Fancy Scientist with Dr. Stephanie Manka

George Gehrig subscribes to the Fancy Scientist and responded to an email of mine asking about the impact of iNaturalist data on science. I thought that sounded like a great topic to discuss, and whe…

I became a wildlife biologist because I wanted to save species from extinction. But I’ve learned over my nearly two decades in this field, that we really can’t save species without focusing on oursel…

Last week I talked about how you can make your front and backyard wildlife-friendly, and this week, I’m talking specifically about mammals! Lots of people want to welcome mammals into their yards, bu…

When most people think of conservation, they tend to think of faraway animals like tigers, elephants, and jaguars, or faraway places like the Amazon rainforest, Serengeti plains, or Yellowstone Natio…

The inspiration for all of my writing and videos stems from animals. So often people want to become a wildlife biologist because they want to help animals. They envision themselves conducting importa…

This week I talked to Dr. Mark “Merriweather” Vorderbruggen about foraging for your own food. I’ve blogged and podcasted before about having a more sustainable diet, but foraging is not something tha…

In today’s podcast, I talk to academic Coach Dr. Katy Peplin of Thrive Ph.D. Katy founded Thrive PhD in 2017, where she started out coaching acquaintances to now having a thriving business with clien…

In this podcast, I interview PJ Beaven, a zookeeper for over 15 years. PJ created a program called ZooFit where she incorporates health and fitness with conservation. 

First PJ and I talk about what i…

I invited my friend and colleague Rebecca Mowry for a conversation about her job as a big game wildlife biologist on my podcast. Rebecca is the Bitterroot area Wildlife Biologist for Montana Fish, Wi…

My colleague and friend, Dr. Mike Cove reached out to me to have a discussion about something he had been thinking about for some time: how mammals of the past impact mammals today. He was especially…

This episode is a must listen-to for anyone who wants to go into wildlife or conservation careers. I interview Dr. Nick Askew, founder of Conservation Careers, an organization dedicated to helping st…

Communication is huge in conservation and wildlife biology careers. People tend to only think of the species, ecosystems, or research that scientists work on, but this research is always communicated…

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a Facebook Live entitled, “Are You Too Old for a Career in Wildlife Biology? When I advertised for this event on my social media, I got quite a few comments. 

One of th…

This podcast features a fantastic interview with science filmmaker Rob Nelson. Rob is a friend of mine and we both appear together on the Science Channel’s What on Earth. He transitioned from researc…

This podcast features an amazing interview with scientist and founder of Nova Conservation: Laura Marsh. Nova Conservation is a brand new organization dedicated to connecting scientists and non-profe…

In this episode of the Fancy Scientist podcast, I interview scientist and blogger Charlotte Hacker. Charlotte is a Ph.D. candidate who uses non-invasive genetics through scat (poop) to study snow leo…

This podcast features an amazing interview with conservationist and founder of Lonely Conservationists: Jessie Panazzolo. Jessie is a conserves conservationists; in other words, she works to save tho…

In this podcast, I really wanted to talk about self-care for scientists because we are so bad at it! I wanted to talk about because we are still experiencing the pandemic, which limits what we can do…

Today’s episode was inspired by some people that started trolling me on Twitter and provides valuable lessons for conservation (and dealing with trolls). 

Palm oil, an ingredient in tons of food, cosm…

t’s getting close to the end of the year. In normal years, this is a time when everyone says their accomplishments. In which case, if you didn’t feel like you did that much or didn’t meet your goals,…