Wildlife, Cake & Cocktails

We sat down with Johanne Martens, PhD candidate studying the ecology and evolution of Beak and Feather Disease Virus (BFDV) in Australian parrots. She is currently at the Centre for Integrative Ecology at Deakin University in Geelong, Victoria. Over some Black Feather cocktails & hazelnut-chocolate slice, we discuss her early research in introduced Amazon parrots in Germany, avian disease ecology and epidemiology, and the impacts of Beak & Feather Disease Virus in Australia. Follow Johanne on Twitter @johanne_martens, and check out @DeakinCIE for more ecological goodness

We’re joined by Professor Sarah Legge, ecologist and threatened species biologist, professor at #ANU, Principal Research Fellow at #UQ, member of the #NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub, and co-author of “Cats In Australia - Companion and Killer” from CSIRO Publishing. Along with Black Cat cocktails and cheesecake, we discuss feral cats in Australia and, from her recent work, the impacts of domestic cats on native urban wildlife. For more #TSR updates, follow @TSRHub on Twitter and @nespthreatenedspecies on Facebook.

#WCC Quarantinis is now in session with the audio only edit! For our first round we're joined by herpetologist and naturalist Scott Eipper. Along with his partner Tie, Scott runs the wildlife education consulting service Nature4You in Brisbane, Australia. He has authored of numerous books and peer reviewed articles on Australian fauna, often with a particular focus on reptiles including venomous snakes. Over gin martinis and chocolate-coffee cupcakes, we discuss a slew of new snake related research articles. For more from Nature4You, check out @wildlifedemonstrations on IG or wildlifedemonstrations.com Video link to the episode here - https://youtu.be/f-rYhmnl61k

We're joined by Daniella Teixeira to discuss Black Cockatoos! Currently completing her PhD at the #UQ Centre for Biodiversity & Conservation Science, Daniella has over ten years experience as an ecologist and conservation biologist, in roles ranging from threatened species recovery to fisheries & sustainability monitoring. She's a member of the Recovery Team for South-Eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos and the Glossy Black Conservancy, and co-founder of first National Black-Cockatoo Forum in 2018. Her recent work focuses on the conservation, behaviour, and bioacoustic research of threatened birds. We discuss Black Cockatoos, bushfires, bio-acoustics for conservation, and much more, over poppy-seed lemon drizzle cake and Unmanageable Noise cocktails! Check out Daniella's work at daniellateixeira.com or follow the Glossy Black Conservancy at glossyblack.org.au and @GlossyBlackConservancy on social media. New Research: Ewart et al. 2020 Museum specimens provide reliable SNP data for population genomic an

Chris Sanderson is an Ecologist and PhD Candidate at the University of Queensland. He joined us to discuss butterflies, birds, threatened species, and IT, over Mexican Butterfly cocktails. Chris is studying how threatened species listings and legislation processes differ across the country, the impacts of data deficiency, and ways to improve these processes. He also works as a project officer on “Butterflies Australia”, a new citizen-science app for recording butterfly sightings and data, including a free digital field guide, and plenty of interesting features in development to explore butterfly data in map form. Check it out at Butterflies.org.au, or search “Butterflies Australia” on the Apple or Google App store  

We’re out in the field with Chantelle “Chilli” Derez, PhD student studying urban snake ecology at the UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, for the first #BrisbanePythonProjectBlitz! Chantelle is treasurer of the UQ Herpetological Society, a wildlife carer with Reptile Rehab QLD, and member of the SaveTheSnakes Advisory Committee. Her research is currently focussed on radio-tracking Carpet Pythons to understanding movement behaviour in natural and urban habitats. After discussing urban snake ecology, including issues with urban snake translocations and more, we join a group of keen herpetologists at a local wildlife reserve for the first #BrisbanePythonProject blitz, searching for more snakey-subjects for Chilli’s ongoing radio-tracking project. Check out The Brisbane Python Project on Facebook @BrisbanePythonProject Chantelle on Twitter & Facebook @ChantelleDerez SaveTheSnakes @SaveTheSnakes and savethesnakes.org UQ Herp Society on Twitter & Facebook @UQherp Reptile Rehab QLD on Twitte

