Rewilding Earth

About Michelle Lute is a wildlife scientist and conservation leader with two decades of experience in wildlife conservation, nonprofit leadership, and public policy. As executive director of Wildlife for All, she’s leading the charge to transform state wildlife governance and center justice, compassion, and democracy in conservation. Michelle holds a PhD in wildlife management and […] Read full ar...

Episode Summary In this poignant and historic episode of the Rewilding Earth podcast, legendary Southwest author, activist, and audio naturalist Jack Loeffler connects with host Jack Humphrey, just ahead of Loeffler’s 90th birthday. A living thread to the bedrock of the modern conservation movement, Loeffler shares deeply personal stories of running wild rivers and backpacking […] Read full articl...

Episode Summary Louise Misztal, executive director of Sky Island Alliance (SIA), sits down with Rewilding Earth podcast host Jack Humphrey to explore the unique, biodiverse, and threatened Sky Island Region of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They discuss how these isolated mountain ranges rise out of the surrounding valleys to create a biological […] Read full article: Episode...

Episode Summary In this episode, Jack welcomes back Cooper Freeman from the Center for Biological Diversity for a transparent, gritty, and surprisingly hopeful update on the frontlines of conservation in Alaska. Navigating a relentless onslaught of fast-tracked industrial projects and gutted regulatory procedures under the current administration, Cooper outlines how the Alaska team is successfully...

About the Author Julie Carrick Dalton is a novelist, former journalist, and farmer whose work explores the deep, often complicated relationship between humanity and the natural world. With decades of experience telling stories rooted in fact and reality as a reporter, Julie later turned to working the land, a pivot that ultimately unlocked her passion […] Read full article: Episode 174: How Fictio...

Episode Summary In this episode, Jack sits down with Laiken Jordahl to discuss the immediate and unprecedented threat to Big Bend National Park and the surrounding West Texas borderlands. The conversation centers on current administration plans to extend border wall construction through one of America’s most iconic “crown jewel” landscapes. Laiken reveals how this project […] Read full article: Ep...

Summary In 1959, George Schaller entered the Virunga Mountains with nothing but a notebook and a folding chair. At a time when the world viewed the mountain gorilla as a savage, cinematic monster, Schaller saw something else: a peaceful, social being whose world we were only just beginning to understand. By sitting lower than the […] Read full article: Episode 172: George Schaller “Homesick for a...

Dr. Larry Stevens is the Curator of Ecology at the Museum of Northern Arizona, and the Director of Spring Stewardship Institute. He received his Ph. D in Zoology from Northern Arizona University in 1989, and served as the ecologist for Grand Canyon National Park from 1989 to 1994. Well respected in the field of ecology, Dr. […] Read full article: Episode 171: The Hidden Universe of Springs with La...

Paul Watson, Founder & Director, Paul Watson Foundation Captain Paul Watson is a marine wildlife conservation and environmental activist, renowned speaker, accomplished author, and master mariner. Watson was one of the founding members and directors of Greenpeace. In 1977, he left Greenpeace and founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. In 2022, he founded the Captain […] Read full articl...

Reba Elliott, Executive Director, Great Old Broads for Wilderness Reba has over a decade of experience in collaborating with grassroots leaders to protect our planet. Before coming to Broads, she most recently helped lead a faith-based environmental movement with over 700 member organizations and 19,000 certified volunteers around the globe. A native of Virginia, Reba […] Read full article: Episod...

Show Notes Sean Gerrity – Author of Wild on Purpose: The American Prairie Story and the Art of Thinking Bigger Sean Gerrity, founder and former CEO of American Prairie, discusses building the largest wildlife reserve in the lower 48 states — bigger than Yellowstone and Glacier Parks combined. He shares how an “interim CEO” role […] Read full article: Episode 168: American Prairie’s Sean Gerrity on...

Paul Lister, founder of the European Nature Trust and owner of Alladale Wilderness Reserve in Scotland, has spent 20 years restoring 23,000 acres through reforestation, peatland restoration, and deer management. He advocates for reducing meat consumption, addressing population growth, and redirecting wealth toward nature restoration, demonstrating through tourism and immersive experiences that rew...

