In 2017 Lisa Blair became the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica. Earlier this year she set sail again, determined to become the fastest person ever to complete the journey. On this episode of Talking Australia we catch up with Lisa as she rounds Cape Horn, her journey's halfway point, ahead of schedule and discover she's involved in all manner of scientific research onboard when she's not battling 10m swells and 50 knot winds.    This episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz...

David Parker is the Senior Threatened Species Officer at the NSW Department of Planning & Environment  and Chair of the National Recovery Plan for the Plains-wanderer. In his role David works with rural landholders to ensure the survival of threatened species. In 2021 these efforts lead to more than 13,000 hectares being gifted by landholders to protect the critically endangered plains-wanderer – one of Australia’s rarest birds. On this episode David talks about his role in helping to...

Engineer and professional adventurer Chris Bray turned his passion for nature photography into a thriving business - teaching people how to photograph animals around the globe. His adventurous life started early on a boat with his parents and sister as they sailed around the world.  On this episode of Talking Australia Chris chats about his upbringing and how he discovered his passion for photography, and about a hair-raising, high-risk sailing trip through the North West Passage on an old...

Duane Hamacher is an astronomer and associate professor at the University of Melbourne who has specific interests in cultural astronomy and Indigenous sciences.  His new book, The First Astronomers - How indigenous Elders read the stars, offers a systematic overview of traditional First Nations knowledge of the stars. In this episode he talks about the history and value of cultural astronomy and ongoing attempts to discredit Indigenous science and knowledge. This episode of Talking...

Aymeric Maudous grew up in the French countryside of the Bordeaux region and moved to Australia 17 years ago. After years of being a successful marketer in the US he eventually decided to follow his childhood passion for the environment. Aymeric launched “Lord of the Trees” in 2019 – a company that uses drone technology to help reforest landscapes.   On this episode Aymeric talks about drones, the benefits of high- and low-tech to tackle current environmental challenges and why Indigenous...

Alan Collins is a professor at the University of Adelaide who is interested in the deep earth evolution of our planet and its effect on our atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. He leads the Tectonics and Earth Systems Group and in 2012 was awarded an Australian Research Council “Future Fellowship”.   On this episode of Talking Australia Alan talks about the secrets that rocks hold, our planet’s history, volcanoes and so called “super mountains”   This episode of Talking Australia is hosted...

Tim Jarvis had his fair share of suffering being a polar adventurer and going through extremes. But in order to recreate two epic journeys by Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton, from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, Tim willingly stripped himself of all modern equipment and finished these expeditions with the same clothes and gear that his predecessors used in the early 1900s.   On this episode of Talking Australia Tim talks about his adventures and how he since then has...

Dr. Dean Miller is a marine biologist, adventurer, film maker, photographer and writer. He is also the managing director of the NGO ‘Great Barrier Reef Legacy’ which is a group of experts dedicated to conservation of coral reefs around the world with focus on our own mighty reef.   On this episode of Talking Australia Dean explains how coral reefs work to understand better what exactly ‘bleaching’ means and the work of  GBR Legacy who aim to provide opportunities for scientists to access the...

Greg Mortimer is one of Australia’s best known and highly respected mountaineers. In 1984 Greg was one of the first two Australians to ever summit Everest. He also climbed the world’s most dangerous mountain, K2, as well as two of the highest peaks in Antarctica. He later became a pioneer of Antarctic tourism and even has a new ship named after him.   On this episode of Talking Australia Greg talks about his mountaineering days and how his groundbreaking summit of Everest was also due to his...

Kellie Walters is a holistic ecological management expert who started her career living and working as an ecotour guide in Kakadu National Park 24 years ago. Since then she made it her goal to help farmers “future-proof” their land by improving the soil. Trying to be part of the solution her company VRM Biologik produces natural agriculture products that help farmers boost both their soil’s carbon capture and nutrient density.  On this episode Kellie talks about the importance of healthy...

Sophie Matterson took a break from her work in the film industry and the constraints of city life to find new inspiration in the outdoors. She ended up mustering feral camels in the Red Centre, which gave her an idea for an epic adventure. During the midst of the global pandemic she embarked on a 5000km, solo, coast-to-coast trek, accompanied only by her beloved camels. 2 years after embarking on her adventure at shark bay in Western Australia Sophie finished her journey in Byron Bay on the...

Paul Dabrowa is a Melbourne-based biohacker and an expert in the field of artificial intelligence and social media. During his time at Harvard University he focussed his social research on the use of propaganda interviewing Nazis and former KGB agents. On this episode Paul talks about the importance of garage scientists and mavericks to the sciences community and the huge potential of biohacking through easy access to advanced gene-modifying technology, known as CRISPR. Despite being part of...

