The Wild Life – Details, episodes & analysis

Where there's smoke, there's fire. But when that fire tears through a landscape, what happens next? Today, we dive into the world of pyrophytic ecosystems—those that not only survive but thrive on fire. Our guide on today's journey is Ross Barreto, a master's student studying native plant population dynamics and spatial ecology. He's also an Urban Forester and likes to experiment with native plant propagation, seed production, and outplanting for restoration and horticulture purposes. We explore the role of fire in Florida's ecosystems, native plants, and the resilience of nature.

Follow Ross on Instagram @barross0505

Have questions, topic suggestions, or want to be on the show? Email me at [email protected] or dm me on Instagram or TikTok @devonthenatureguy

Support The Wild Life for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/thewildlife

Welcome to The Wild Life! On today's episode, we have a fascinating guest: wildlife cinematographer Jake Davis.

Jake’s career began by focusing on the wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Growing up, he spent his summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the Teton Range's jagged peaks and abundant wildlife fostered a deep love for nature and a desire to share and preserve it. Today, while Jake travels the globe to film the stories of vulnerable wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem remains his home.

As a cinematographer, Jake works on natural history productions for renowned platforms like BBC, National Geographic, Disney, Netflix, and Apple. Most recently, he spent five months filming snow leopards in Mongolia for the third installment of BBC's famous series "Planet Earth.” His recent work has been part of a series nominated for a 2023 Emmy and for Best Cinematography at the prestigious Jackson Wild Film Festival.

Jake’s work incorporates diverse filming techniques, including long lens, drone, and gimbals, but he is best known for his novel approach to filming wildlife with high-tech camera traps. He also created the world’s first collection of wildlife Ambrotypes, featuring images on glass plates. Among his accolades, Jake was a 2019 finalist in the renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition held by the London Natural History Museum, and his work has been displayed at the Smithsonian in the Exhibition of Nature's Best Photography. His nature greeting card line is sold in stores across the western United States, including REIs and the Yellowstone stores.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of understanding animal behavior and ecology to capture the perfect shot and effectively tell their stories. We explore the future and potential of artificial intelligence in wildlife filmmaking, the "chicken or the egg" question of wildlife cinematography, and the challenges of working off-grid. Jake shares his experiences with camera traps, the heart-wrenching decisions of the footage chopping block, and how to craft compelling narratives without words.

Join us for an in-depth conversation that highlights the blend of artistry and science required to bring the wild to our screens.

Check out his website and order some prints

Check out his gallery

Follow Jake on Instagram

Have questions, topic suggestions, or want to be on the show? Email me at [email protected] or dm me on Instagram or TikTok @devonthenatureguy

Support The Wild Life for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/thewildlife

This episode, which originally aired on March 24 2018, takes us all the way from Copenhagen to the rainforest of South America, from the belly of the beast to its excrement, as we explore nature’s Vampires.

Our guest is Dr Marie Lisandra Zepeda Mendoza, who had recently finished her postdoc in Copenhagen, Denmark and whose recently published research on vampire bats and how they survive on such a peculiar diet is at the center of this story.

If you'd like to support the creation of this show, the blog, and my science communication efforts on social media, you can do so for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/thewildlife

Follow all of the podcasts featured in this episode!

The Root of the Science

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RootofSciPod

Website/Podcast: https://rootofthesciencepodcast.buzzsprout.com/

Earth Ideas

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ideas_earth

Website/Podcast: https://lnk.bio/SnYr

Curiosity Cake

Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiosity_cake

Website/Podcast: https://curiositycake.co.uk/

Papa PhD

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PapaPhDPodcast

Website/Podcast: https://papaphd.com/

Mad Scientist

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadScientistPod

Website/Podcast: https://www.themadscientistpodcast.com/

Breaking Math

Twitter: https://twitter.com/breakingmathpod

Website/Podcast: https://breakingmathpodcast.app/

The Nagging Naturalist

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nag_naturalist

Website/Podcast: http://www.thenaggingnaturalist.com/

That's What I Call Science

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThatsScienceTAS

Website/Podcast: https://thatsscience.org/

mAcademia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mAcademiaP

Website/Podcast: https://anchor.fm/mAcademia

The Wild Life

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWildLifepod

Website/Podcast: https://thewildlife.blog/

What Are YOU Going to Do with THAT?

Twitter: https://twitter.com/What2doWithTHAT

Website/Podcast: https://linktr.ee/what2dowiththat

My 4 year old brought me my mic and asked if we could make a podcast episode. This is that episode!

Also know as the cigar shark for that one time a sailor mistook it for a cigar and only realized their mistake after trying to light it up—kidding of course— Isistius brasiliensis is shark of the family Dalatiidae. The genus name, Isistius, is based on Isis. No, not the terrorist group, but after Isis, the Egyptian goddess of light.

https://thewildlife.blog/2019/08/05/sunday-fish-sketch-the-cookiecutter-shark/

Support at patreon.com/thewildlife

Support our work at patreon.com/thewildlife

This past August as I sat below an old oak tree while drinking my morning cup of coffee and looking out on a glassy Lake Darling in Alexandria, Minnesota, something fell from the sky and landed at my feet. Small and curled up like a slightly puff green and yellow sour gummy worm. It’s face made it look like a Pokémon, or like one of those smiley face antenna toppers. Two hours later, another fell in the same exact spot. If I didn’t already know what it was, I would think it was a caterpillar of some sort.

Read more and see bonus visuals here: https://thewildlife.blog/2019/08/14/is-it-a-worm-is-it-a-wasp-no-its-the-elm-sawfly/

In the skies across Minnesota (and much of the eastern US and southeastern Canada, for that matter), roams a fierce and agile predator, capable of taking down prey you would never imagine—and some many wouldn’t dare to try at themselves.

Support us at patreon.com/thewildlife

Read the transcript of this episode, see some art, and awesome videos at https://thewildlife.blog/2019/07/11/the-dragonhunter/