In this episode, we explore the front lines of coral reef rewilding with Sam Teicher, Co-Founder of Coral Vita. While coral reefs cover a mere fraction of the ocean floor, they are the essential architects of marine life, providing the structural foundation for a quarter of all species in the sea. We discuss the urgent […] Read full article: Episode 166: Coral Reef Restoration with Sam Teicher of...

Episode summary Jack Humphrey interviews filmmaker Austin Alvarado about his work on the new Fin & Fur Films documentary “Borderlands Jaguar,” which documents jaguars at the Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora, Mexico. Austin shares his journey from river guide in West Texas to wildlife cinematographer, detailing the intense dedication required for remote camera work – […] Read full article: Epi...

About Valerie and Cuenca Los Ojos Valerie Gordon’s conservation work spans more than two decades focused on endangered species, water, rangeland, and wildlife habitat. Most notably, she spearheaded the transition of Cuenca Los Ojos, a family foundation started by her mother, Valer Clark, into a non-profit that promotes land restoration in the U.S. and Mexico. […] Read full article: Episode 164: Cu...

Dr. Carver is a Geographer and Professor at the University of Leeds. He has over 30 years of experience in GIS and multi-criteria evaluation, with special interests in wilderness, wildland, rewilding, landscape evaluation, and public participation. He has worked extensively on the development of methodologies for wildland mapping and assessment. He has tested and applied […] Read full article: Epi...

Dave is retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where from 1990-1999 he led the USFWS’s effort to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest. His interests include the ecology and conservation of large carnivores, protection and conservation of biodiversity, and wildlands conservation at scales that fully support ecological and evolutionary […] Read full articl...

About Danny Giovale Danny Giovale is the founder and president of Kahtoola, an outdoor equipment company he established in 1999. As a native of Flagstaff, Arizona, Giovale was deeply influenced by the area’s local community and environment, which fostered a strong sense of stewardship that guides his work. Kahtoola, which specializes in winter traction products, […] Read full article: Episode 161:...

Summary In this episode, Julius Purcell takes us into the heart of Spain’s Sierra Morena to explore the dramatic recovery of the Iberian Lynx, the world’s most endangered feline. We follow the story from near-extinction to a conservation success, meet the people behind the restoration project, and examine the complex relationship between rural communities, farmers, […] Read full article: Episode 1...

Episode Summary In this episode, Julius Purcell journeys deep into the Pyrenees to explore the dramatic story of brown bears—once nearly extinct in these mountains, now at the center of a fierce cultural and ecological debate. Through vivid field reporting, interviews with conservationists, shepherds, and locals, we trace the history of Pyrenean brown bear (Ursus […] Read full article: Episode 159...

Happy Wolf Awareness Week! Julius Purcell discovered his interest in audio while training as a journalist in the Middle East. He later worked as a deputy editor at National Geographic History magazine, a role that sparked his fascination with environmental history and rewilding. Julius’s audio series for the Rewilding Institute, “WOLF, BEAR, LYNX,” looks at […] Read full article: Episode 158: Euro...

A biologist with a lifelong dedication to conservation, Sebastián Di Martino began his involvement with environmental organizations at the age of 13. He earned a degree in Biology in his native Argentina and a Master’s in Natural Protected Areas in Spain before working with the Directorate of Natural Protected Areas of the Province of Neuquén. […] Read full article: Episode 157: The Jaguar’s Path...

Trevor Ritland spent two years in the cloud forests of Costa Rica before returning to the United States to complete graduate work in documentary studies and science communication. His writing and video projects explore imperiled species, environmental mysteries, and ghost stories. Trevor lives with his wife and daughter (and their dog, Indiana Bones) in Flagstaff, […] Read full article: Episode 15...

Russ McSpadden works to protect public lands and the wildlife who call them home in Arizona and the rest of the Southwest. Before joining the Center in 2012, Russ engaged in grassroots environmental activism. He holds a master’s degree in environmental history from Florida Atlantic University. Show Notes In this episode of the Rewilding Earth […] Read full article: Episode 155: Jaguars, Justice, a...

With a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Cape Town, Ryan Olinger is a wildlife biologist as well as an award-winning photographer and videographer. He has dedicated nearly a decade to studying a variety of species and the impact of climate change, with field experience spanning the American Southwest to Africa. Ryan’s […] Read full article: Episode 154: “The American S...