Shows
SolveItForKids Science podcastThe BEST of Working With AnimalsThe Solve It! for Kids Science Podcast is on Holiday Break. We have compiled a few clips from favorite shows highlighting experts who Work with Animals for you to enjoy. They come from the following: Episode 226 How Do Animals Cooperate with Each Other? with Dr. Lauren Robinson Episode 222 What Do you Do when a Tiger Has a Toothache? with Dr. Carrie Logdsen McCullough Episode 151 Can you Problem-solve like an Orangutan? with Dr. Laurel Neme If you enjoy these, go back and listen to the whole podcast. Jennifer and Jeff wis...
2024-12-3129 min
SolveItForKids Science podcastCan You Problem-solve Like an Orangutan?Animals are so smart, but some of the most intelligent might be orangutans. Take a liste to Dr. Laurel Neme, wildllife expert, author, and National Geographic contributor, as she describes just how smart these amazing creatures are. You may be really surprised by what they can do and you'll definitely keep an eye on them the next time you're at the zoo.
2023-04-0434 min
Conservation Without BordersEpisode 50 Dr. Laurel Neme, wildlife authorToday on Conservation Without Borders I chat with Dr. Laurel Neme, author of ANIMAL INVESTIGATORS: How the World's First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species, a "CSI for wildlife" that has been featured on ABC News Nightline, and NPR's Science Friday, and also of ORANGUTAN HOUDINI, a children’s non-fiction picture book about an orangutan who outsmarts his zookeeper. She is also a regular contributor to National Geographic, Mongabay.com and The Revelator.
2020-10-301h 01
The WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Pangolin Rescue with Save Vietnam's Wildlife, Thai Van Nguyen and Gillian FullerGo behind the scenes of a pangolin rescue with Thai Van Nguyen, founder and executive director of Save Vietnam's Wildlife, and Gillian Foster, the organization's Communications Advisor. Save Vietnam's Wildlife is the first Vietnamese NGO dedicated to saving pangolins. Pangolins are arguably the world's most trafficked mammal, with an estimated 100,000 captured each year. People hunt them for their meat and their scales, which are used in traditional Asian medicine. Vietnam has two of the eight pangolin species, Sunda and Chinese pangolins, both critically endangered. In just eight months (July 2015-February 2016), Save Vietnam's Wildlife rehabilitated and released 75 pangolins rescued from the...
2016-03-0900 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: From bats to humans - echolocation for the blind, Carol FosterWhile researching
bats for one of her films, documentary filmmaker Carol Foster learned that humans were also doing what bats
could do, namely using echolocation to see.That
set her off on a project to help the blind in Belize learn this amazing skill.
She’s even launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to fund the effort. In
this interview, we talk about what we can learn from bats and how the blind
uses flash sonar to see the world.
2015-02-0100 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Madison Vorva, Girl Scout and Teen Activist for OrangutansIn 2007 fellow Girl Scouts Madison Vorva and her friend Rhiannon Tomtishen embarked on a campaign to save the orangutan by targeting unsustainable palm oil production and the many products that use it, including Girl Scout cookies. Both young women have been featured on major media outlets and have won several awards for their activism, including the United Nations Forest Heroes award.
2014-09-1600 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Rhiannon Tomtishen, Girl Scout and Teen Activist for sustainable palm oilSince she was in 6th grade, Rhiannon Tomtishen has been passionate about orangutans. As a Girl Scout, that passion led her to fight for deforestation-free palm oil together with her friend Madison Vorva. The story of these two girls inspires young and old alike and shows how simple actions can make a big difference. Now 19 years old, this eloquent young women shares her experience and advises us all to follow our passion.
2014-08-2500 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Kevin Bewick, Anti-Poaching Intelligence Group of Southern Africa (APIGSA)
Kevin Bewick, head of the Anti-Poaching Intelligence Group of Southern Africa (APIGSA), provides his perspective on the fight against wildlife crime. His group undertakes investigations and focuses on intelligence gathering and research into wildlife poaching and trafficking.wildlife poaching research, intelligence gathering and investigations.
