Ocean Protect Podcast

Dr Kathy Willis is a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington and CSIRO Scientific Researcher on a mission to combat plastic pollution and reframe plastic as a valuable commodity rather than a throwaway item. In Kathy's second appearance on the pod, we discuss the recent good news about plastic pollution on Australian beaches, spatial and temporal trends in plastic washing up...

Shannon Mead is the Founder of "No More Butts", a charity who's mission is "A butt free environment" - where cigarette butts are recycled, with the products created having a further positive impact on the community. Shannon returns for his second appearance on the pod - dropping truth bombs about dropped cigarette butts, the emerging issue of vaping, and discussing possible solutions. Useful links...

Jonathon Clark is Queensland Coordinator of the Apex Harmony campaign - Sea Shepherd Australia's Shark Defence campaign to defend, conserve and protect sharks in order to maintain a healthy ocean. In this chat, we discuss the destructive nature of Queensland and NSW's state-sanctioned shark "control" programs and possible (and certainly more effective) methods to protect the safety and wellbeing o...

Dr Mitchell Call and Dr James Sippo are postdoctoral researchers at Southern Cross University at Lismore, in Northern NSW, Australia. The Wilsons River flows through the city of Lismore to the Richmond River estuary. In late February 2022, the biggest flood in modern Australian history inundated Lismore and the rest of Northern NSW. In this chat, Mitchell and James describe the flood, the incredib...

Jo Lane is a kelp harvester and SeaEO of Sea Health Products, which provides premium kelp products harvested from the south coast of NSW. We talk kelp harvesting, the current status and potential of seaweed farming, the possible benefits and challenges facing the growth of the seaweed industry. Useful links: Jo on LinkedIn ( here ): Sea Health Products ( here ) Australian Sustainable Seaweed Allia...

On 5th July 2022, Ocean Protect turns 20 years old. From very humble beginnings, Ocean Protect now stops an average of around eight tonnes of pollution entering our oceans every day. Michael Wicks (Ocean Protect Director and co-founder) joins Jeremy and Brad for a look back at some of the highs and lows of Ocean Protect. For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at  www.oceanp...

Tom Gammage is a plastic pollution campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency in London, where he is working to secure an ambitious new plastics treaty for the planet. We talk about the growing plastics 'emergency', the need for a global plastics treaty, the recent meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi to discuss such a treaty, and key recommended actions f...

Puget Sound is a sound of the Pacific Northwest (in north-western USA), an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. Every 'fall' (Autumn), more than half of the coho salmon that return to Puget Sound’s urban streams die before they can spawn. In some streams, all of them die. But scientists didn’t know why. Enter Ed Kolodziej (Associate Professor at the University of Washington...

Tim van Emmerik is Assistant Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, but joins us on this chat from Cambodia - during one of his riverine plastic research projects. We chat about the research paper that Tim recently co-authored assessing plastic discharges from rivers across the planet, and how to 'turn off the tap' of plastic pollution from rivers. Useful links: https://timvanemmer...

Dr Garth Covernton is a University of Toronto Arts and Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow working as part of the  pELAstics project , which aims to understand how microplastics pollution might affect various ecosystem processes. We talk about the human consumption of microplastics - like "how much?", "where from?", and the potential consequences to human health. Useful links: https://garthcovernton...

Andy Paine is from an organisation called Frontline Action on Coal, who use non-violent direct action tactics to try to stop the construction of polluting coal mines. Late last year, Andy and a colleague locked themselves to a train line to disrupt the first full trainload of coal from Adani's Carmichael mine in central Queensland, Australia. We talk about the Adani project, the effectiveness of '...

Dr James Sippo is Postdoctoral Researcher in blue carbon at Southern Cross University, and is part of a team that has developed a new blue carbon accounting system that calculates the amount of carbon sequestered when tidal zones are returned to their natural state. We talk about blue carbon, its potential within coastal land for mitigating climate change, and reducing our own personal carbon foot...

Dr Sarah Seabrook is a microbial ecologist and oceanographer at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and The University of Auckland, New Zealand. In this chat, we talk about the role of the ocean as a climate regulator, and how to protect and enhance its ability to do this. Useful links: https://www.sarahseabrook.com Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-seabrook...

