My Home Planet Podcast

Growing up in South L.A, Juan Martinez never envisioned what a sky full of stars looked like without the bright urban lights to mask them, or what birds chirping sounded like without the sounds of sirens and car horns.Yet today, this environmentalist, educator and National Geographic Emerging Explorer shares his love of nature with youth- just like him as the founder of the Natural Leaders Network.In this episode of My Home Planet, Juan explains how growing jalapeños and the determination of one teacher took him out of Compton and into the Grand Tetons; his steadfast belief in the interconnectedness of everything; why he’s dedicating his life to empowering and creating leaders for the planet, and why his day job is actually not a job at all.Juan Martinez is a National Geographic explorer and director of the Children & Nature Network’s Natural Leaders Network. Working with strategic partners and grassroots leaders, he strives to empower the next generation of conservation and nature leaders to create posit

When existential psychologist Clare Mann was a child, her mother told her that her job was to love the unlovable. She grew up to become an existential psychologist and also to love teaching people to have the most difficult and crucial conversations of their lives.In this episode of MHP Clare shares some more of her mothers insights, explains why Bob Geldof was single-handedly responsible for her becoming a vegan, why businesses want to work with her and why she likens our present day solutions to climate change to putting a band aid on arterial bleeding.These days she finds herself not just running numerous communication programs for businesses, and working as a private therapist but also being sought out by animal and environmental empaths for her ability to truly understand some of the difficulties they face psychologically in a world which can sometimes seem overwhelmingly cruel.Clare Mann is a existential psychologist, best selling author of six books, and one of Australia’s key communications experts. S

When Ray Dearlove was a real estate owner, he spent a lot of time helping people to relocate-but now-he is helping Rhinos.As the founder of the Australian Rhino Project, this south African has set himself the monumental task of bringing 80 rhinos to Australia as an insurance policy against the unfathomable possibility of their extinction.As I sat down to talk to Ray in a noisy café-he revealed the fateful phone call that lead him on the path to save rhinos, why it’s the biggest thing he’s ever done and his hope for their eventual return to their homeland. He discusses the complexities in and around rhino poaching-what’s really driving the demand for rhino horn, whose really doing it and the huge logistical issues around bringing these majestic southern African animals to Australia.Born in South Africa, Ray Dearlove emigrated to Australia with his family in 1987. Having worked in IT, Real Estate and Events Management, and with an immense love of wildlife, he co-founded the Australian Rhino Project with Allan D

How does a woman who transverses the globe on a regular basis have the nerve to call her blog ‘No Impact Girl’? Well while Louise Southerden confesses to the tongue in cheek name-she does make sure that her impact on the planet, as an award winning travel writer is as little as she can possibly make it.In this episode of MHP Louise confesses as well to her accidental fall into her beloved profession, talks about her first cruise ship experience and some of her favourite trips-from trekking in Mongolia, sea kayaking in Papua New Guinea and expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctic and everything in between-using every mode of transport imaginable.Louise shares her tips for how travellers can reduce their carbon footprints, her belief that travel makes people care more about the planet, and the importance of tuning out to tune in.Louise Southerden has been named Australian travel writer of the year 4 years in a row. She writes for numerous publications, and is the author of three books; Japan: A Working Holiday Guid

When the granddaughter of Sir Ernest Shackleton calls and asks you to recreate "the greatest survival story of all time" many people might think twice, but environmentalist and explorer Tim Jarvis knew it was a phone call he couldn’t say ‘no’ to. In this episode of My Home Planet, Tim chats about this epic voyage, navigating his way out of the Malaysian jungle as a child, the perils of self dentistry in -35 degree cold and the ways to weave environmentalism into conversations around leadership. There is excitement in his voice as he discusses at the prospect of heading back down to Antartica later this year with one of the worlds greatest mountaineers Conrad Anker, and setting up his 25 Zero initiative. He also ponders what Shackleton would make of Antarctica now and why he is pragmatically optimistic about the future of our planet.Tim Jarvis AM is the senior associate of sustainability at ARUP. He has Masters in Environmental Science and Environmental Law and is the Australian global ambassador for the WWF.

