U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center Podcasts

Author William Souder discusses his new book on the life and legacy of Rachel Carson. William Souder’s work has appeared in many publications, including the Washington Post, New York Times, and Harper’s. He is the author of three books. A Plague of Frogs (2000) followed the investigation into outbreaks of deformed frogs across North America. Under a Wild Sky (2004), which told the story of John James Audubon, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson (2012) was published, on the 50th anniversary of Carson’s Silent Spring. Souder lives in Grant, Minnesota.

Eli Hopkins is a nationally-renowned sculptor who lives and works in Colorado. In 2002 Hopkins released his first bronze sculptures. His set of stylized horses was well received and, since that time, Hopkins has been able to move forward at a phenomenal rate in his sculpting and art career. His work is selling very successfully, and he has been rewarded with several corporate commissions, along with many articles and recognitions in prominent art publications and museums. Although he has concentrated mainly on wildlife themes thus far, Hopkins has a wide range of interests, which are reflected in an expanding line of varied and unique art works. The NCTC statue is Hopkins first full-sized human sculpture. The state was designed and installed by Hopkins. The dedication ceremony was May 2, 2012.

Randy Olson was a professor of marine biology at the University of New Hampshire. Despite his Harvard Ph.D., four years of post-doctoral research in Australia and Florida, and years of diving around the world from the Great Barrier Reef to Antarctica, he tossed it all in, resigned from his tenured professorship and moved to Hollywood to explore film as a medium for communicating science. His films include Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus and Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy. Today he is an independent filmmaker and author of the book Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style. Olson visited NCTC to screen his film Sizzle and to teach in the NCTC Course "Resource Management Implications of Global Climate Change." Olson discusses with Mark Madison the role of communication in climate change and the ways we can all better communicate science to the broader public.

Over the past twenty-five years Gary Ferguson has written for a wide variety of publications, from Vanity Fair to The Los Angeles Times. He's also author of 18 books on science and nature, including the award-winning Hawks Rest, published by National Geographic Adventure Press, as well as a keynote presenter at conservation and outdoor education gatherings around the country. He is currently on the faculty of the Rainier Writing Workshop Masters of Fine Arts program, at Pacific Lutheran University. Gary's newest book, just completed and currently in production, is called The Carry Home. The work is a celebration of the outdoor life shared between Ferguson and his late wife Jane, who died tragically in a canoeing accident in northern Ontario in the spring of 2005. Meanwhile Gary's biography of the late naturalist John Ripley Forbes—arguably the man most responsible for bringing nature experiences to America's urban kids—will arrive in the the summer of 2011. Much of Gary's writing arises out of intimate experiences. He trekked 500 miles through Yellowstone to write Walking Down the Wild (Simon & Schuster), spent a season in the field at a wilderness therapy program for Shouting at the Sky (St. Martin's Press), journeyed 250 miles on foot for Hawks Rest, and followed through the seasons the first 14 wolves released into Yellowstone National Park for The Yellowstone Wolves: The First Year (Globe Pequot). "I learn best by doing, " Ferguson says, "especially if the doing is at the edge of my comfort zone. That's where I find the kinds of lessons that make the world seem new again." Gary's keynote presentations, on the other hand, are meant to bring to light the mythology, psychology, and cultural history that have long inspired human perspectives of nature - from the days of the ancients, right into modern times." Ferguson first answered the call to adventure at age 12, loading up his purple sting-ray bike with camping gear and riding with his older brother through the central Midwest. By age 18, bicycles had given way to boxcars and backpacks, as he made his way across North America by rail and by thumb—as often than not heading west, and heading for mountains. After working as an interpretive naturalist for the Forest Service, at age 25 he plunged full-time into the freelance writing life. Soon thereafter his work found a home in the national media—both his personal profiles of American nature, as well as a wide range of social and environmental stories from Europe, Africa and North America.

John Francis was in his twenties when a 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay jarred his comfortable life. Even as he joined the volunteers who scrubbed the beaches and fought to save birds and sea creatures poisoned by petroleum, he felt the need to make a deeper, more personal commitment. As an affirmation of his responsibility to our planet, he chose to stop using motorized vehicles and began walking wherever he went. His decision was greeted with surprise, disbelief, and even mockery—but it was only the start of a much deeper transformation. A few months later he took a vow of silence that would last seventeen years. He founded Planetwalk in 1982 when he began his walking and sailing pilgrimage around the world. To date, Dr. Francis has walked across the U.S., sailed and walked through the Caribbean, and South America from Venezuela to Argentina and a walk in Cuba. Today Planetwalk consults on sustainable development and works with educational groups to teach kids about the environment. He is the author of Planet Walker, 22 Years of Walking 17 Years of Silence.

