Eco Futurists

What is the Law's role, locally and internationally, in implementing good practises and emerging technologies to remedy declining biodiversity and a changing climate? Are legal systems too cumbersome to act with the urgency demanded by academia, community and industry?In this stimulating episode we speak with Dr Phillipa McCormackPostdoctoral Researcher https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/phillipa.mccormack, and Dr Kerryn Brent.Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/. Previous episodes dealing with law:Exotic plants and animals: the illegal wildlife trade happening right under your nose https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ecofuturists/episodes/Exotic-plants-and-animals-the-illegal-wildlife-trade-happening-right-under-your-nose-e28vvrp/a-aaarn51What’s the currency of biodiversity? https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ecofuturists/episodes/Markets-for-nature--Whats-the-currency-of-biodiversity-e21peum/a-a9k9g49Water: too much, too little, too dirty https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ecofuturists/episodes/Water-too-much--too-little--too-dirty-e23doak/a-a9p5t2uGet In Touch:You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

When you disregard human factors and ignore faulty systems, you might just be left up the creek without a paddle. CIFOR ICRAF has been tackling the deforestation dilemma for decades; and considers forests as part of a larger integrated system rather than an isolated problem. In this episode, CIFOR DG Robert Nasi Susie with host Prof Andy Lowe about how to influence the broader economic system to change the course of biodiversity loss and societal inequity across the globe.Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/.  Learn More CIFOR ICRAF https://www.cifor-icraf.org  Get In Touch You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au  Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Join us in this energetic and motivating episode with Tiahni Adamson (Young South Australian of the Year 2024) and Shannon Evenden (Science Communicator with The Green Room). They talk all things kids, nature, and how being more like mud not stone might be just the answer to our conservation and climate change challenges. Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/.  Learn More Jane Goodall Institute Australia https://janegoodall.org.au The Forest of Hope https://forestsofhope.com.au Uluru Statement from the Heart https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/view-the-statement/ CH4Global https://ch4global.com Green Adelaide https://www.greenadelaide.sa.gov.au The Green Room https://thegreenroompodcast.com  Get In Touch You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au  Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist. 

Jane Goodall is a living icon. While we’re most familiar with Jane’s conservation promotion through her work on animal behaviour, she also works tirelessly reaching out to the younger generation, fostering a global community of conservation. Jane was recently in Australia and as part of a public lecture spoke with Eco Futurist host Prof Andy Lowe during The Jane Goodall Institute’s ‘Reasons for Hope Tour’. This podcast is a recording of this public ‘fire side chat’ with Jane.
Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/. 

Learn More: 
Jane Goodall Institute Australia https://janegoodall.org.auRoots and Shoots Australia https://janegoodall.org.au/roots-shoots/
Jane Goodall Institute https://janegoodall.orgRoots & Shoots USA https://rootsandshoots.org
Reasons for Hope Tour https://janegoodall.org/event/reasons-for-hope-tour-australia-adelaide-australia-adelaide-town-hall/

Get In Touch
You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au 
Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.