2014-01-2800 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: CITES CoP16 Outcomes, CITES Secretary-General John ScanlonJohn Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), provides his perspective on the major outcomes of CITES 16th Conference of Parties, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand from March 3-14, 2013. The conversation covers overarching issues, such as enforcement, financing and political engagement, as well as species-specific items, including timber, sharks and elephants.
2013-04-1900 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Polar Bears, Global Warming and CITES Decision, Steven AmstrupDr. Steven Amstrup has been studying polar bears and their habitat since 1980, and much of what we know about them, and even how scientists study them, comes from his work. For instance, he was the first person to apply radio telemetry to the study of polar bears, which allowed scientists to understand the immense distances that polar bears travel, and that knowledge of their movements is vital to understanding polar bear ecology. He also developed studies to quantitatively describe denning habitat and developed the ability to locate dens under the snow with Forward Looking Infrared Imagery (FLIR). That allowed him...
2013-03-2200 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: CITES Secretary-General John ScanlonJohn Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), reflects on the 40th anniversary of CITES, provides an overview of what to look for at the 16th Conference of Parties, and discusses species-specific issues, with an emphasis on elephants, rhinos and sharks.
2013-02-2400 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: A Lifetime with Elephants, Iain Douglas-HamiltonIain Douglas-Hamilton reflects on a lifetime studying elephants and discusses the current surge in ivory poaching.
At age 23, Iain Douglas-Hamilton pioneered the first in-depth scientific study of elephant social behavior in Tanzania's Lake Manyara National Park. During the 1970s he investigated the status of elephants throughout Africa and was the first to alert the world to the ivory poaching holocaust. He and his wife have co-authored two award-winning books and have made numerous television films. In 1993, he founded Save the Elephants, a Kenyan conservation organization dedicated specifically to elephants. In 2010, he was named the recipient of the prestigious Indianapolis Prize...
2013-02-2100 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Celia's Campaign Against the Elephant Ivory Trade, Celia HoFourteen-year-old Celia Ho from Hong Kong recently launched a campaign to stop the ivory trade after becoming inspired by Bryan Christy’s “Blood Ivory” article in National Geographic magazine. Her young voice represents a new hope for elephants that is increasing throughout Asia while her story illustrates how one person can make a difference.
2013-02-1800 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Carbofuran impacts and forensic considerations, Ngaio RichardsCarbofuran was developed in the 1960s to replace more persistent pesticides such as DDT. Since then it has repeatedly been implicated in the mass mortality of nontarget wildlife, especially avian species. Conservationists worldwide have sought to regulate or ban the use of carbofuran for decades. However, this controversial product remains registered for use in a number of developed and developing nations. Its use in the United States has fueld an ongoing regulatory battle between the US Environmental Protection Agency and various lobby groups. Several significant obstacles, including flawed field study designs, lack of analytical capacity and a dearth of forensic...
2013-01-2900 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: The Rhino DNA Index System and it's Role in Anti-Poaching Efforts, Cindy HarperThe Rhino DNA Index System (RhODIS) is a secure database containing DNA profile data of individual rhinoceros. The extraction method has been optimized and is now used to individually identify rhinoceros horns from stockpiles and to link recovered horns to poaching cases. The information contained in this database has assisted in a number of convictions in South Africa and also one in the United Kingdom. This podcast contains a presentation on the Rhino DNA Index System that was made at the Society of Wildlife Forensic Science’s first triennial meeting in May 2012 by Cindy Harper, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the Un...
2013-01-2300 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Nature Walks and Backyard Wildlife, Mark FraserNaturalist Mark Fraser shares his enthusiasm for wildlife and reveals simple things you can do to help wildlife in your own backyard. He takes "The WildLife" host Laurel Neme on a "virtual tour" of New England forests to meet local "residents" from fishers to coywolves to salamanders and songbirds.
This episode of "The WildLife" originally aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on January 31, 2011 and was reposted on October 3, 2011.
