Paramount Importance

Professor Kate Sanders has built her career trying to understand one of the ocean’s most fascinating and misunderstood groups of animals: sea snakes. Based at Adelaide University, Kate’s research explores their evolution, diversity, sensory biology and conservation, helping uncover how snakes made the extraordinary transition from life on land to becoming fully marine predators. Sea snakes evolved...

Dr Stephanie Mason is an evolutionary biologist at The University of Western Australia researching how magpies learn to communicate, and what their calls could reveal about the evolution of human language. Her field research followed 11 young magpies over 200 days, tracking how their social relationships shape the development of complex call sequences. She joins Kurt Krispyn to explore magpie alar...

Dr Damian Thomson from CSIRO has been working on reef systems at Nyinggulu since 2007, giving him a powerful long-term view of what has changed, what has been lost, and what still may be possible for Western Australia’s coral reefs. Joining him is Dr Jenny Shaw from the Western Australian Marine Science Institution, who helps take us behind the scenes of the WA Reef Regen Program — a major new eff...

Professor Jessica Meeuwig AM is one of Australia’s most important voices in ocean conservation. Recently appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to marine conservation and research, Jessica is the inaugural Wen Family Chair in Conservation at The University of Western Australia and Director of the Marine Futures Lab. Her work has helped pioneer the global use of mi...

Dr Naima Andrea López is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Marine Futures Lab at The University of Western Australia and a shark researcher specialising in the ecology and conservation of hammerhead sharks. Her research led to the identification of Australia’s southernmost known recurrent aggregation of critically endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks, found remarkably far south in Perth’s...

Professor Nicki Mitchell is one of Australia’s leading experts on how threatened wildlife can survive a rapidly changing climate. A zoologist and ecophysiologist, Nicki is a Professor in UWA’s School of Biological Sciences, Deputy Director of the UWA Oceans Institute and Lead Councillor of the Biodiversity Council. For eight years, she served on Australia’s Commonwealth Threatened Species Scientif...

Dr Daniel Jan Martin is an award-winning environmental planner and designer working at the intersection of conservation, landscape architecture and urban ecology. As Lecturer and Co-Head of Landscape Architecture at The University of Western Australia, Daniel is helping reshape how we think about cities—not as places separate from nature, but as living systems connected through water, vegetation,...

Dr Amanda Ash is one of the people you want explaining parasites. A Senior Lecturer in Parasitology at Murdoch University and a parasitologist with the Harry Butler Institute, Amanda has spent her career studying how parasites move between wildlife, livestock, companion animals and humans. Her research has taken her from African painted dogs and giraffes to remote communities in Laos, where she ha...

When it comes to Australia’s native bees, few people have done more to bring them into the public eye than Dr Kit Prendergast. In this episode of Paramount Importance, Kurt is joined by Dr Kit Prendergast, a native bee scientist, conservation biologist, author, taxonomist and award-winning science communicator. Kit has dedicated her career to discovering, describing and protecting Australia’s nati...

In this episode, I sit down with Ursula Rodrigues , a fire ecologist whose PhD research explores the intersection of Western ecological science and Indigenous knowledge systems. Through close collaboration with Noongar Elders, families, and land caretakers, Ursula has helped advance a two-way learning approach to cultural fire management, using methods such as ecological monitoring, mapping, and y...

At just 18 years old, Michael Lun has already established himself as one of Western Australia’s most knowledgeable peacock spider enthusiasts. Through countless hours of fieldwork, wildlife photography, and species surveys, Michael has documented rare and elusive peacock spiders, contributed to the rediscovery of species believed to be extinct, and earned recognition from researchers working in th...

Professor Judy Shamoun-Baranes is a world-leading aeroecologist and Professor of Animal Movement Ecology at the University of Amsterdam, where she leads research into how animals move through one of Earth’s least visible habitats: the air. Her work sits at the intersection of ecology, meteorology, technology and conservation, using tools such as GPS tracking, accelerometers, weather radar and pred...

Professor Tobias Strunk and Professor Andrew Currie are world-leading researchers in neonatal medicine and immunology, working at the forefront of one of the most critical and underexplored areas of science—how we protect the most vulnerable humans on the planet in their first moments of life. Combining clinical expertise in newborn intensive care with cutting-edge immunological research, their wo...