It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the information we have around the effects of changing climate. How do young adults in particular combat ‘eco anxiety’ while at the same time maintaining motivation to be part of the solution amidst a rapidly escalating sense of urgency around environmental conservation efforts? In this episode we speak with Kirsty Bevan CEO of Nature Conservation Society of South Australia https://www.ncssa.asn.au  and Acting CEO of Conservation Council of South Australia https://www.conservationsa.org.au and Maddie McShane Nature Advocacy Researcher and Campaigner, and Director of Earth Jam! https://www.ncssa.asn.au/earth-jam/ Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/.  Learn More:  Earth Jam! https://www.ncssa.asn.au/earth-jam/ Nature Conservation Society of South Australia https://www.ncssa.asn.au Conservation Council of South Australia https://www.conservationsa.org.au Adelaide City Council https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au Music SA https://www.musicsa.com.au South Australian Grassroots Ecosystem https://sagrassroots.org Get In Touch You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au  Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Have you ever had a memory from childhood that took you back to nature? Maybe it was the smell after the rain, freshly cut grass, or the warmth from of the sun on your skin. How do our experiences of the natural world as children affect us as adults? Are these effects lasting or do we need to ‘top up’ our nature reserves to reap the full benefits that nature has to give? How can we fill our ‘nature cup’ when the demands of day-to-day modern existence can often pull us away from the natural environment? In this episode we explore all this an more with Human Geographer Melissa Nursey-Bray Deputy Director, Institute of Sustainability, Energy and Resources (ISER), https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/melissa.nursey-bray and Dr Mark Kohler Senior Lecturer School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medica l Sciences https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/mark.kohler Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/.  Learn More:  School of Psychology https://health.adelaide.edu.au/psychology/ Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences https://health.adelaide.edu.au Wellbeing in Learning and Development Lab (WiLDlab): https://wildlabadelaide.org/. Youth Symposium on Human Nature Connection in the Anthropocene: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/events/list/2023/11/a-symposium-on-human-nature-connection-in-the-anthropocene Roots and Shoots Australia: https://rootsandshoots.org.au/.  Jane Goodall Institute Australia Resource Boxhttps://janegoodall.org.au/australian-programs-resourcebox/ Review Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10128 Children & Nature Network: https://www.childrenandnature.org/ Institute of Sustainability, Energy and Resources (ISER) https://www.adelaide.edu.au/iser/ Finding the Fab Five https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/61ca6f9be4354e808146e47e0a59a7d0 Adaptation Community Environment Research Group (ACE) https://able.adelaide.edu.au/socialsciences/adaptation-community-environment/ Department of Geography, Environment and Population https://able.adelaide.edu.au/socialsciences/departments/department-of-geography-environment-and-population Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education (ABLE) https://able.adelaide.edu.au Get In Touch You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au  Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Bruce Pascoe is an acclaimed author, speaker, researcher, and farmer. He’s passionate about sharing knowledge of traditional indigenous land management and food production practices, caring for country and people across cultural and political divides. In our conversation we look to find common ground, to find a path forward together to regenerate the earth for us all. Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/. Learn More: Black Duck Foods https://www.blackduckfoods.com.au Nature Festival https://www.naturefestival.org.au You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

There is increasing interest in owning wild and exotic animals and the internet is able to serve up whatever your heart desires, even if importing these animals is illegal. In this episode we speak with Prof Phill Cassey https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/phill.cassey and PhD student Charlotte Lassaline both from the School of Biological Sciences https://set.adelaide.edu.au/biological-sciences/ as well as from the Invasion Science and Wildlife Ecology Group http://www.cassey-invasion-ecology.org at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ . We examine what it’s going to take to conserve and recover ecosystems in a world where wildlife is being traded not only in secret corners of the internet, but often right in front of our eyes. Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/. Learn More: School of Biological Sciences University of Adelaide https://set.adelaide.edu.au/biological-sciences/ Invasion Science and Wildlife Ecology Group University of Adelaide http://www.cassey-invasion-ecology.org You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here andrew.lowe@adelaide.edu.au Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Are you getting the best microbes on offer? What are microbes anyway and why should we care? If you’ve ever heard of the term “microbiome” you probably relate it to gut health, but there’s so much more to it! It’s all around us, and in us, and affects our brains, immune systems, stress levels, and psychological state. Join us for this episode where we speak with Dr Jess Stanhope and Prof Phil Weinstein about how public health is effected by urban environments and the promising future for disease prevention and treatment in the reversal of global urban nature deprivation.   This podcast is supported by the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ at the University of Adelaide https://www.adelaide.edu.au. Learn More: School of Allied Health Science and Practice University of Adelaide https://health.adelaide.edu.au/allied-health/   School of Public Health University of Adelaide https://health.adelaide.edu.au/public-health/ Green Adelaide https://www.greenadelaide.sa.gov.au Hosted by Prof Andy Lowe https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/andrew.lowe, Interim Director of the Environment Institute https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/ University of Adelaide You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here https://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/  Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

