John has a PhD in Ecosystem Management and has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles in the fields of arid zone ecology, reptile and avian ecology, mining and grazing impact assessment, vertebrate pest management and threatened species recovery. Click here to find our more about John's most recent book 'Among The Pigeons'.

Carl Charter is the co-founder of Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries, under water photographer and scuba diving instructor. Check out some of Carl's footage of the giant cuttlefish here Click here to ask about private tours with Carl for very small groups to see leafy-sea dragons and other unique sea creatures.

We recently had a ribbetting conversation, warts and all, with frog researcher Steven Walker :) Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis). Photo by Steven J Walker.

Clive and Claire are field ecologists that have have been focusing on plant diversity as a guide to overall ecosystem health. The are the co authors of the field guide Focus on the Flora.   Flying Duck Orchid (Caleana major). Photo by Clive Chesson. 

In this episode Kristen Messenger from Bugs n Slugs reveals some of the bizarre ways that invertebrates reproduce, from beetles with chastity belts to snail love darts. This episode is recommended for mature audiences :)  Photo by Egor Kamelev from Pexels

This is our first episode for 2020 and was recorded as fires ravished the country. Over 18 million acres have been burnt including thousands of homes and buildings and we saw the loss of over one billion animals. We talk about a range of subjects with Wayne ranging from climate science to wildlife conservation during this confronting and emotional time. 

Dianne Pearson is a zookeeper and animal rescuer specialising in native mammals. We caught up with Dianne after she returned from working with Tree Kangaroos at the Tree Roo Rescue and Conservation Centre in Far North Queensland. 

Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries is a researcher studying parasitoid wasps with a passion for communicating about biodiversity, insects and species discovery.

Rex Neindorf is the owner/director of the Alice Springs Reptile Centre which he opened in 2000. Rex chats with us about some of the awesome reptiles he gets to work with as well as sharing much of what he has learnt in growing his facility to become the successful business it is today.  

Dr Tim Jessop is an ecologist with Deakin University and is a scientific adviser for the Komodo Survival Program. Click here to check out and to support the awesome work the Komodo Survival Program do :)

Scott Pullyblank is a knowledgeable and passionate science communicator, specialising in conservation and biology and is currently the Curator of Life Sciences at the Alice Springs Desert Park.  Thorny Devil, photo courtesy of C.Margetts Photography

Richard Gibson is the Head of Life Sciences at Auckland Zoo and has managed zoo reptile departments all over the world. We caught up with Richard at the Large Varanid Workshop (October 2019) in Alice Springs where he gave two presentations, one on Komodo Dragon husbandry and the other on parthenogenesis, which he co-discovered in Komodo Dragons. 

In this episode the always inspiring Sophie Thomson gives us advice about creating habitat friendly gardens for any situation. Sophie is a gardening consultant, writer as well as a presenter for ABC TV's Gardening Australia. Sophie lives at Sophie’s Patch, a three acre garden that produces organically grown food as well as locally indigenous plant species for wildlife habitat.   

Katie Irvine is a Science Communicator with the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Adelaide. Katie has an interest in citizen science, community ecology, habitat fragmentation, revegetation, and conserving the natural environment for the benefit of people and wildlife. In this episode we chat about Katie's work in the rain forests of Far North Queensland, Tree Kangaroos and conserving threatened orchids. 

Zac Bower works with some of the most dangerous snakes on the planet with the venom extraction program at the Australian Reptile Park.  The Australian Reptile Park is the sole-provider of terrestrial snake venoms to the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. Their work contributes to the production of life-saving medicines that are relied upon by hundreds of patients in Australia and New Guinea every year. 

Ben Britton is the Director of the Wild Cat Conservation Centre in Hawkesbury, one hour north west of Sydney, Australia. The Conservation Centre focuses on the preservation and conservation of wild cats of the world, including African Serval, Caracal and the endangered Cheetah.  Ben has more than 20 years of professional experience in animal husbandry and wildlife conservation which has taken him across the world, from reserves in Africa to sanctuaries in Asia. Ben currently features...

Trevor Evans has dedicated his life to protecting and saving endangered Australian species and their habitats. He is the founder of Secret Creek Sanctuary which was set up to provide a feral-proof enclosure where endangered native species are protected from predation. The sanctuary aims to show visitors what Australia once looked like prior to European settlement and houses species such as Eastern Quoll, Dingo, Tasmanian Devil, Long-nosed Potoroo, Rufous Bettong, Spotted-tailed Quoll and...

We recently had the opportunity to visit Chad Staples (Zookeeper Chad) at Featherdale Wildlife Park. Chad has worked at Featherdale for over 20 years and chats with us about why he loves his job and shares his passion for conservation and education. Located in the Greater Western Sydney Region, Featherdale Wildlife Park have a wonderfully diverse collection of Australian animals and are involved in many conservation programs to preserve vulnerable and endangered Australian wildlife.  You can...

Tim Faulkner is the co-director at the Australian Reptile Park, a conservation-based zoo located in a natural bush setting on the Central Coast of NSW which specialises in education, conservation and lifesaving snake and spider venom collection work. Tim is also the president of Aussie Ark, established in 2011 as ‘Devil Ark’, with a focus on saving the iconic Tasmanian devil from extinction. Since then and due to overwhelming success, the role of the organisation has expanded, and now has...

This week we had a visit from conservation biologist Dr David Peacock to talk about how his idea to return Western Quolls to the Flinders Ranges came into fruition. We also talk about his latest idea to return Tiger Quolls (pictured) onto Kangaroo Island.

This week we had a visit from Toby Esplin who owns and operates African-based wildlife tour company About Nature Tours. Toby and his team specialise in nature-based safaris around southern Africa and Madagascar. 

This week we caught up with David Evans from Clear Mountain Reptiles who came down from Queensland to chat with us about some of the awesome reptiles he works with, including the stunning Emerald tree Monitor.  

We had a visit from Estuarine Ecologist 'Faith Coleman' to talk about the heath of the Murray River, carp herpes, restoring natural flows and bioluminescent dinoflagellates. Faith really only came over to cuddle Snuffles the wombat.   

This week's episode is a collection of short interviews we did at last year's Riverland Field Days where we were set up in the Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin tent. We chat with some of the awesome people working to protect the fragile river ecosystems, the owner of wildlife demonstration business Black Snake Productions and the owner of Southern Emu Farm. 

This week we catch up with Daniel Saliba to learn about the secret lives of the threatened Murray-Darling Carpet Python. Daniel has spent many years out in the field researching, surveying and studying these cryptic snakes. Daniel's work aims to bring an awareness of these beautiful pythons, which are disappearing from the eastern Australian woodland ecosystems of the Murray-Darling Basin.