We’re joined by Tamielle Brunt, PhD student at UQ studying the distribution and habitat requirements of Platypuses around South-East QLD. Tamielle has a passion for these amazing aquatic monotremes,engaging local communities in WildlifeQLD’s Platypus Watch programs since 2016. We discuss her PhD research, including eDNA monitoring to guide planning for the persistence of platypus populations, urban and naturalized habitat requirements, and much more, over Moon River cocktails and Mudcake! Follow Tamielle on Twitter@tamiellebrunt and IG@platypus_protector. Check out Platypus Watch at Wildlife.org.au/platypuswatch New Research: Richmond et al. 2018 A diverse suite of pharmaceuticals contaminates stream and riparian food webs. Nature Communications. 9.4491. DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-06822-w. Asahara et al. '16. Comparative cranial morphology in living and extinct platypuses: Feeding behavior, electroreception, and loss of teeth. Science Advances. 2, 10. e1601329 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601329. Carrick et al. 2019 Limi

We’re talking all things spidery with Robert Whyte, arachnologist at Queensland Museum. Rob is a scientist, author, editor, photographer, and science communicator with a passion for Australian spiders. In 2017, along with images from Greg Anderson, he authored “A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia”, the most comprehensive account of Australian spiders ever produced. In 2018 he revived the AustralasianArachnologicalSociety.org website & newsletter. Rob has also been working with the BushBlitz biodiversity exploration programs since 2012 to find new spider species around the country. At last year’s Cooloola BioBlitz, he lead the spider team to discover 37 new species, with even more this year! As an advocate for #SciComm, he is currently producing and presenting the upcoming web-series #JoltScienceTV with Sandra Tuszynska. Rob is also an avid volunteer with habitat restoration projects such as SaveOurWaterwaysNow, and wrote “The Creek In Our Backyard: A practical guide for habitat restoration” now a 2nd ex

With huge thanks to Avid Reader Bookshop in Brisbane’s West End, we were invited to have a discussion with the amazing Darryl Jones, Professor of Ecology at Griffith University, for the launch of his latest book, “Feeding The Birds At My Table – A Guide For Australia” from NewSouth Publishing. Prof. Darryl Jones is the Deputy Director of Griffith’s Environmental Futures Research Institute, working on understanding human-wildlife interactions. He’s the author of over 170 scientific articles and six books, including The Birds At My Table (2018) and now, the follow-up, Feeding The Birds At My Table (2019). The book is a not only an exploration of the challenges to safely and ethically feeding birds in your backyard, it’s also a practical guide for how to improve our bird feeding habits and practices here in Australia. We discuss bird feeding culture and research in Australia, ethical bird feeding problems and solutions, and much more. Join us for this fantastic launch event hosted by Avid Reader Bookshop! Check

We’re talking all things #Froggy with frog conservation scientists Alannah Filer, Debra Stark, and Callum McKercher! Alannah is a PhD student at the Uni of Queensland studying distribution mapping and bioacoustics in frogs, particularly the low pH specialized acid frogs. Debra, also at UQ, is involved in bioacoustic monitoring of acid frogs, education, and using technologies such as VR to bring students into the field. Callum is currently starting his PhD at Uni of New England, studying alpine wetland ecosystems near Armidale. With some Surfer-On-Acid cocktails and froggy cupcakes, we discuss monitoring the threatened Acid Frogs, bioacoustics, and much more! Check out some of Alannah’s work at Rhodesconservation.com and SpatialEcology.com Follow Debra on Twitter at @debra_93 Follow Callum on Instagram at @calsphotography12

We’re super exited to share some of the amazing conservation students and researchers from the 2019 Student Conference on Conservation Science in Brisbane, Australia! WCC was lucky to score an invite to attend some of the incredible student talks, plenary speakers, poster presentations, and we even managed a handful of special guest interviews (see below for segment times). In this first part, we share interviews with student poster presenters and special guest speakers. With so many amazing student researchers and conservationists in various fields from across the world congregating at the Uni of Queensland for this conference, we barely scratched the surface and wish we had time for more. Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy these presentations and interviews from numerous conservation students across a broad swath of scientific disciplines, just a small sample of the breadth of knowledge and talent involved in biodiversity conservation around the world. For more on #SCCSAus2019, check out SCCS-aus.org, Facebook@