Professor Navid Moheimani is a leading algal biotechnologist at Murdoch University and a global authority on microalgae, working at the forefront of sustainable innovation across energy, agriculture, and environmental management. His research explores how some of the smallest organisms on Earth, algae, can solve some of our biggest challenges, from producing oxygen and biofuels to transforming was...

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Rochelle Steven, Lecturer in Environmental and Conservation Science at Murdoch University, one of Australia’s leading conservation scientists working at the intersection of avian ecology, biodiversity, citizen science, and human–wildlife interactions.  Before joining Murdoch, Rochelle held a series of highly respected roles across Australia’s conservation sector...

In this episode, Winthrop Professor Marc Tennant, Chair of the Academic Board at The University of Western Australia, is one of Australia’s leading voices in public health dentistry. With over three decades dedicated to tackling health inequality, Marc has helped transform how dental care is delivered, especially for rural, remote, and disadvantaged communities across Australia. From teaching gene...

Dr Narelle Dybing is a parasitologist whose research investigates the hidden world of parasites and the role they play in wildlife health, invasive species ecology and biosecurity. After completing her PhD at Murdoch University, her work has focused on parasites carried by invasive animals such as feral cats, foxes, rats and wild dogs, helping to uncover how these often-overlooked organisms move t...

WE DID IT! The world’s first live underwater podcast — hosted by Kurt Krispyn — went to air on February 27th at 10am, broadcast directly from a seagrass meadow off Rottnest Island for World Seagrass Day. Our seagrass expert and underwater guest was Associate Professor Mike van Keulen from Murdoch University. Mike is the chair of the IUCN Seagrass Specialist Group, Academic Chair of Marine Biology...

In this episode, I chat with spider researchers Dr. André Wanderley do Prado and Dr. Pedro de Souza Castanheira to explore the remarkable and often misunderstood world of spiders. André and Pedro share their journey from researching Brazil’s dense, biodiverse forests to working hands-on with Western Australia’s unique species at the WA Museum, where live specimens, fieldwork, and careful taxonomy...

In this episode Kurt dives into the wild coastline of Western Australia with whale researchers Katy Fannei and Max Fabry, two scientists who built a groundbreaking whale-monitoring program from scratch, fueled by passion, volunteers, and community pilots. From flying light aircraft over 450 km of coastline to navigating remote beaches with drones and 4WDs, Katharina and Max reveal how a chance mee...

Professor Treena Burgess Executive Director of the Harry Butler Institute at Murdoch University , is a leading plant pathologist at Murdoch University and a globally recognised expert in forest health, biosecurity, and invasive plant diseases. Her research focuses on how pathogens spread through natural and managed ecosystems, particularly the devastating impacts of introduced diseases on native f...

In this episode, I sit down with Professor Jennifer Verduin, Oceanographer and Pro Vice Chancellor at Murdoch University, with a passion for seagrass. Fresh from an expedition to Antarctica as part of a global leadership program for women in STEMM, Jennifer shares what it was like to stand among thousands of penguins, witness icebergs the size of cities, and confront the stark realities of a chang...

In a world shaped by headlines, algorithms, and endless scrolls, who really controls the narrative? Associate Professor Tauel Harper, media scholar at Murdoch University, joins Kurt Krispyn to unpack the complex intersections of democracy, persuasion, and misinformation. From political spin and media ownership to social media’s sway over truth and trust, they explore how our beliefs are shaped, an...

Conversation Between Trees wasn’t just another podcast recording; it was a moment that redefined the idea of the public lecture, a tradition that has been with us for centuries. Hosted by the Harry Butler Institute at Murdoch University, this was the first live podcast I’ve ever done, and it was an experience that meant so much to both Rachel and me. Together, in front of a vibrant, engaged audien...

Dr Melissa Hadley Barrett is a clinical sexologist, educator, and leading voice in sexual health and wellbeing, specialising in male sexual function, relationships, and ageing. Her work focuses on the science of intimacy—challenging misconceptions around libido, erectile dysfunction, and hormonal change, while helping men better understand how lifestyle, health, and psychology shape sexual wellbei...