The Snakeman's Lair

God, where do I even start. It's been so long that you have probably forgotten all about this podcast by now, but hope always dies last. I do realize that I have a lot of radio silence to make up for, so I brought in a guest that is guaranteed to catch your attention. Dr. Elodie Freymann @elodiefreymann is a primatologist, filmmaker, illustrator, and a whole list of other things I can't even fit h...

A rocky start of the year, but The Snakeman's Lair is never truly closed. This time, the gates are wide open to welcome the wisdom and energy of an amazing guest. Harrison Carter is... Well, a lot of things really- investment management consultant, conservationist, herpetologist, advocate, PhD candidate, and the list goes on. Believe me, it was hard to keep track of it all when I had the pleasure...

Did you miss The Snakeman's Lair? Fret not, because we are back! People far and wide, meet Amalia Espinoza Regalado , a rising star in herpetology and conservation now busy researching wildlife in her native Ecuador. Snakes, spiders, scorpions, lush rainforests and arcane caves- Amalia's passion has taken her a long way in such a short career so far. Growing up in a science-minded household, the c...

Bottom of the sea? Check. Scorching desert? Check. Frosted Steppe? Check. Afterlife? You could say, check. This seemingly nonsensical list is actually a summary of the life of Dr. Gino Caspari, whom I have welcomed into The Snakeman's Lair as this episode's guest. Dr. Caspari is an archaeologist whose quest towards understanding how ancient people lived and believed led him on several expeditions...

Now that the holidays are finally here, what better way to relax than listening to incredible stories from trailblazers in science and conservation? For our Season 2 premiere, The Snakeman's Lair welcomes a visionary biologist who just can't seem to ever have a bad idea. From humble beginnings in northern Italy (relatable), Dr. Martina Panisi moved abroad after high school (also relatable) and wen...

The Snakeman's Lair has reached its first season finale, but before we move forward I thought it was high time we had a look back- way back. Today our doors open to welcome paleontologist Adele Pentland, who does pretty much what any child in their right mind dreams of: live in the middle of the Australian outback and dig up fossils from a time so remote it is hard to even picture. Adele's work ma...

When we think about evolution, we imagine impossibly long time scales stretching back to tens or even hundreds of million years ago. Which is true, make no mistake- but far from the whole story. Evolution can be incredibly fast, with new traits and adaptations sprouting seemingly out of absolute nowhere. In this episode, The Snakeman's Lair welcomes world-renowned evolutionary biologist Prof. Menn...

Studying spiders and scorpions is already a poorly rewarded job on its own- now imagine spending your life doing that while at the same time facing war and workplace discrimination. This is the story of Dr. Manal Siyam, who joined me in The Snakeman's Lair to talk about scorpion envenomation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as the taxonomy of scorpions and spiders. Powered by an...

The Snakeman's Lair is once again open to all - and snakes themselves are finally reclaiming the spotlight. Joining us today is Jenna Palmisano, a herpetologist and parasitologist based in Florida, where she is investigating a silent invasion of Asiatic lung worms (Raillietiella orientalis) in the endangered dusky pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri). Florida is a global hotspot of inv...

Creatures of striking appearance, awe-inspiring yet frightening at the same time, with power beyond our human limits. Plenty of animals fit this description, but crocodiles sure embody it. Brandon Sideleau knows it all too well after a lifetime spent studying them and their relationship with humans. Evil murderers to some, benevolent deities to others, crocodiles never fail to make an impact. And...

The Snakeman's Lair is finally back! For this re-re-launch I needed a guest who could keep you on the edge of your seats, someone who could provide a perspective on the world of wildlife conservation that most people never get to hear. When I came across Benson Kanyembo, I knew had found the perfect guy. Benson is the Law Enforcement Advisor at Conservation South Luangwa, one of the most spectacul...

When your pet is sick, you bring it to the vet. But when the animal is wild, the vet must come to it. This is what my next guest here on The Snakeman's Lair does on a daily basis- everyone give a warm welcome to Sharon Mulindi DVM! Sharon is a wildlife vet- yes, wild animals get sick too (or shot, or snared, or...) and a simple clinic won't cut it if you have to treat lions or giraffes. Literally,...

Sometimes science and conservation take a toll on one's wellbeing, especially if you have to take up that burden all by yourself. However, sometimes it helps when you can share the good and bad sides of it all with someone you can always count on- say, for example, your brother. This is the reality of Sergio and Héctor Avila, two kickass biologists and/or activists hailing from northern Mexico. In...

With snakebite claiming tens of thousands of live worldwide every year, research on new treatments and preventive measures is more urgent than ever. A seldom explored angle is snakebite diagnostics- that is, identifying which snake species bit a patient in the hospital so that the right treatment can be administered before it's too late. This is where my friend Dr. Cecilie Knudsen and her colleagu...

Paleoartist Hodari Nundu puts his creativity and talent for drawing in service of paleontology by creating portraits of extinct wildlife and their ecology based on available fossil evidence. Scientific artists like Hodari are crucial for paleontology because their renderings are the only way we can have a visual representation of long gone animals. To learn all about the routine aspects of Hodari'...

In this episode, The Snakeman's Lair opens its doors to wildlife biologist and conservationist Vasundhara "Tanvi" Krishnani, who is currently pursuing a joint PhD between her native India and Australia. Throughout her life, Tanvi has always followed her own path- from the thickest jungles to the highest peaks- and faced the ugliest aspects of human-wildlife conflict. Giving poachers a second chanc...

For the first episode of this brand new edition, The Snakeman's Lair welcomes a truly exceptional guest in Prof. Emily Taylor, a world-leading expert in the behavioral ecology of reptiles. Join me and Emily as she recounts her love at first sight with herpetology as a college student, the universe of knowledge that we are just beginning to explore in the field of snake behavior, and the progress t...