What happened when the head of Engineering for Google Australia and the Professor and author behind Australia’s first ever textbook on Marine Ecology came together? Nothing short of the miraculous bringing back to life of an extinct ecosystem in the waters of Australia's biodiverse southern coastline. And what’s next on the sparkly horizon? In this podcast episode find out how the founders of AusOcean, Alan Noble and Prof Sean Connell, are stretching traditional models of marine conservation efforts through open-source hardware and software, and low-cost ways of public engagement. They are a driving force shedding light on the ‘ocean blindness’ that muddies our understanding of biodiversity conservation in marine ecosystems, looking to reverse the tide of extinction in our oceans.  This podcast is supported by the Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide. Learn More: AusOcean AusOcean Live Stream Marine Biology at the Environment Institute, University of Adelaide Hosted by Prof Andy Lowe, Interim Director of the Environment Institute University of Adelaide You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Water is finally back on the global table after 46 years of not being discussed at a global scale conference. Conservation, salinity, pricing, agriculture, cultural use - the list goes on. Is the subject of 'water rights' at risk of getting lost in an endless talk fest? Where do we start when trying to come up with solutions to the many water issues we face on a local and global scale? What even are ‘water rights’? In this podcast episode host Prof Andy Lowe Interim Director of the Environment Institute University of Adelaide, speaks with Assoc Prof Peter Burdon and Prof Sarah Wheeler, both from the University of Adelaide. Sarah is a water economist from the School of Economics and Public Policy, and Peter is an expert in environmental law from the Adelaide Law School.  Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide. Learn More: United Nations 2023 Water Conference Water for First Nations - The Murray-Darling Basin Authority You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Markets for nature. What’s the currency of biodiversity? Nature is threatened, but it is also messy and complex. Ecologist try to untangle the mess of conservation, governments and industry. Small landowners are trying to help too. How do we work to save life on Earth? How do we get the scale of investment required to restore our degraded land? Can we create markets for nature? Where does the money come from? And who are the buyers? In this episode host Prof Andy Lowe Interim Director of the Environment Institute University of Adelaide, speaks with renowned ecologist Prof Hugh Possingham about the need to set aside 30% of every different kind of habitat for conservation in order to sustain the health of our global biodiversity and to establish biodiversity markets to drive these outcomes. Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide. Learn More: Prof Hugh Possingham is currently Chief Councillor of the newly created Biodiversity Council and Chief Scientist of Accounting for Nature, and has recently been Queensland Chief Scientist and Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest environmental non-government organisation. Hugh is also the Chair of The Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide. You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Can music, the arts and humanities help us work together across traditional science and industry boundary lines to come up with a solution to climate change? In this episode host Prof Andy Lowe Interim Director of the Environment Institute University of Adelaide, speaks with Airan Berg, Artistic Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Floods of Fire Citizens’ Orchestra event , and Professor Anna Goldsworthy, Director of The Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide. Together they discuss the arts as communicator of complex human situations, a flawed system for tackling climate change, and how working openly between the sciences and the humanities can unite hearts and minds for a better future. Eco Futurists is supported by the Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide. Learn More: Floods of Fire will be performing for the first time ever at a FREE event Friday 3 March 2023 in Elder Park Adelaide, starting at 7:30pm ahead of Spinifex Gum as part of the Adelaide Festival. You can contact Eco Futurists podcast here Enjoying the show? Rate, review, and share it with your friends to help listeners like yourself explore their inner Eco Futurist.

Hear from professor of sustainability science at the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science and coordinating lead author of the IPBES Values Assessment, Christopher Raymond, on monetary and non-monetary values, biocentric and anthropocentric views, the importance of nature based solutions, co-benefits, indigenous perspectives and moving away from a neoliberalisation of nature. IPES Values Assessment Video https://vimeo.com/735690263 We would like to acknowledge the University of Adelaide’s:  School of Social Sciences Institute for Sustainability Energy and Resources Environment Institute Prof Christopher Raymond Biography: Prof Raymond is Professor of Sustainability Science (Sustainability Transformations and Ecosystem Services) at the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Finland. He is jointly based at the Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme in the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, and the Department of Economics and Management in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. His research interests include sense of place; nature-based solutions; the social valuation of nature; and the conservation of biodiversity. Since 2018, Prof. Raymond has been Coordinating Lead Author (Chapter 2) of the IPBES Values Assessment.

Chris Daniels, conservation scientist and urban nature futurist, on the importance of making room for biodiversity in our cityscapes and harnessing people power to connect with nature and promote species survival on our planet.

Tim Jarvis, conservation scientist and explorer - adventuring in the natural world, capturing these moments to deliver conservation by stealth and realising the difference we can all make in our own backyard.

Felix Riebl, The Cat Empire and creative force behind Spinifex Gum, on how music connects with people, describes the stories and experiences of cultures and can be used to motivate environmental action. Recorded last year at WOMADelaide, before the global pandemic really hit.

Ian Scobie, event and theatre producer, on developing the highly successful formula for WOMAD, a heady mix of world music, artistic staging, and cultural immersion to support sustainability demonstration and discussion. Recorded last year, before the global pandemic really hit.

With COP 26 ending in political stalemate, hear from Nigel Jamieson, theatre and outdoor installation producer, on his use of physical theatre to communicate the problems and inaction around climate change, and how art can help tackle one of the greatest moral challenges of our time. Recorded last year at WOMADelaide, before the global pandemic really hit.

Damon Gameau, director of the film 2040, on looking into the future to develop paths to sustainability, making that journey simple and easy to adopt, and providing motivation through hope messaging. Recorded last year at WOMADelaide, before the global pandemic really hit.