We’re joined by Blanche D’Anastasi to talk Sea Snakes, along with some insanely decadent Ocean Cake and Negronis to finish #NegroniWeek2019! Blanche is a marine biologist, applied conservation researcher & sea-snake expert, currently completing a PhD on threatened sea snakes at James Cook University. We discuss all things sea-snake related over our very rich drink and dessert pairing J Enjoy, and Happy #NegroniWeek everyone!

WCC joins Prof. Stuart Parsons, zoologist and bat specialist from QUT, to chat all things batty before his presentation at the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland’s Brisbane Branch! Prof. Parsons is the Head of School in Earth, Environment & Biological Sciences at the Queensland University of Technology. With a broad interest in sensory ecology & animal behaviour, his research ranges from auditory anatomy and biological sonar to mating systems, and more.

We’re talking cane toads, goannas, and traditional ecological knowledge with Dr. Georgia Ward-Fear while enjoying caramel-vanilla slice and a Sweet Poison cocktail! She is a conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney with a broad interest in evolution, ecology, invasive species, and more. We chat about her fascinating PhD research and conservation program. We also discuss the vital role of indigenous ranger collaboration.

WCC is back out at Rainbow Beach for Cooloola BioBlitz 2019, organised by Cooloola Coast Care Inc. and the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation. Cooloola BioBlitz is a weekend of biological survey to record as many of the living species as possible in the Cooloola Sands region, and this second survey is sure to be a blast! We chat with some of the awesome scientific team leaders and organisers about their weekend full of discoveries and citizen science action.

We’re back on the WCC couch enjoying Purple Finch cocktails and poppy-seed cake talking Black-throated finches with Dr. April Reside from the Uni of Queensland! Dr. Reside is a keen birder, ecologist, and conservation researcher with a focus on spatial modelling. We discuss Black-throated finch ecology and conservation challenges including habitat loss, land clearing, mining in the Galilee Basin, and much more.

We chat with Queensland Museum’s Robert Whyte. Rob is a scientist, journalist, author, editor, photographer, and more, with a passion for Australian spiders. He was co-author of A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. Rob was the leader of the Spider Team at the 2018 Cooloola Bioblitz who discovered 37 species new species. He was guest speaker at the WPSQ Brisbane branch March 2019 presentation: “Citizens doing it for themselves – 2018 Cooloola BioBlitz – Beauty & mystery in new species”

We cross over to Tasmania to discuss the Rakali, AKA the Australian Water Rat with Cory Young! Cory has extensive experience in wildlife rehabilitation with a broad range of species including the Rakali and is the VP of the Tasmanian Wildlife Rehabilitation Council at TasWildlife.org. He has a passion for the Rakali and is strong advocate for these amazing, otter-like aquatic animals. Check out @taswildlife, or follow Corey on IG@cyoung102, and keep an eye out for @RakaliAwarenessDay on February 18th.

We're back for another presentation from the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland with their guest speaker Chantelle Derez! Currently mid-PhD at the UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Chantelle is a keen herpetologist, UQ Herpetological Society Treasurer, member of Reptile Rehab QLD and wildlife carer. We discuss some pros and cons of wildlife rehab in Australia before her talk for the WPSQ's February Presentation - “Wildlife Rehabilitation; the Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

In this bat-centric episode, our summer-heatwave continues, as does our climate-change focus. We're joined by Maree Treadwell Kerr from the Australasian Bat Society to discuss heatwave impacts on fruit-bats, while sipping some Tropical Heat cocktails along with fruity bat-cupcakes. Join us for a detailed look at the heatwaves, heat stress events and mass die-offs, particularly in the Spectacled Flying Fox, before we dive into some batty New Research segments.