2011-10-0300 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Detection Dogs and Wildlife Conservation, Megan ParkerMegan Parker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Working Dogs for Conservation, reveals the secrets of using detection dogs for wildlife conservation. She tells "The WildLife" host Laurel Neme how she trains dogs to detect animals, plants and their seed and scat. Frequently, the dogs uncover what wildlife biologists can't easily see or find, and they do it in a more efficient and non-intrusive way, meaning without baiting, luring, trapping, handling or radio-collaring the animals. She also tells stories of the dogs in action, and shows how her dogs have sniffed out dwindling populations of cheetahs in Kenya, assisted with population s...
2011-09-2600 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Wildlife documentaries, Carol FosterWildlife filmmaker Carol Foster reveals her secrets for filming wildlife in a manner that captures natural actions in a manner that does not disturb the animals. She tells "The WildLife" host Laurel Neme, about the special jungle studio that she and her filmmaker husband, Richard Foster, have constructed in the Belize which allows them to film wild behavior that would not otherwise be possible. For instance, they've captured on film a baby cantil viper wriggling the green tip of its tail over its head to attract and capture frogs. They've also filmed flower mites hitchhiking on the nostrils of a hu...
2011-09-1900 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Nature Iraq, Anna Bachmann and Hana Ahmed RazaAnna Bachmann, Director of Conservation for Nature Iraq, and Hana Ahmed Raza, their mammal specialist, discuss wildlife and nature in Iraq. They tell "The WildLife" host Laurel Neme, how, after 35 years of wars and sanctions, Iraq's environment is in dire need of care and attention. In order to rebuild the country's natural foundation, more information is needed, and Nature Iraq aims to fill some of those gaps. This episode originally aired on March 28, 2011 and was reposted on September 12, 2011.
2011-09-1100 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: New Frog Species Discovery in Ecuador, Alejandro ArteagaAlejandro Arteaga, a 19-year-old university student, talks about his discovery of a new frog species living in Ecuador’s Andean highlands, the Bamboo Rain-Peeper (Pristimantis bambu). He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how he and his colleagues traipsed through the forest late at night searching for tiny creatures with the aid of headlamps. The result was many seemingly identical little, brown frogs. At first, Alejandro grouped them as the same species, Mountaineer Rain-Peepers (Pristimantis orestes). However, after much hard work and observation, he uncovered differences in their songs and ecological preferences. He soon came to realize that those frogs that h...
2011-09-0500 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: The Secret Life of Seahorses, Helen ScalesHelen Scales, author of Poseidon’s Steed: The Story of Seahorses from Myth to Reality, reveals the unusual anatomy and strange sex lives of seahorses. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme that seahorses live mysterious lives, tucked away out of sight on the seafloor, and provides insights into their strange characteristics, including: kangaroo-like pouches for the males to bear the young, horse-like snouts used like straws to suck in tiny zooplankton, prehensile tails to grasp sea grasses, swiveling chameleon eyes and color-changing skin. Seahorses face many threats, including habitat loss and degradation and commercial trade. They’re used in tradi...
2011-08-2900 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Primate Smuggling and Tarantula Trade, David KirkbyDavid Kirkby, veteran U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Special Agent, talks about wildlife law enforcement. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme about two of his most prominent cases: smuggling of primates for research institutions; and Operation Arachnid, an undercover investigation into the illegal trade in tarantulas.
David Kirkby was a US FWS Special Agent for twenty years, from 1988 until he retired in 2008. Raised in North Canton, Ohio, Kirkby worked for years in the federal wildlife refuge system, starting in the west desert of Utah before moving to Montana’s Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge, and then t...
2011-08-2200 minThe WildLife with Laurel NemeThe WildLife: Commercial Porcupine Farming in Vietnam, Emma BrooksIUCN program officer Emma Brooks discusses illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam and her research on how commercial farming of a traded species, like porcupines, affects both the species and the trade. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how most animals in Vietnam’s wildlife trade end up on the plates of wealthy restaurant patrons. In Vietnam and elsewhere, commercial wildlife farming, meaning the breeding of wild species for legal sale, is often promoted to supply demand while preventing overhunting in the wild. However, in a study on the conservation impact of commercial wildlife farming of porcupines in Vietnam publis...
2011-08-1500 min