Dr Lauren Roman is a postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere, and her research focuses on marine debris (plastics and other litter in the ocean) and the impact it has on wildlife. In this chat, we talk about her (and her CSIRO team's) recent research analysing data from nearly 30,000 litter clean-ups from around the world and its implications on how to turn the tide on plastic pol...

Anita and Caz join us to talk about the amazing Volvo Ocean Lovers Festival that they founded - which is happening at Bondi Beach 10-13 March 2022. Anita and Caz were last on the podcast two years ago, in the lead up to the 2020 Ocean Lovers Festival - just before a little thing called Covid forced the cancellation of the festival. But it takes more than a pandemic to stop these two. We talk about...

In our first episode of Season 4 of the Ocean Protect Podcast, we are joined by Anissa Lawrence - Managing Director (and Founder) of Tierramar, who manage Ghost Nets Australia. We talk about the problem of ghost nets (with a particular focus on those drifting to Australia) and what we can do about it. Useful links: Anissa: https://tierramar.com.au/team-view/anissa-lawrence/ Ghost Nets Austral...

In our last episode for Season 3 and her second appearance on the pod, we're joined by Dr Annika Dean - Senior Researcher at the Climate Council of Australia. We review the recent UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow last month, with a particular focus on Australia's commitments and future. The Ocean Protect Podcast will return for Season 4 in March 2022. Useful links: https://www....

Carly is a wildlife conservationist, and maker of the "Rubber Jellyfish" documentary film, which reveals the shocking jellyfish-like shapes that balloons burst into when they are released into the air and how this is affecting sea turtles who mistake these items for prey. We talk about how Carly's journey from bat balls to busting balloon myths, and making maiden movies. Useful links: https://rubb...

This is the second (and final) part of our two-part chat with Jeff Hansen, Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia. The first part was released last week.. Useful links: https://www.seashepherd.org.au/ Jeff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-hansen-521b42a Jeff's Ted talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_hansen_why_we_need_unexpected_allies_to_fix_climate_change   For further in...

Jeff Hansen is the Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia, defending, conserving and protecting the world’s ocean. We talk about Jeff's journey from Electronic and Computer Engineer to saving whales in Antarctica, some of the direct action campaigns of Sea Shepherd Australia, and what it's like to have possibly the best job in the world. This is a two-part conversation, with the second (and f...

This is the second (and final) part of our two-part chat with Dr Michelle Blewit (AUSMAP Program Director) and Dr Scott Wilson (AUSMAP Research Director and Senior Lecturer/ Senior Research Fellow at Macquarie University). Part one was released last week. Useful links: https://www.ausmap.org/ Dr Michelle Blewitt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-blewitt-711b1137/ Dr Scott Wilson on...

The Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP) is the bridge between a massive problem and the solutions, designed to document and analyse microplastic pollution in Australian aquatic environments. Dr Michelle Blewit (AUSMAP Program Director) and Dr Scott Wilson (AUSMAP Research Director and Senior Lecturer/ Senior Research Fellow at Macquarie University) join us to talk about how citizen...

This is the second (and final) part of our two-part chat with Grahame Lloyd, a Project Leader with Sea Shepherd Australia. Part one was released last week. Useful links: Grahame on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahame-lloyd-611295a5/?originalSubdomain=au Sea Shepherd Australia's Marine Debris Campaignt: https://www.seashepherd.org.au/our-campaigns/marine-debris-campaign/ Untrashing Djulpa...

Grahame Lloyd is a Project Leader with Sea Shepherd Australia, leading their 'Waves of Change' project, and joins us for his second appearance on the pod. We talk about his amazing work co-ordinating and assisting with beach clean-ups across Queensland (from the Gold Coast to some very remote beaches) and helping better protect our oceans and life under water and above. This is a two-part conversa...

This is the second (and final) part of our two-part chat with Jim Lenhart. The first part was released last week. Useful links: Jim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesl4/ Stormwater Northwest: http://stormwaternorthwest.com/ https://oceanprotect.com.au/stormfilter/ USA's Clean Water Act & Trash Free Waters : https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/clean-water-act-and-trash-free-waters...