Life On The Brink

Mar 10 2022 13
Life On The Brink Podcast artwork

**Next episode Monday 23 March** What drives someone to track kiwis in the rain, chase lions up trees, or jump on dugongs? And with so many species out there, does it matter if a few of them go the way of the Dodo? Join Gabriel and Alex talking with incredible conservationists and asking them the big questions: Should we bother saving a population of 400 black cockatoos? Why do all your favourite moments from researching big cats always involve them trying to eat you? How are flightless kiwis so hard to catch?! Follow the journey behind-the-scenes @lifeonthebrinkpodcast on Instagram

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THE AUSTRALIAN MOUSE THAT BECAME "UN-EXTINCT" w/ evolutionary biologist Dr Emily Roycroft

Mar 10 2022 51 mins  
What a title hey? Apologies for this episode being a few days late, we're both still getting a handle on keeping this podcast running while now working full-time!  But enough of that, it's time for Episode 18! Our guest on this episode, Dr Emily Roycroft, was supposed to be studying the family tree of eight species of extinct Australian rodents. She then realised one wasn't ac

THE TINY TRUFFLE-LOVING MARSUPIAL w/ wildlife ecologist & educator Caitlin Weatherstone

Feb 21 2022 56 mins  
Season 2 is heerrreee!  Sorry for the delay! Gabe ended up getting and starting a new job since our last episode. So, to preserve what's left of his sanity, we thought it'd be best to push the start of our new episodes back by a week. But Episode #17 is worth the wait! We're bickering about bettongs with Caitlin Weatherstone. We talk about why the northern bettong is balancing

RETURN OF THE KIWI w/ adventurer & biodiversity ranger Denis Stojanovic

Feb 01 2022 28 mins  
Our final update episode before we start Season 2!   This Life On The Brink update features biodiversity ranger Denis Stojanovic and the Haast southern brown kiwi. The Haast population of southern brown kiwis is a unique group of kiwis that only numbers around 500. Denis has major updates for us on how the recent breeding season has gone for this tiny population of threat

MAJOR UPDATE ON OUR FAVOURITE AUSSIE SONGBIRDS w/ regent honeyeater ecologist & conservationist Dr Ross Crates

Jan 17 2022 30 mins  
Another update on one of our first-ever stories, and this one's a big one!!  Episode 15 of Life On The Brink features the regent honeyeater and Dr Ross Crates. While Alex was away, Ross patched in (on Christmas Eve - what a legend!!) to give Gabriel a rundown on what had happened since we last touched base. He mentioned some big news that was on the horizon for early 2022. Lis

I WONDER WHAT'S HAPPENED WITH THOSE COCKATOOS FROM EPISODE 1? w/ glossy black cockatoo ecologist and conservationist Dr Daniella Teixeira

Jan 03 2022 18 mins  
SURPRISE STORY UPDATE! Episode 14 of Life On The Brink features Dr Daniella Teixeira and the glossy black cockatoo (again!!) Daniella has been busy since we last talked to her in what turned out to be the first ever episode of Life On The Brink. Listen in to hear about new data showing how the 2019/20 bushfires impacted the very rare glossy black cockatoos of Kangaroo Island, the n

CATCHING CARBON TO SAVE LIONS w/ ecologist & Koobi founder Dr James Allan

Dec 06 2021 41 mins  
Lions #2 electric boogaloo you're carbon credits are due!  (Alex said we had to say that, sorry) It's Episode 13 of Life On The Brink, featuring LIONS. Didn't we already do lions? Yes we did... deal with it. But also this episode is very different from our first lion episode. Last time we focused on the tree-climbing lions of Uganda, this time we're focusing on the equally uni

THE SUPER SPEEDY SPERM OF NEW ZEALAND'S LIZARD THAT ISN'T ACTUALLY A LIZARD w/ tuatara reproduction biologist & PhD Candidate Sarah Lamar

Nov 22 2021 51 mins  
We're back in New Zealand for Episode 12 of Life On The Brink!!  And this time, it's all for the tuatara! Some call it a "living fossil", others say they have a mystical third eye, but what we do know is there are a lot less of them than there used to be. In the episode, we run the tuatara rumours past our guest PhD Candidate Sarah Lamar and ask her why she researched the spee

BONUS: Diversifying shark science

Nov 15 2021 15 mins  
This is our third ever bonus episode!!! Last week's episode introduced us to Deborah Santos de Azevedo the incredible great hammerhead researcher who works with stressed-out sharks. She also happens to be a member of Minorities in Shark Science (MISS) an awesome organisation looking to build diversity in marine research and support minorities in the field. So this episode focuses o

STRESSED-OUT HAMMERHEADS w/ shark researcher & marine biology student Deborah Santos de Azevedo

Nov 08 2021 50 mins  
What could possibly out a 6-metre hammerhead? Humans, of course. This is Episode 11 of Life On The Brink, and the third installment of our little four-part series on elasmobranchs, featuring the Great Hammerhead shark. In the episode we get into how to measure a shark's stress levels, what it's like breaking into the shark science field, and ask our guest Deborah  Santos de

BONUS: Tracking a manta ray down a highway

Nov 01 2021 12 mins  
It's our second ever bonus episode! Last week's full episode with manta biologist Asia Haines left a lot of cool stuff on the cutting room floor, including a story about when the organisation she works with (Project Manta) tracked a manta ray down a highway! She also talked through how absolutely anyone can help Project Manta discover more about manta rays through the power of bell