Wild | Talking Animals

Jocelyn Stokes and Katie Schuler, co-creators of “In Her Nature”

Duncan — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 04:00:04 +0000

Jocelyn Stokes and Katie Schuler—co-creators of “In Her Nature,” a new digital series carried on the YouTube channel for the longstanding PBS program, “Nature”—retrace the path that led each of them toward their present filmmaking careers, specializing in natural history documentaries. Over the course of sharing their histories, they each recount a pivotal project early […]

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Josh Fox, founder of The Brady Hunter Foundation

Duncan — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 01:16:57 +0000

Josh Fox–founder of the Brady Hunter Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit whose mission reflects a commitment to helping end animal cruelty, protecting wildlife, and making a positive impact in the lives of children—observes his love of animals is truly lifelong, citing a photo of Fox as an infant in his crib being happily licked by the […]

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Kitty Block, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States

Duncan — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 04:00:21 +0000

Kitty Block—President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), as well as CEO of Humane Society International, HSUS’ global division—discusses getting a precocious start working in animal welfare, in that her Mom was an animal activist. Block recalls how, as a second grader, she went on a school field trip to […]

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Caitlin O’Connell, author of “Wild Rituals: 10 Lessons Animals Can Teach Us about Connection, Community, and Ourselves”

Duncan — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 05:00:34 +0000

Caitlin O’Connell—a noted scientist who’s spent much of her career studying elephants and their communication, and author of several books, most recently “Wild Rituals: 10 Lessons Animals Can Teach Us about Connection, Community, and Ourselves”—addresses some of her varied professional pursuits, including a NASA project that involved the Space Station, that had prompted me, tongue […]

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Heidi Jo Markel, founder of Stop Poaching Now!

Duncan — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 04:00:26 +0000

Heidi Jo Markel—longtime film producer and founder of Stop Poaching Now! (SPN), an organization dedicated to combating poaching through conservation strategies and educational efforts—recounts her foray into producing movies, starting by trying her hand at acting before realizing she preferred being behind the camera, and working behind the scenes. In 1999, she says, she produced […]

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Dr. Toni Frohoff, wildlife behavioral biologist

Duncan — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 05:00:44 +0000

Dr. Toni Frohoff—a wildlife behavioral biologist who has researched the lives and behaviors of elephants and cetaceans for more than 30 years—recalls how, as an aspiring surfer growing up in Southern California, encountering dolphins in the ocean there, spurred her initial interest in studying those cetaceans. Frohoff laments that she never learned to surf, but […]

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Jim Oesterle, Asst. U.S. Attorney for Western District of Washington

Duncan — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 04:00:59 +0000

Jim. Oesterle—an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, who, earlier this summer, served as a faculty member for a two-week course on Combating Illegal Wildlife Trafficking at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Gaborone, Botswana–describes what’s involved in leading the office’s environmental crimes working group, and prosecuting offenses under all the […]

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Ronnie Graves, whose company creates custom prosthetic limbs for animals

Duncan — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 05:00:36 +0000

Ronnie Graves—owner of Veterinary Inclusive Prosthetics And Orthotics, in Bushnell, Florida, which, for more than 20 years, has created custom prosthetic limbs for animals suffering from injuries, illnesses, or birth defects—recounts how he got started in the business of working on those sorts of devices for human clients. An amputee himself, Graves mentions he was […]

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Caitlin O’Connell, elephant researcher

Duncan — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 04:00:45 +0000

Caitlin O’Connell—one of the elephant experts featured in “Mind of a Giant,” a Nat Geo Wild documentary special premiering June 19—recalls how she did not grow up with a particular fascination or love for elephants, noting her earlier academic work was in entomology. But a research job with the Namibian government trying to help address an elephant […]

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Carl Safina, author, scientist, MacArthur Fellow

Duncan — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 04:00:17 +0000

Dr. Carl Safina — a prize-winning author, scientist and MacArthur Fellow—discusses his new book, “Beyond Words: What Animals Think And Feel,” which in the broadest of strokes, involves three big sections, in which Safina is observing the behavior of elephants at Amboseli National Park, wolves in Yellowstone National Park and killer whales in the Pacific Northwest, […]

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Andrea Turkalo, Foremost Expert on Forest Elephants

Duncan — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 04:00:46 +0000

Andrea Turkalo, of the Wildlife Conservation Society—and considered the world’s leading expert on forest elephants, having studied them for more than two decades in the Central African Republic (CAR)—recounts what initially drew her to the CAR nearly 30 years ago, and how she became interested in elephants. She addresses some of the reasons that even […]

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Don Anthony of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF)

Duncan — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 04:00:37 +0000

Don Anthony–Communications Director of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF), which, since 1989, has been speaking and acting on behalf of animals in a multitude of ways—traces the history of the organization, including the impetus for its founding. He discusses ARFF’s initial campaigns, and initial victories, including helping persuade the city of Hollywood, FL […]

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Ryan Tate, co-founder of VETPAW

Duncan — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 05:00:20 +0000

Ryan Tate—co-founder and president of Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife (VETPAW), which employs military veterans to combat poaching of elephants and rhinos in African nations—discusses growing up in Tampa in a family that prized animals, and later enlisting in the Marines as a teenager. He recalls that after completing his stint in the Marines—including […]

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Cynthia Moss, wildlife researcher and author

Duncan — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 05:00:43 +0000

Cynthia Moss—the author and wildlife researcher who has spent more than 40 years studying the elephants of Amboseli National Park in Kenya (and speaking live from her tent in Amboseli!)—describes how she first became enchanted with elephants and decided to devote her life to studying them. In addressing how her feelings about elephants have shifted […]

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Adam Roberts, Executive Vice-President Born Free USA

Duncan — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 04:00:41 +0000

Adam Roberts—executive vice president and co-founder of Born Free USA—outlines the chief categories of animal welfare that Born Free USA concerns itself with, noting where those efforts overlap and differ from those of the Born Free Foundation, which gave rise to and shares DNA with the American organization. He also addresses the extensive databases that Born […]

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