Episodes

April 4, 2022

Agree or Disagree: Oil companies need to have bigger sanctions after repeated oil spills

A recent oil spill that covers 18,000 square meters of the coast of Lima, Peru may result in a fine of $37 million dollars, but is it enough? The Spanish company (Repsol) involved is not new to these offenses as it is the fo…
April 1, 2022

12 Tides: Building a sustainable, positive business with nutrient-rich kelp chips

Pat Shnettler joins me on the podcast to tell me the story of what led him to co-found 12 Tides, a sustainable seafood business that sells nutrient-rich kelp chips to people who want a tasty snack that is ocean safe.  Buy 12…
March 30, 2022

Not everyone is educated on the ocean, so we need to communicate better to help them

Have you ever had someone say to you that they are over the bans on plastic straws or changing their behaviour to help the ocean is too hard? It's a frustrating experience, but it tells us that people are not educated on oce…
March 28, 2022

Microplastics were found in the human bloodstream, so can we now actually do something about plastic pollution?

We often wait too late until we change the bad things we do in society. Climate change is wreaking havoc on our planet and we are still debating on whether it's real.  Now, a study showed that microplastics are in the human …
March 25, 2022

The one thing you need to do to get your dream job in marine science and conservation

You grow up wanting to be marine biologists and pursue the tough road through their undergraduate and graduate careers, but after you graduate, you can’t find a job, therefore you get extremely frustrated and sad, or maybe w…
March 23, 2022

Be your authentic self when communicating marine science

Many scientists love communicating their science to the public and they know that science communication is the key to improving conservation, but when they do SciComm they tend to not be their authentic selves causing their …
March 21, 2022

Corals can be heat trained for survival

Mass bleaching is happening more often for longer periods of time every year causing more damage than in previous years and it looks as though coral reefs will change in composition unless something is done to help them adap…
March 18, 2022

My journey to buying an electric vehicle (EV) to reduce my carbon footprint

Climate change is rearing its ugly head in many forms, including wildfires, mass coral bleaching, major glaciers and ice sheets melting, and an increase in major storms. the damage of climate change consequences are costing …
March 16, 2022

What Indigenous-led conservation means

Indigenous conservation success may not be the same for Western scientists and conservationists, yet we often approach conservation in Indigenous communities with our own preconceived notions of conservation success.  Angelo…
March 14, 2022

Studying the animals that hitch rides on the back of sea turtles

Dr. Nathan Robinson was part of a sea turtle research team when the team discovered that one of the sea turtles had a straw stuck up its nose. The entire ordeal was recorded and the video went viral on YouTube and contribute…
March 11, 2022

Words matter in Science Communication

Science communication is an important part of marine conservation. I dedicated my career to SciComm because I feel that telling the public of what is happening to the Ocean is crucial to changing behaviours to live for a bet…
March 9, 2022

How to interpret marine science studies

Marine science papers can be hard to interpret if you are not a scientist so I decided to take you through how to interpret them and where there could be some room for error. You may or may not have read a marine science jou…
March 7, 2022

An example of fisheries collaboration between Indigenous fishers, academia, and commercial fishers

The relationship between Indigenous people and the government of Canada is terrible. the relationship with Indigenous people and commercial fishers is also terrible, especially over the past couple of years when the Mi'kmaq …
March 1, 2022

A one week break

I know you were expecting an episode on Marine Science and Conservation today; however, I am quite distracted by the news of the invasion of Ukraine this past week. I don't feel very inspired to podcast after watching the vi…
Feb. 25, 2022

Why we need gender equality in the seafood industry

Julie Kuchepatov is seeking to fight gender inequality within the seafood industry. She launched the Conch podcast where she interviews women at various levels of the seafood supply chain to tell their stories and show how w…
Feb. 23, 2022

How to choose a citizen science program

In the last episode, I talked about a citizen science project in the Southern Atlantic Ocean targeted at recreational fishers. I'm sure some of you wanted to join that program because let's face it, it was a fun program that…
Feb. 21, 2022

Argentina sport fishers help protect sharks through citizen science

Sharks in the southern Atlantic ocean are being protected through a citizen science program with sport fishers who regularly target sharks. Why is this a big deal you ask? Previous to this program, sport fishers were killing…
Feb. 18, 2022

Help stop a cruise line pier in Cozumel, Mexico

A megaproject is proposed to move forward to build an 800 metre long pier for the island of Cozumel to accommodate four more cruise lines per day (in addition to the current 3 cruise lines per day). The pier will also be des…
Feb. 16, 2022

Did the Ocean Clean Up Project publish a staged video of it cleaning up plastic from the ocean?

The Ocean Clean Up Project recently released a video showing a trawl net releasing plastic pollution that it supposedly hauled from the ocean and released on the deck of a shipping vessel. However, there seemed to be some th…
Feb. 15, 2022

How do YOU balance the progressive versus the excessive lifestyle

I saw a video today about how the generation known as Generation Z is battling two different lifestyles. There is the progressive lifestyle that is led by the likes of people like Greta Thunberg and there is the excessive li…
Feb. 11, 2022

Aquaculture in 2022 - What you need to know

Are you wondering whether you should eat aquacultured seafood products? People seem to be down on aquaculture stating that there are many environmental issues. They aren't wrong as issues such as feed for the animals, risk o…
Feb. 9, 2022

SUFB 1268: Do you consider sustainability as part of success in life?

How do you define success? People often consider success as making a certain amount of money, having a family, and/or accomplishing specific goals in life. However, have you ever considered your sustainability as a measureme…
Feb. 7, 2022

SUFB 1267: 100,000 dead fish at sea by second largest trawler

Last week, we saw what really happens at sea with industrialized fishing. 100,000 dead fish were discarded from a net and floating on the ocean taking up 3,000 square meters (32,300 square feet) in size.  The fish were disca…
Feb. 4, 2022

SUFB 1266: Fighting to reduce Plastic Oceans in Canada with Natasha Tucker

I found out about an organization in Canada that works with students, teachers, and volunteers to clean up plastics along beaches and wetlands and help reduce the amount of single-use plastics in Canada.  You just know I had…