Boots on the ground podcast

This #WorldEnvironmentDay, I'm delighted to be talking with Rohan Neel Shah, a 17-year-old 11th-grade student based in Nairobi, Kenya. Growing up in a country where nature, wildlife, and the outdoors are part of everyday life has deeply influenced his worldview. Since the age of two, his parents have taken him to Kenya’s national parks, instilling in him a profound love and passion for nature and...

Join us as we track the inspiring path of Dr. Robert Aruho — wildlife veterinarian, conservation leader, and head of Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. From translocating endangered species across Africa to leading the Mountain Bongo reintroduction in Kenya, Dr. Aruho shares his passion for preserving biodiversity, empowering communities, and keeping conservation wild at heart. Enjoy💚🎙️

Today’s guest is Victoria Wanjohi — a wildlife conservation scientist, award-winning filmmaker, and storytelling force based in Nairobi, Kenya. With over a decade of experience across Africa, Victoria uses the power of narrative to connect communities, especially youth, to the heart of conservation and climate action. As the visionary behind Biophilic Conversations and Nyika Silika Productions, an...

In this podcast, I'm chatting with Siana Phillips, the head of Impact at Ocean Sole, here in Kenya. She shares her incredible journey, growing up in Samburu County in Kenya where she developed her creative mind and love for community. That path later led her to Ocean Sole where she is using her skills and experiences in grassroots conservation to community empowerment and education. Listen in...

A survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM), Sereti Nabaala turned her personal experience into a mission to protect and empower young girls. In 2019, while still in university, she founded the Matasaru Ntoyie Pastoralist Foundation , which has since supported the education of FGM and forced marriage survivors, provided menstrual hygiene supplies to over 2,000 girls, and empowered young mothers...

Hello Good people!! In this new episode, I'm chatting with Jana Woerner, a Ph. D student with the Mara Hyena Project at Michigan State University where she studies the hunting behavior of spotted hyenas and its impact on their space use and movement decisions. We talk about her childhood, career, fieldwork, her time at the Mara Hyena Project, all things hyenas, and her mentorship work. Enjoy a...

In this new podcast, I'm chatting with Rebecca Stephens, MBE, the first British woman to summit Everest and the first British woman to climb the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. We talk through her childhood and upbringing in the UK, her experiences summiting Everest and what being on top of the world for five minutes felt like, her time leading mountaineeri...

I’m super thrilled to introduce to you our next guest on the Pod @lydiatiller, the head of the human-elephant coexistence program @amboseli_trust Lydia joined @amboseli_trust in January 2023 to focus on human-elephant coexistence and connectivity in the Amboseli ecosystem. over a decade @savetheelephants in Tsavo, Kenya as their Research and Science Manager, where she coordinated field research an...

Gender Bias, discrimination, harassment, inequity in pay, cultural constraints are just but some of the overarching and adverse impacts of gender-related challenges that women go through in the conservation realm. Less than 1% of landowners in the Maasai Mara Conservancies are women. Aside from harmful gender norms such as early childhood marriages, female genital mutilation, and teenage pregnanci...

In this new episode, I'm chatting with Nashipae 'Nash' Orumoy, the Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). We talk through her upbringing in Ngong and Kajiado, her career path moving from banking & insurance into the conservation world, and what her typical workday looks like in her current role. We also dive into how AWF is building on Africa's p...

In this new Podcast, the first one of the year in 2025, I'm super delighted to be chatting with Jane Nashipae a former accountant who was married in the Maasai Mara and found her big passion for serving and leading her community in tree planting initiatives. Her Community-Based Organization, an extended arm of House in the Wild called Women in the Wild, is a 35-member CBO working to restore degrad...

In this Podcast, I'm talking with John Mwakima, a Community Leader whose passion for the carbon market was sparked by witnessing its transformative impact on his rural village, making him a fervent advocate for climate action and sustainable socio-economic empowerment. We talk more about John's Journey as a community leader, the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, its positive impact on the local comm...

