider making a donation to the Madras Crocodile Bank: https://www.madrascrocodilebank.org/web/make_a_donation

On this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Monique Sosnowski. Monique is a wildlife security specialist, and has a masters in Global Wildlife Health and Conservation from the University of Bristol in the UK. She is currently finishing a PH.D in Criminal Justice from the John Jay College in New York. In our conversation we talk about the very relevant topic of wildlife crime, and dive into its scope and complexity. We discuss the implications of wildlife regarding coronavirus, and the future of wildlife consumption around the globe.

In this episode, Stefano and Suyash speak about coming together to film Africa ReWilded. We discuss who we are, how we met, and why we chose to create a documentary about private wildlife reserves in South Africa.

Welcome to Zeyba's brand new podcast, Talking Wild! Join us a we discuss all things nature, and share the most fascinating conservation stories from around the world. We can't wait to get started on this journey with you. Stay Wild!