Episodes

Feb. 1, 2022

Creating a Vision to Accelerate and Amplify Your Wildlife Goals

Hello everyone. And welcome to the Fancy Scientist. We’re still pretty new into the new year, about the end of January. And I am going to talk about the importance of having a vision for the longest time. I did have certain …
Jan. 18, 2022

Focus on What’s Important By Saying No

Hi guys. I am back. Yes. It's been a minute. If you are a regular listener to this podcast, you will remember. At the end of September, I said I was taking a break originally. I had planned to just take October. But I ended …
Sept. 28, 2021

The Best is Yet to Come: Thoughts on Getting Older and Life Changes

Is age really just a number? But not me! Instead I developed a mindset to appreciate my age and be grateful for every day I have here. In this podcast, I talk about some major life changes for me – turning 40, changing caree…
Sept. 21, 2021

Is Work-Life Balance in Science Possible?

This is a science podcast, so why am I talking about work-life balance? Because so many scientists are bad at it! I can’t even tell you how many scientists brag about working 60 or even 80 hours a week. It seems like everyon…
Sept. 14, 2021

What Makes a Good Mentor?

Everyone should have a mentor when trying to achieve something difficult in life. In science, mentors are unavoidable. They play an essential role. You need research experience to become a scientist, and mentorship is a cent…
Sept. 7, 2021

4 Tips for a Successful Academic Year in Graduate School

Last week on the Fancy Scientist podcast, I went over what graduate school was like and what it’s all about. This week, I talk about how you can have a successful year. Graduate school is not like undergrad. You can’t just s…
Sept. 2, 2021

Training to Be a Scientist: Graduate School

It’s the beginning of the school year so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about where aspiring scientists go to train to be scientists: graduate school. Whether you are getting your Master’s or Ph.D., the exper…
Aug. 12, 2021

Elephant Tourism: What’s Best for Elephants

The inspiration for all of my writing and videos stems from animals. So often people want to become a wildlife biologist because they want to help animals. They envision themselves conducting important research to grow popul…
Aug. 4, 2021

Working in Education with Erin Apple

The inspiration for all of my writing and videos stems from animals. So often people want to become a wildlife biologist because they want to help animals. They envision themselves conducting important research to grow popul…
July 28, 2021

Your Biggest Struggle in Wildlife Careers: Part 3

This week’s podcast episode covers the second most popular answer to the question, “What is the problem you are struggling with most in regard to this career?” And the truth is all animals will be affected by climate change …
July 21, 2021

Your Biggest Struggle in Wildlife Careers Part 2

This week’s podcast episode covers the second most popular answer to the question, “What is the problem you are struggling with most in regard to this career?” To recap, a couple of months ago, I put this post on social medi…
July 13, 2021

Your Biggest Struggle in Wildlife Careers

A couple of months ago, I put this post on social media asking for people in wildlife biology, ecology, or zoology careers to help me out with some research: and I was shocked by the response! I got so many people who were i…
June 30, 2021

Sustainable Beach Vacation Tips

It’s summer time here in the US, which means lots of people head to the beach for vacation. With parties, holidays, and leisure happening at the beach, it can be easy to forget – or some people may never even know in the fir…
June 22, 2021

Sea Turtles and Straws with Christine Figginer

Several years ago, I went on a trip to Hilton head, South Carolina, and I woke up in the morning really early and went to the beach. This is something I always do when I am by the ocean, because you get to find some really c…
June 16, 2021

Financial Realities of Wildlife Careers with Emily Roberts

You get a degree and then a job, right? That’s how it is supposed to work. But in wildlife biology, ecology, and conservation careers, it’s not so straightforward. In the wildlife science realm, you need experience, but the …
June 8, 2021

Going Zero Waste with Alexa Smith

When I scroll through my Pinterest home feed, zero waste is a common word that comes up among eco-friendly bloggers. I always wanted to try it, but producing no waste seemed so hard! I was really intimidated by the challenge…
June 2, 2021

Corporations and Climate Change with Lavaniya Das

Through my 17 years in research, one of the biggest lessons I learned is that science alone cannot solve the biodiversity crisis. We need people to care and to change their behaviors. People tend to view corporations as the …
May 25, 2021

Getting a Job in Science Communication

When I was in graduate school, everyone was talking about how if you didn’t want to go into research, you could get a job in science communication – like it was something you could just easily do. But when I was officially o…
May 18, 2021

Handling the Haters in Science Communication

I was recently featured on an Instagram live hosted by @shine.science and I was asked the question, “How do you handle negative comments on social media?” I had such a long answer that I thought it would make an excellent po…
May 13, 2021

Sustainable Seafood with Jackie Marks

What you eat has a huge impact on wildlife and that’s true for the ocean too. Commercial fishing can have large-scale negative impacts on dolphins, turtles, and whole ecosystems. Overfishing can endanger the species that is …
May 6, 2021

Garden for Wildlife with David Mizejewski

Do you have a backyard? Front yard? Balcony? Access to a rooftop? Then you can help wildlife! I invited naturalist David Mizejewski on the podcast to talk about how you can make your yard, balcony, or whatever you have acces…
April 29, 2021

City Nature Challenge with George Gehrig

George Gehrig subscribes to the Fancy Scientist and responded to an email of mine asking about the impact of iNaturalist data on science. I thought that sounded like a great topic to discuss, and when I found out that George…
April 22, 2021

Extinction of Experience: The Core Threat to Nature Conservation

I became a wildlife biologist because I wanted to save species from extinction. But I’ve learned over my nearly two decades in this field, that we really can’t save species without focusing on ourselves first When people thi…
April 14, 2021

Welcome Mammals Into Your Yard the Right Way

Last week I talked about how you can make your front and backyard wildlife-friendly , and this week, I’m talking specifically about mammals! Lots of people want to welcome mammals into their yards, but don’t do it in the bes…