Wild Life Journeys

Episode 25 Sony Alpha Partner for Latin America, Wildlife Photographer, Biologist, and Herpetologist Sebastian di Domenico

Join us as Sebastian tells us how he went from a child playing with with anoles to a professional wildlife photographer and biologist photographing Universidad de los Andean bears! Sebastian started off studying biology at Universidad de los Andes hoping to become a medical researcher before he found his passion for wildlife. Sebastian went on to work for Tropical Herping in Ecuador where he mastered his photography skills along with some help from youtube! Sebastian has also taken some award winning wildlife photographs, like his picture of a Toucan eating a bat!

Episode 24 Phd Candidate Fabian Salgado: The Evolution of spider color polymorphism, and Field work in The Andes and Amazon!

Join us as Fabian shares his journey through the field of evolutionary biology! Fabian first became interested in science through physics before finding a love for biology. Fabian perused a Biology Degree at Universidad del Tolima in Colombia where he first found a passion for research through spiders! He then went on to pursue a Masters degree in Biology at Universidad de los Andes where he further advanced his understanding of the evolution of color in invertebrates. Currently Fabian is finishing up a Doctoral degree in Biology at the University of Melbourne. Fabian shares with us the trials and tribulations of doing field work in remote areas while being reliant on public transport, plus the benefits of studying arachnids! Want to know more!? Check out the link below! https://fcsalgado.github.io/ [https://fcsalgado.github.io/]

Episode 23 Research Technician and Phd. Student Nick Friedeman: Wildlife Disease, Ophidiomycosis, and The Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study!

Nick Friedeman is a Phd. Student at the University of Georgia studying wildlife disease in muskrats in the south eastern United States. Nick started off with a early interest in wildlife growing up in Kansas, before venturing into the world of disease through high school biology. Nick attended the university of Nebraska to pursue duel degrees in Conservation Biology and Micro Biology. Nick got his start in research with foxes in Nebraska before moving to Fort Wayne Indiana to pursue a Masters of Biology degree studying the environmental aspects of snake fungal disease (Ophidiomycosis) in eastern massasauga  rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) habitat. Join us to hear Nicks whole story!

Episode 22 Hunter Smith: Turtles, Snakes, Hellbenders and Detection Dogs!

Hunter Smith is a Masters student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Join us as Hunter tells us how he first became interested wildlife and ecology through the Envirothon program in high school. Hunter shares how studying political science, policy and environmental law in undergrad led to a deeper interest in wildlife and environmental science. We discuss Hunter's early days working as a herpetology technician and how that eventually led to a masters position studying detection dogs for finding turtles!

Episode 21 Phd. Student Graham Montague: Fisheries Managment, Low Frequency Electrofishing, and Acoustic Telemetry

Graham Montague is a Phd. Student at the University of Vermont studying Atlantic Salmon in Lake Champlain! Graham shares his journey with us from his early days in Ohio growing up along the Cuyahoga Valley National Park looking for snakes to perusing biology at Baldwin Wallace University. Graham went on to get a masters degree from Oklahoma State University. Graham has worked a plethora of fisheries and field technician positions all over the U.S. gaining a wealth of experience. He teaches us all about the technical side of electrofishing, fish tracking, and fisheries management! Check out Graham on YouTube: @grahammontague   Checkout the links below to learn more about the research from this episode! Flathead Catfish sampling: https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nafm.10819 [https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nafm.10819] Blue Catfish surfacing thresholds: https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/nafm.10882 [https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/nafm.10882] Bowfishing: https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nafm.10904?casa_token=aveXE-ghE1YAAAAA%3A9W920hRVunM80dJgSv3soYKlzsiXRPNyMOFvM69tINdWp-H6yvQkTRvLDWLqqAFQMyOvQU-lWp9RW-tk [https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nafm.10904?casa_token=aveXE-ghE1YAAAAA%3A9W920hRVunM80dJgSv3soYKlzsiXRPNyMOFvM69tINdWp-H6yvQkTRvLDWLqqAFQMyOvQU-lWp9RW-tk]