Fabian Dattner literally dreamed the Homeward Bound Project into being. Aimed at enhancing the influence and impact of women in science to ensure the sustainability of our beautiful planet, The inaugural 20 day homeward bound journey to Antarctica takes place later this year.Fabian explains how her unique bohemian upbringing, running of a family business and interviewing literally thousands of people has made her one of the most well respected leadership coaches, social entrepreneurs and authors.As Fabian and 78 female scientists get ready to set sail, she shares her goals for the voyage, reasons why the leadership of women hold the keys to saving the planet, and why some scientist were willing to bicycle backwards to be on the ship.Social entrepreneur, speaker and leadership coach-Fabian Dattner is the founder of Dattner Grant and Compass-a leadership  program for women. She is the co-founder of Homeward Bound  and the author of 3 books on leadership.The inaugural Homeward bound voyage sets sail Dec 2nd and

What on earth is a biophilic city? Well for Timothy Beatley it has become one of the main reasons he gets out of bed each day.Tim is the founder of the global network of Biophilic Cities Network,. It's not just about New York's Highline, Singapore’s hospital in a garden or living plant walls on high rises, it’s about putting nature at the core of design and planning.In this episode of MHP Tim chats about how he grew up in a biophilic house, about changing the language around how we speak of nature in urban environments,  and which cities are creating butterfly gardens, blue belts and cities in a forest.He explains how you don’t need to ‘get back to nature’ when it already exists as a natural connection, what the nature pyramid looks like, and how biophilic cities don’t only have to be green. As over 10 cities have signed up to the biophilic network, there are more than 35 who want to be involved. If this is a movement, Tim argues it’s just the beginning.Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustain

How did a patent analyst in Hyderabad become a driving force behind India’s Be Cruelty Free campaign? Meet Alokparna Sengupta who, in this episode of MHP chats about this historical ban, why she sleeps well at night and how a hen in a vet clinic changed her way of life.As the Deputy Director of the Humane Society International /India, Alokparna along with her team and HSI support worked tirelessly to bring about not just India’s ban on animal testing in the cosmetics industry, but also the importation of animal tested cosmetics. This incredible achievement is for Alokparna, just the tip of the iceberg as she moves from the cosmetics industry to pesticides in her fight to end the needless suffering of animals. In this episode of MHP Alokparna talks about her experiences growing up in West Bengal, witnessing the largest animal sacrifice in the world (Gadhimai festival in Nepal-now banned) and why animal welfare is actually part of human welfare.Alokparna Segupta is the deputy director of  Humane Society Interna

Imagine living with the knowledge that today, your son might have a seizure or two, that your wife won't have proper feeling in her fingers or a sense of smell and that you still have sores all over your body just like the day before. Imagine wondering if one day you might be able to once again eat your food off real plates (instead of paper ones) or drink the water that comes from the tap. Then you might think back to a time before today, long ago when your rural farm land was free of 24 hr. a day bright lights, deafening noise and the visual assault of 24 coal seam gas wells outside your front door.For John Fenton, the contrast between the time before and the time after EnCana rolled into his idyllic rural town of Pavilion, Wyoming is the reason he now gets up each day and tells the world his story-one of deception, pollution, ill health and despair.In this episode of MHP John Fenton sits down with me in New England, NSW to tell his heartbreaking story. As we are accompanied by the orchestra of birds chirpi

As the Animal Welfare officer of The Brooke, a working equine charity, Kimberly Wells travels the world aiding and assisting the millions of horses, donkeys and mules who are critical to the livelihood of their fellow humans. In this episode Kim talks of the challenges, successes and frustrations she encounters as part of her work, and explains why, ultimately, this is her dream job.

