Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant shares her personal odyssey as a wildlife ecologist, conservation biologist and co-host of the famed TV nature show “Wild Kingdom.” As a scientist dedicated to

Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant shares her personal odyssey as a wildlife ecologist, conservation biologist and co-host of the famed TV nature show “Wild Kingdom.” As a scientist dedicated to protecting and conserving the diversity of the web of life, she reminds us that, as human beings, we are part of nature. It’s all connected, and it’s high time to bring about peaceful coexistence, not only with nature, but with one another.


Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D., is a wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist, creator of the award-winning podcast “Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant,” co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom,” and author of “Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World (https://zandoprojects.com/books/wildlife/) .”
Resources


Rae Wynn-Grant – Wild Life: How Personal Journeys are Essential to Sustainable Leadership in Environmental Science (https://bioneers.org/rae-wynn-grant-wild-life-personal-journeys-essential-sustainable-leadership-environmental-science-zstf2404/)  | Bioneers 2024 Keynote


Rae Wynn-Grant – Becoming a Wildlife Ecologist in a Rugged World (https://bioneers.org/test-rwg-excerpt-ze0z2404/)  | Excerpt from “Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World”
Credits



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Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel


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Written by: Leo Hornak and Kenny Ausubel


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Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch


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Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris


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Producer: Teo Grossman


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Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey


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Production Assistance: Leo Hornak and Monica Lopez







This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage (https://bioneers.org/bioneers-radio/)  to learn more.Saving Nature Means Saving Ourselves | Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant

As an artist, Austin Picinich, 19, believes art can be far more than something nice to look at. When combined with a community-focused purpose, art can have a much larger impact and inspire others

As an artist, Austin Picinich, 19, believes art can be far more than something nice to look at. When combined with a community-focused purpose, art can have a much larger impact and inspire others to make a difference. In 2021, Picinich created Save Our Salmon through Art (SOS), a nonprofit that creates public arts projects that educate, engage, and empower communities to be better stewards of local salmon-spawning streams. Many of Seattle’s urban streams are hidden under culverts, flowing below paved roads, which prevents salmon from returning to their natal streams to lay eggs. Picinich’s campaign was inspired in part by Juanita Creek, a stream less than a minute from his home where only three salmon return to spawn in 2021.

As part of this work, Picinich hosts interactive mural painting events. He designs, outlines, and color-codes salmon-themed murals onto blank walls. Then, during “SOS Community Days,” volunteers work with attendees, who each get their brush and cup of paint, to complete a mural. So far, Picinich has led nearly 750 volunteer painters in the Greater Seattle area. The events have had more than 3,000 attendees and raised more than $28,000 for stream restoration. In all, SOS has reached about 980,000 people through its awareness efforts.

Calling someone an “animal” means they’re less than human – not worthy of respect, rights, or even of life itself. But in truth -- and in biological fact -- human beings

Calling someone an “animal” means they’re less than human – not worthy of respect, rights, or even of life itself. But in truth -- and in biological fact -- human beings ARE animals. Scientists continue to find that intelligence and what we call “consciousness” appear to saturate all of nature. Clearly it’s high time to think differently about just what it means to be an animal. Can we know what it’s like to be other-than-human? How can we see into the minds of animals? Visionary naturalist, author and conservationist Carl Safina says that the first step is paying attention and observing. And, he suggests, if we had humility, we’d have everything.

Nate Liebenberg, the co-founder of