A proud product of south central Los Angeles, Juan D. Martinez is the national Natural Leaders Network coordinator for the Children & Nature Network. His passion to empower individuals and youth led him to direct Sierra Club’s first environmental justice youth leadership academy in Los Angeles. In 2009, Juan introduced Department of Interior’s Ken Salazar at Powershift in Washington, DC, the largest youth gathering on climate change, and he was invited by the White House to attend the National Forum on Clean Energy Economy. A keynote speaker at the 2010 Outdoor Retailers Winter Show in Salt Lake City, Utah, Juan received a standing ovation following his presentation. In 2006, Juan was a delegate to the Latino Congreso, the largest gathering of Latino key figures in the U.S. and he is included in “Hispanics Living Green.” Publication of the book was celebrated in March 2010 with a Congressional reception in Washington, DC.

Lisa Mighetto is the Executive Director of the Amerian Society for Environmental History.

Queen of The Sun is an in-depth investigation to discover the causes and solutions behind Colony Collapse Disorder; a phenomenon where honeybees vanish from their hives, never to return. Queen of The Sun follows the voices and visions of underrepresented beekeepers, philosophers, and scientists around the world, all struggling for the survival of the bees. The film unveils 10, 000 years of beekeeping, highlighting how our historic and sacred relationship with bees has been lost due to highly mechanized industrial practices. Featuring Michael Pollan, Vandana Shiva, Gunther Hauk and beekeepers from around the world, this engaging, alarming and ultimately uplifting film weaves together a dramatic story that uncovers the problems and solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature. An independent filmmaker since the mid-1980's, Taggart Siegel is best known as the director of the 2006 grass-roots hit The Real Dirt on Farmer John. This critically acclaimed feature documentary about a maverick visionary farmer, won 31 international film festivals awards and was released theatrically around the world.

When Bill Weber and Amy Vedder arrived in Rwanda to study mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey, the gorilla population was teetering toward extinction. Poaching was rampant, but it was loss of habitat that most endangered the gorillas. Weber and Vedder realized that the gorillas were doomed unless something was done to save their forest home. Over Fossey's objections, they helped found the Mountain Gorilla Project, which would inform Rwandans about the gorillas and the importance of conservation, while at the same time establishing an ecotourism project -- one of the first anywhere in a rainforest -- to bring desperately needed revenue to Rwanda. Vedder’s book, In the Kingdom of Gorillas, introduces readers to entire families of gorillas, from powerful silverback patriarchs to helpless newborn infants. Vedder take us with them as they slog through the rain-soaked mountain forests, observing the gorillas at rest and at play. An expert in conservation and ecology, Dr. Vedder is Senior Vice President for Conservation at The Wilderness Society (TWS) in Washington, DC. She has worked for more than 30 years in dedication to wildlife and wildland conservation, applying ecological and social science to save biologically rich and threatened places. Amy Vedder is widely known for her pioneering studies of mountain gorillas in Rwanda during the late 1970s and as co-founder, with her husband Dr. Bill Weber, of the Mountain Gorilla Project. She is the author of several books, including In the Kingdom of Gorillas, which she wrote with Bill Weber, and is the subject of a biography written for middle school students titled, Gorilla Mountain.

Mark Madison speaks with NCTC Director Jay Slack and Steve Chase, chief of NCTC's Division of Education Outreach, about the future of the NCTC Eagle Cam and its eagles.

Mark Madison speaks with NCTC Director Jay Slack and Steve Chase, chief of NCTC's Division of Education Outreach, about the NCTC Eagle events in 2011.

Mark Madison speaks with NCTC Director Jay Slack and Steve Chase, chief of NCTC's Division of Education Outreach, about the history of the NCTC Eagle Cam.

Margaret (Peg) Howard Watson is the Founder and President of the Green Schools Alliance (GSA) which is a global network of pre-K to grade 12 “schools guiding schools” to set and meet greening goals, raise environmental awareness, and empower students, as well as faculty and staff.

Larry Battson speaks at the Sc3 about Bigfoot, a legendary (some claim “imaginary”) ape-like human who has been reportedly sighted from California to Indiana. Battson’s background as a wildlife educator gives him a unique perspective on Bigfoot as someone experienced in wild creatures.

Craig Hibberd is the Communications Instructor and the Energy Program Instructor for the Green Schools Alliance.