When Amelia Telford was in the third grade she wrote a letter to Australia’s then Prime Minister- John Howard, asking him to change the national anthem. From a young age this Bundajalung woman understood that to change something, you need to challenge it-and she’s been doing so ever since.As the founder of SEED: Australia’s first Indigenous youth led climate network, Amelia fundamentally sees herself firstly as part of a social justice movement and then as part of the environmental movement. But as she explains in this episode of MHP the two are not mutually exclusive.While indigenous peoples across the planet have been the first scientists, first environmentalist and first conservationists, they are left out of the climate conversation. Amelia explains how governments and even the climate movement itself often doesn't focus on those directly impacted by climate change. Amelia is changing that.Amelia and SEED is building an extraordinary grassroots network of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander youth, wor

As Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),  John Scanlon has to juggle the complexities, controversies and policies around trade in species world wide. This is no easy task, and with wildlife poaching at an all time high, John is happy to argue the critical importance of a body like CITES.As part of his job, John travels a lot. On and off planes he spends much of his time meeting with heads of state, royalty, local communities, NGO’s, military and an assortment of other government agencies within the 183 parties signed to the convention.In speaking to John there is little to suggest he feels weariness from his monumental tasks and the travel seems to have done little to dampen his enthusiasm for his job. Happy to have a laugh off record, he is the consummate professional when speaking about his responsibilities as the Secretary General.As the critical Conference of the Parties (CoP17) takes place later this year in Johannesburg, in this

As a fifth generation Californian Paul Hawken has seen many changes to the landscape of his childhood. Having access to wide open spaces and good food was something he almost took for granted but at 20yrs old Paul had a ‘duh’ moment which lead to him founding one of the U.S.A’s first successful organic food businesses.Kenny Ausubel, the Bioneers founder says “Paul Hawken has a gift for making the impossible inevitable” and his latest ambitious initiative Project Drawdown is no exception. With the support of an incredible team including scientists, NGO’s, analysts, government agencies and companies, Paul talks about how Drawdown is setting about mapping, measuring and modelling the hundred most substantive solutions to climate change.In this episode of MHP Paul chats about this latest work and some of the surprises he’s found, why believing in climate change is irrelevant to the cascading beneficial effects of those solutions, but, because it does exist we should see climate change as a transformative opportu

From a childhood playing in the gullies of Jamaica to visiting over 175 units of the US National Park system, Audrey Peterman, with her infectious positivity, has become a passionate advocate for the beauty of America's nature and a fierce defender for the rights of all Americans to share in its splendours. Along with her husband Frank, Audrey is the co- author of two books about the National Parks System; Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells why Every American Should Care, and Our True Nature: Finding a Zest for Life In the National Park System.She, along with Frank also runs Earthwise Productions –a consultancy and training service for land managers and conservation organizations. As 2016 sees America celebrate 100 years of the National Parks System, Audrey shares her reasons for getting up each day and telling everyone she meets why we should all care about this great gift. "If I'm in the supermarket I'm talking about The Grand Canyon!". She discusses why she and

Six years ago Lola Webber made a promise-a promise which almost daily sees her bare witness to some of the most horrific injustices imaginable because she has no intention of ever breaking that promise.Lola is the co-founder of Change For Animals Foundation (CFAF) and over those six years she has focused most of her attention on the dog meat trade in Asia.In this episode of MHP Lola manages to talk about her work-the heartbreaks and the successes. As she explains the issue is a complex one, with legal and illegal trade in dogs walking a fuzzy line, So too is the fuzzy line between ‘meat’ dogs and ‘pet’ dogs.Lola, her team and partners work tirelessly to end the dog meat trade by working with, not against the industry. She is optimistic though as she explains the many reasons why the industry is on the decline, what dog ‘farmers’ really think about what they do, and how one dog soothes her pain after a tough day on the job.After refusing her prise for winning an competition as a ten year old with an essay enti

So what exactly does a fish know? It’s a question that took acclaimed scientist and author Jonathan Balcombe on a 4 year journey of watery discovery-under the sea, through rivers and ponds and even into your own fish bowl.Did you know fishes have morals, use tools and offer cleaning services with benefits? Or that they hunt co-operatively and form lifelong bonds? And what about that three second memory myth? While we share this planet with more than 30,000 species of fish, we know so little about them. In this episode of MHP Jonathan demystifies the lives of fishes and debunks some of our preconceived notions about these aquatic wonders. He shares his story from a childhood love of nature to what part destiny has played in his life, his hope for changes in the way we view animals, and why Aristotle and Descartes have a lot to answer for.  And of course What a Fish Knows. Jonathan, ethologist, author and champion for animal welfare, is the current director for Animal Sentience with the Humane Society Institute