6 episodes
Wild in the City Wild in the City Podcast
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- Science
Wild in the City is a podcast created for all the people in urban cities who care deeply about the environment and are concerned by the rapid disappearance of their wild places. If you are looking to learn, make connections with like-minded citizens, and be inspired to have local impact, look no further. Wild in the City’s focus is on preserving and restoring tree canopy, streams, springs, wildlife, pollinators, habitat, biodiversity and nature preserves. You will be exposed to best practices from thriving urban cities around America who have successfully flipped the mindset on the cost of growth at the expense of our natural resources. Jim Newbury and Janet Wells bring you environmental changemakers who have demonstrated how the environment plays a critical role in the sustainability and resilience of urban cities. Featured guests will share how urban cities are waking up to the valuable role of nature in attracting new residents and sustaining equitable growth in their communities. Our focus is on making local impact as easy as possible, so each episode ends with actionable advice and levels of involvement that fit any bandwidth.
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Episode 6: Sally Bethea, Founding Chattahooche Riverkeeper and Author
Jim and Janet are joined by Sally Bethea, the retired founding director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. She served as executive director and riverkeeper for two decades and continues to assist Chattahoochee Riverkeeper as a senior advisor.
Sally is one of the first women in America to become a “riverkeeper”—a vocal defender of a specific waterway who holds polluters accountable. In her new book Keeping the Chattahoochee, she tells stories that range from joyous and funny to frustrating—even alarming—to illustrate what it takes to save an endangered river. Her tales are triggered by the regular walks she takes through a forest to the Chattahoochee over the course of a year, finding solace and kinship in nature.
Bethea also publishes a monthly column, Above the Waterline, in Atlanta Intown. She lives and writes in midtown Atlanta.
Purchase Sally’s new book “Keeping the Chattahoochee”: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820364322/keeping-the-chattahoochee/
Visit our Environment Sandy Springs website here: www.environment-sandysprings.org
Subscribe to our newsletter here: www.environment-sandysprings/newsletter
Email us your thoughts: info@environment-sandysprings.com
Hosts: Jim Newbury and Janet Wells
Guest: Sally Bethea
Producer: Tucker Wells
Theme Song: Jason Wells
Performed by: March Fourth Marching Band
Recording of owl hoots: Tom Herrmann -
Episode 5: Laura C. Martin, Wildflower Meadow Expert, Author and Artist
Jim and Janet are joined by Laura C. Martin, an accomplished writer and botanical illustrator. In addition to publishing 26 books on wildlife, gardening and crafts, she wrote a weekly gardening column for The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Laura worked for several years as gardening editor for both Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles Magazine and Georgia Magazine. Her latest book, released in 2021, is titled “A Naturalist’s Book of Wildflowers,” available on Amazon https://a.co/d/3rhw55n
She lives in Atlanta, and she joins the podcast to talk about her passion for native plants, and why native plants are so important to the home garden and the greater ecological community at large. She produces an online blog “Nature Based,” available at https://naturebasedblog.com/
Check out Environment Sandy Springs here: www.environment-sandysprings.org
Subscribe to our Wild in the City newsletter here: www.environment-sandysprings/newsletter
Email us your thoughts: info@environment-sandysprings.com
Hosts: Jim Newbury and Janet Wells
Guest: Laura C. Martin
Producer: Tucker Wells
Theme Song: Jason Wells
Performed by: March Fourth Marching Band
Recording of owl hoots: Tom Herrmann -
Episode 4: Doug Tallamy, Author and Co-Founder of Homegrown National Park
Doug Tallamy, co-founder of “Homegrown National Park,” joins the podcast to discuss how individuals can regenerate biodiversity in their own backyards. Doug shares insight into how the addition of native plant species, combined with the removal of invasive plants, can covert lawns into habitats that sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The man-made effects of climate change can be reversed by employing these techniques on an individual level, leading to the survival of our species as a whole.
Check out Environment Sandy Springs here: https://environment-sandysprings.org
Subscribe to our Wild in the City newsletter here: https://environment-sandysprings/newsletter
Email us your thoughts: info@environment-sandysprings.com
Hosts: Jim Newbury and Janet Wells
Guest: Doug Tallamy
Producer: Tucker Wells
Theme Song: Jason Wells
Recording of owl hoots: Tom Herrmann
Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 97 research publications and has taught insect-related courses for 40 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home, published by Timber Press in 2007, was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, the 2018 AHS B. Y. Morrison Communication Award, and the 2019 Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. -
Episode 3: Chris Mowry, Professor of Biology
Professor Chris Mowry digs into how climate change is the number 1 biggest threat to biodiversity and how we can create dialogue and get involved in change that will benefit us all. Chris is the professor of biology at Berry University in Georgia. He heads up the Atlanta Coyote Project.
Check out Environment Sandy Springs here: https://environment-sandysprings.org
Subscribe to our Wild in the City newsletter here: https://environment-sandysprings/newsletter
Email us your thoughts: info@environment-sandysprings.com
Hosts: Jim Newbury and Janet Wells
Guest: Chris Mowry
Producer: Tucker Wells
Theme Song: Jason Wells
Recording of owl hoots: Tom Herrmann -
Episode 2: Zach Wood, Georgia Grasslands Coordinator
Jim and Janet are joined by Zach Wood, Georgia Grasslands Coordinator and prescribed fire expert for the Southeastern Grasslands Institute, to discuss what grasslands are and why they are vital to the Southeastern environment. You will learn about their historical role, what prescribed burns do and the essential ecological services that these little-known ecosystems provide. Zach also outlines step-by-step how to restore utility easements and right-of-ways into productive ecosystems by starting with a pilot program.
Check out Environment Sandy Springs here: https://environment-sandysprings.org
Subscribe to our Wild in the City newsletter here: https://environment-sandysprings/newsletter
Email us your thoughts: info@environment-sandysprings.com
Hosts: Jim Newbury and Janet Wells
Guest: Zach Wood
Producer: Tucker Wells
Theme Song: Jason Wells
Recording of owl hoots: Tom Herrmann -
Episode 1: Bill Rees, Forester and Vegetation Management Expert
Bill talks about the difference between maintenance and management under utility lines and why a mindset change is needed to make these plots of land productive. Bill talks about how urban cities have an opportunity to create robust, diverse environmental areas under utility power lines and right of ways that are missing from many urban cities. He breaks down the difference between maintenance and management and how Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) has been proven to be a better and ultimately less expensive option. And Bill outlines step by step how to have local impact by starting with a pilot program.
Check out Environment Sandy Springs here: https://environment-sandysprings.org
Subscribe to our Wild in the City newsletter here: https://environment-sandysprings/newsletter
Email us your thoughts: info@environment-sandysprings.com
Hosts: Jim Newbury and Janet Wells
Guest: Bill Rees
Producer: Tucker Wells
Theme Song: Jason Wells
Recording of owl hoots: Tom Herrmann