In this episode, I'm talking with Grace Wanene, the Founder of Drawing Dreams Initiative, a Youth-led grassroots conservation organization focusing on menstrual health & hygiene education, teenage Mamas empowerment, and youth development. We talk through her upbringing and how her love for children and people grew from a young age, her Miss. Tourism pageant days, and how that shaped her path i...

Here is a short snippet of the episode dropping tomorrow featuring Grace Wanene, Founder of Drawing Dreams Initiative, a youth-led grassroots organization focussing on Menstrual Health & Hygiene Education, Teenage Mamas Empowerment, and Youth Development.  Stay tuned💚🎙️

It's #WorldSoilDay today, and we're chatting with the phenomenal Marete Selvin, a documentary producer and co-founder of Meraki Africa, a multimedia communication and production company dedicated to empowering action toward a more inclusive and sustainable world. We talk through her upbringing and storytelling career to the creation of The Allure of Soil, a campaign that celebrates the beauty and...

This incredible Podcast will be published next week on Thursday on World Soil Day. Stay tuned to learn the amazing Journey of Marete Selvin, her passion and journey in filmmaking and storytelling and her new found passion, soil, which she will be telling us more about. Stay tuned!!

In this podcast, I'm chatting with Blake Moynes, a Canadian whose big heart and passion for conservation are unmatched. We talk about what got him hooked on nature from an early age growing up, his most vivid memories with wildlife species, and what conservation means to him. We also dive into understanding the aim behind founding Save Our Species Alliance (The SOSA), its objectives, and the impac...

In this Podcast, I'm chatting with Amanda Dewey, COO, of Dazzle Africa. Amanda has over 12 years working in conservation and her gracious voice and experiences will make you fall in love with community projects that give you a purpose that is beyond what you can imagine. We talk about her upbringing and where her love for nature, community engagement, and sustainability stemmed from. We also d...

In this Podcast, I'm talking with Ms. Munira Anyonge Bashir, Kenya Country Director, The Nature Conservancy. We talk through her upbringing in Vihiga County and in Nairobi, her early recollections of enjoying nature and wildlife, and also her early career life working for the Kenya Wildlife Service. We also dive into her transition from Government to Non-Governmental Organization, the Nature C...

Hello Folks!! In this episode, I'm chatting with World Elephant Day founder, Patricia Sims. Patricia visited the Kenya and Maasai Mara for the first time. She is very passionate about elephants and has done extensive research work and awareness creation for the conservation of these majestic creatures. We talk through her beginnings, her work with dolphins before transitioning to elephants and...

In this Podcast, I'm talking with Joseph Tororey, the Production Manager at Savannah Tracking Ltd. We chat about his upbringing, his love and passion for design that got him to where he is at the moment, and his current role at Savannah Tracking and what that entails. We also dig into what sort of technological advancements they have made on collars touching on Sustainability innovation and the In...

In this new Podcast, I'm talking with Earth League International Founder and Executive Director, Andrea Crosta. A man who wears many hearts and is so passionate and knowledgable with matters of wildlife Crime, and with a proven track record as well. We dive into his early childhood and how he got himself involved in the world of Conservation, founding Earth League International, and what his role...

In this new Wildlife Works Sponsored Episode, I chat with Mwakima Joseph, Community Relations Officer at Wildlife Works. We talk through his childhood and upbringing, why he decided to join Wildlife Works at a young age, and all about his work in creating awareness while working hand in hand with the local communities in the Kasigau corridor. We also dig into what REDD+ projects are, Locational Ca...

In this Podcast, I'm talking with Shark Allies Founder and Executive Director Stefanie Brendl. We talk through how her passion for the ocean and sharks was developed, founding Shark allies and the impact they're making on the ground and some of the biggest threats facing sharks today. We also dive into the legislative and legal side of things, the 2010 Hawaii 2010 fin trade ban and it's knock on e...

The latest Mara Elephant Project-sponsored Boots on the Ground podcast episode features Holly Budge founder of World Female Ranger Week and the International not-for-profit How Many Elephants. Holly is a long-time friend of MEP and her passion for women on the frontlines of conservation is infectious. As Holly likes to say, conservation without funding is a conservation. Your continued support ena...