Craig Leeson began his life in a small community in Northern Tasmania but today he works out of Hong Kong from where he operates an award-winning international documentary making operation.   Craig is a man who understands the power of storytelling to create awareness and has made films with the likes of David Attenborough and the National Geographic channel. In 2017 he released “A Plastic Ocean”, a landmark documentary that has seen Craig become an activist and outspoken advocate for...

Dr Kylie Cairns is a population geneticist and runs the Dingo Genetics Research program. Her aim is to gather more genetic information from Dingos in order to protect them and break with the perception of dingos as feral wild dogs. 
 In this episode, she explains her position in a decades-long and heated scientific debate about the identity of Australia’s land-based apex predator. Kylie shares why she feels it is crucial to protect these animals, which have been introduced to this continent...

Glen Jacobs is the Director of World Trail and the first and only Australian to be inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. With his company Glen has designed, planned and constructed hundreds of projects in 20 countries and created more than 300km of purpose-built mountain bike trails in Australia. At the age of 12 the Queenslander began exploring the rainforest and building trails in Cairns. In the early 1990s Glen made a name for himself by producing some of the first ever Freeride...

Molly Taylor grew up in family of passionate and successful rally drivers. In 2016 she became the youngest ever and first female driver to win the Australian championship. Currently she is competing in the all new electric “Extreme E Rally Championship” and will fulfil her dream by taking part in the legendary Dakar Rally - the pinnacle of off-road racing. On this episode Molly talks about her upbringing in a racing family, pushing the envelope as an upcoming female driver in a still male...

Annette Rypalski is the Biodiversity Director at Mt Rothwell, the largest feral-free ecosystem in Victoria – just 50km outside of Melbourne. Within the fenced-off, predator-free area, Annette and her team work hard to ensure the survival of some of Australia’s most critically endangered species. On this episode she shares her journey, explains how dingoes are a vital help with her efforts and also reflects on the deadly bushfires that almost wiped out the entire southern brush-tailed...

Professor Veena Sahajwalla is also known as “the waste queen” and the inventor of the world’s first e-waste micro factory. Her mission in life is to find new ways to deal with our massive waste problems. Her ideas of reviving waste gained huge popularity through the successful tv-program “war on waste”. In this episode she shares her story from her childhood in India to becoming a recycling guru and professor at the University of NSW. Here you can find out more about Veena´s...

Bryan Lessard, better known as “Bry the Fly Guy”, is an entomologist who's dedicated to changing our perception of flies and other insects. He has discovered many new fly species and had the privilege of naming them, often having fun along the way with names such as Scaptia beyonceae, aka Beyoncé fly.    On this episode of Talking Australia Bryan explains why flies and other insects are crucial to pollination and why insects in particular are becoming a billion dollar industry.   This Episode...

Ross Coulthart is a highly respected, award-winning investigative journalist, TV presenter and author. He is well known to Australians thanks to his role as an investigative reporter on 60 Minutes.  Ross spent much of the past year discovering more about sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), previously referred to as UFOs, following a decision by the US government to officially investigate sightings of UAP, in particular video footage captured by the United States Navy. On this...

Dick Smith is described by Paul Hogan as part Bill Gates and part Bear Grylls on the cover of his new autobiography, My Adventurous Life. He is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, explorer, political activist and the founder of Australian Geographic. This proud true-blue Aussie also holds several aviation records, including the first solo circumnavigation of the planet by helicopter, the first circumnavigation of the planet landing at both poles and the first helicopter to the North Pole. He...

Bradley Trevor Greive or simply BTG was a paratrooper in Australian army before becoming a mega-selling author with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide. He is also a graduate of the Russian cosmonaut program, a Polynesian rock lifting champion, wildlife photographer, conservationist, cartoonist and many more things. His brand new wildlife animation series “Adventure Beast” has just been released on Netflix. On this episode BTG talks about the advantages of animated nature shows, his...

After his life-changing bike ride around the world, Jimmy Ashby was looking for his next big adventure and found it right on his doorstep. With the world going into lockdown Jimmy and his mate Chad Freak decided to take on a 3000km desert ride into the Outback. The duo cycled from Perth to Coober Pedy in South Australia through some of the most remote areas of the continent. The majority of the way they rode the famous 1325km Anne Beadell Highway, which only a handful of cyclists have done...

Sean Dooley is a TV comedy writer and author whose great passion in life is for birds. He is a self-described ‘extreme twitcher’ and took a whole year off to travel the continent counting birds and broke the national record. He wrote about the experience in his book The Big Twitch. These days Sean is the Public Affairs Manager at BirdLife Australia. This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben...