PAN Thinks

PAN Works
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Society & Culture

If you like smart, humane conversations that don’t dodge difficult issues, PAN Thinks is for you. We unpack the ideas and arguments behind today’s hardest animal issues with careful reasoning, compassion, expert insight, and practical takeaways. Integrating ethics with science and policy, we explore "how we ought to live" in a more than human world where animals matter. Expect lively conversations that challenges conventional wisdom and gives you fresh insight into the place of animals in our lives. PAN Thinks is a production of PAN Works, a centre for ethics, science and policy dedicated to animal wellbeing.

  1. 23h ago

    The North American Model of Conservation: A Political Quagmire of Language and Ethics

    The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM) is a set of seven principles that proponents claim when collectively applied has led to the successes of wildlife conservation and management in the United States and Canada. Originally described as a historical account in the 1990’s by Valerius Geist, it soon thereafter gained wide acceptance as a prescriptive methodology for wildlife managers and government agencies responsible for sustaining game and furbearing populations. Over the last fifty years, as threats to wildlife and ecosystems increased, critics of NAM have grown, arguing that it conceptually limits wildlife agencies’ conservation approaches and largely neglects non-game species. Traditional hunters and trappers, however, have resisted vigorously any changes to NAM. Consequently, policymakers are paralyzed, caught in a “political quagmire.” Fred Koontz, a former WA state Wildlife Commissioner, will discuss how addressing differences in purpose, expressed through language and wildlife values, is a key to improving NAM and wildlife management. HOSTS & GUESTS Fred Koontz, PhD is Fellow Emeritus at PAN Works. https://panworks.io/team/name/fred-koontz/ William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 24 January 2024. Episode art by Lambert, Alexander, 1861-1939., [1905, September 12]. Abernethy holding wolf by jaw. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275213 RESOURCES Eichler, L., & Baumeister, D. (2018). Hunting for Justice: An Indigenous Critique of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Environment and Society: Advances in Research, 9, 75–90. https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2018.090106 Geist, V. (2006). The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: A Means of Creating Wealth and Protecting Public Health While Generating Biodiversity. In D. Lavigne (Ed.), Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability (pp. 285-294). University of Limerick Press. Nelson, M. P., Vucetich, J. A., Paquet, P. C., & Bump, J. K. (2011). An Inadequate Construct: North American model: what’s flawed, what’s missing, what’s needed. The Wildlife Professional, 5(Summer), 58–60. ⎯ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 📌 Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@panworks 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

    The North American Model of Conservation: A Political Quagmire of Language and Ethics

  2. Jul 18

    Impacts of Human Population Pressures on Animals

    Human expansionism — both through the growth in our consumption and population — is the leading driver of cascading ecological and social crises. Animal exploitation, in the form of accelerating rates of species extinction, diminishment of wildlife populations, and rapid growth of factory farms, tracks with the growth of the human footprint. However, there is widespread dismissal of the role of population in these crises among journalists, academics, environmental organizations, and policymakers. In this talk, Nandita will discuss the factors behind the silencing of this discourse, namely the growth-biased socio-economic systems, past population policies, pronatalism, and human supremacy. She will explain the harmful implications of population denial on the most vulnerable people, nonhumans, and ecosystems, how the powerful institutions of the state, the church, the military, and the economy perpetuate and benefit from this denial, and why we must urgently move past it. HOSTS & GUESTS Nandita Bajaj, MEd, is the Executive Director of Population Balance. Population Balance is a US nonprofit that works to inspire narrative, behavioural, and system change that shrinks our human impact and elevates the rights and wellbeing of people, animals, and the planet. https://www.populationbalance.org/ William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 3 October 2024. Episode art by Michael Starkie on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-monkey-sitting-on-top-of-a-brick-wall-next-to-a-building-dGeQmCNsrsg FROM THIS EPISODE Catton, W. R. (1982). Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. University of Chicago Press. Cafaro, P., & Crist, E. (2012). Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation. University of Georgia Press. Carroll, L. (2012). The Baby Matrix. LiveTrue Books. Crist, E. (2019). Abundant Earth: Toward an Ecological Civilization. University of Georgia Press. Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. New Society Publishers. ⎯ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 📌 Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@panworks 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

    Impacts of Human Population Pressures on Animals

  3. Jul 1

    One Health Ethics: Part 4— The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Project

    The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program was founded at the Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle, WA, USA) in 1996. It began as the first wild study of the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea and grew into a community conservation, development, and health effort. It now protects roughly 180,000 acres of cloud forest in the YUS Conservation Area while supporting the 15,000-plus people who live there. Framed in terms of the ethics and science of one health, the program recognizes that people depend directly on the forest, so human, animal, and environmental health are inseparable. This series on One Health Ethics is co-hosted with the Society for Conservation Biology North America. https://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/event/policy-ethics-webinar-historical-and-practical-considerations-for-one-health-projects/ HOSTS & GUESTS Lisa Dabek, PhD, is Senior Conservation Scientist at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo and is the Founder and Senior Director of the community-based Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Rob Liddell, MD is a physician at University of Washington’s Center for One Health Research, and affiliate associate professor in theDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health. William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 24 June 2026. Episode art by Alex Gisby on UnSplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-tree-dwelling-kangaroo-rests-on-a-branch-lOOQ9z2IZjk FROM THIS EPISODE Dabek, L., Valentine, P., Blessington, J., & Schwartz, K. R. (Eds.). (2020). Tree kangaroos: Science and conservation. Academic Press. Liddell, R. M., & Transue, E. R. (2020). Using a one health model: Healthy village healthy forest. In L. Dabek, P. Valentine, J. Blessington, & K. R. Schwartz (Eds.), Tree kangaroos: Science and conservation. Academic Press. Liddell, R. M., Transue, E. R., … Dabek, L. (2020). Creating the first conservation area in Papua New Guinea to protect tree kangaroos. In L. Dabek, P. Valentine, J. Blessington, & K. R. Schwartz (Eds.), Tree kangaroos: Science and conservation. Academic Press. ⎯ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 📌 Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@panworks 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

    One Health Ethics: Part 4— The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Project

  4. Jun 26

    One Health Ethics: Part 3—Mountain Gorilla Conservation

    Through her work in conservation and One Health, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has seen how protecting endangered mountain gorillas around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park goes hand in hand with improving the health and wellbeing of the human communities who share their habitat. She reflects on more than 20 years of experience applying the One Health approach in conservation and why it is increasingly important for addressing global challenges. This series on One Health Ethics is co-hosted with the Society for Conservation Biology North America. https://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/event/policy-ethics-webinar-historical-and-practical-considerations-for-one-health-projects/ HOSTS & GUESTS Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is a veterinarian, as well as founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH)—an award-winning NGO and non-profit that protects endangered gorillas and other wildlife through One Health approaches. A graduate of the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, she established Uganda Wildlife Authority’s first veterinary department in 1996. Founder of Gorilla Conservation Coffee in 2015, she became a National Geographic Explorer in 2017, and won the Sierra Club EarthCare Award in 2018. In 2021, she won the UNEP Champion of the Earth Award in Science and Innovation and the Aldo Leopold Award from the American Society of Mammalogists. In 2023, her memoir “Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet” was published. William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 8 April 2026. Episode art by William Phillips on UnSplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/black-gorilla-in-forest-during-daytime-i-v5vAQoYzc FROM THIS EPISODE Kalema-Zikusoka, G. (2023). Walking with gorillas: The journey of an African wildlife vet. Arcade Publishing. Kalema-Zikusoka, G., & Gaffikin, L. (2008, October). Sharing the forest, protecting gorillas and helping families in Uganda. FOCUS, 17. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars & USAID. Osofsky, S. A., Kock, R. A., Kock, M. D., Kalema-Zikusoka, G., Grahn, R., Leyland, T., & Karesh, W. B. (2005). Building support for protected areas using a one health perspective. In J. A. McNeely (Ed.), Friends for life: New partners in support of protected areas. IUCN, Species Survival Commission. ⎯ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 📌 Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@panworks 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

  5. Jun 20

    One Health Ethics and Conservation: Part 2— Historical and Practical Considerations

    Over the last two decades One Health has gained prominence as a program paradigm among wildlife conservation practitioners. There is more than one definition of One Health but they share the starting point that humans, animals and the environment are an interdependent system. One Health has benefited from the development of other integrated health approaches such as Conservation Medicine, Ecosystem Health and Ecohealth. Dr. Koontz shares the characteristics and ethical values from these alternative approaches. This series on One Health Ethics is co-hosted with the Society for Conservation Biology North America and its Policy Committee. https://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/event/policy-ethics-webinar-historical-and-practical-considerations-for-one-health-projects/ HOSTS & GUESTS Fred Koontz, PhD, is Emeritus Fellow at PAN Works, a member of the Policy Committee of the SCBNA, and former Vice-President of Field Conservation, Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle, WA). https://panworks.io/team/name/fred-koontz/ William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 25 March 2026. Episode art by Elena Mozhvilo on UnSplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-watercolor-painting-of-the-earth-in-space-eA32JIBsSu8 FROM THIS EPISODE Koontz, F. W., & Daszak, P. (2005). Sprawl and disease. In E. Johnson & M. Klemens (Eds.), Nature in Fragments: The Legacy of Sprawl (pp. 144-154). Koontz, F. Wildlife Management 2.0: A Revolution in the Making. PAN Works. https://panworks.medium.com/wildlife-management-2-0-a-revolution-in-the-making-8bbf6ca20c88 Lindenmayer, J. M., Kaufman, G. E., Baker, L., Coglan, S., Koontz, F., Nieuwland, J., Stewart, K. L., & Lynn, W. S. (2022). One health ethics:“What then must we do?”. CABI One Health, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1079/cabionehealth.2022.0011 ⎯ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 📌 Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@panworks 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

  6. Jun 13

    One Health Ethics and Conservation: Part 1—One Health 101

    The term “One Health” explicitly recognizes that the health and wellbeing of people, other animals, and nature are interdependent. While the goal of One Health is optimal health for all, in practice it almost always privileges people at the expense of animals and nature. This presentation will set the stage for considering how we might incorporate ethics more explicitly into conservation through One Health principles. This series on One Health Ethics is co-hosted with the Society for Conservation Biology North America and its Policy Committee. https://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/event/policy-ethics-webinar-one-health-101-basics-of-a-one-health-approach-to-conservation/ HOSTS & GUESTS Joann Lindemeyer, DVM, MPH, is a Fellow at PAN Works, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine. https://panworks.io/team/name/joann-lindenmayer/ William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 11 March 2026. Episode art by Rohit Varma on UnSplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-group-of-elephants-playing-KB4M14SbvXA Episode art by Elena Mozhvilo on UnSplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/blue-green-and-yellow-abstract-painting-znhEe1cbbQE FROM THIS EPISODE Lindenmayer, J. M., Kaufman, G. E., Baker, L., Coglan, S., Koontz, F., Nieuwland, J., Stewart, K. L., & Lynn, W. S. (2022). One health ethics:“What then must we do?”. CABI One Health, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1079/cabionehealth.2022.0011 Lindenmayer, J. M., & Kaufman, G. E. (2021). One Health and One Welfare. In One Welfare in Practice (pp. 1-30). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003218333-1 ⎯ 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 📌 Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@panworks 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

    One Health Ethics and Conservation: Part 1—One Health 101

  7. Jun 6

    What It Means to Know an Animal

    An elephant pauses at a crossroads. Her trunk rises, testing the air. She weighs memory, social awareness, the quality of the wind — then commits to a path. What does she know? And what follows, for science and for ethics, if we take that question seriously? In this talk, Liv Baker shows that animals are knowers — beings with rich, embodied, relational knowledge of their worlds — and that this singular recognition, pursued with rigor and honesty, unsettles much of what we think we know about animal wellbeing, autonomy, and what it even means to study animal lives. Drawing on her research with elephants and a framework she calls Spheres of Wellbeing, Baker makes the case that taking animal inner lives seriously is not simply a methodological adjustment. It is a commitment — to treating animals as subjects rather than objects, in how we ask our questions, design our studies, and decide what we are and are not willing to do in the name of knowledge. HOSTS & GUESTS Dr. Liv Baker, PhD, is a conservation behaviourist, and a founder of the emergent field of compassionate conservation. She is Fellow and Chair of the Board at PAN Works, Research Director for Mahouts Elephant Foundation, and honorary adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, where she earned her PhD in Animal Welfare Science and Applied Animal Biology. https://panworks.io/team/name/liv-baker/ William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is President and founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 28 May 2026. Episode art by Rohit Varma on UnSplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-group-of-elephants-playing-KB4M14SbvXA FROM THIS EPISODE Baker, L. (2025). Should (and Can) Declarations on Animal Consciousness Go Further? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY_fw6pmJCE Baker, L., King, B. J., & Lynn, W. S. (2024). Rethinking Animal Consciousness Research to Prioritize Well-Being. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180124000501 Baker, L., Pauketat, J., Blaine, S., Greer, C., Howansky, K., Massiot, E., Maarschalkerweerd, M. V., & Winkler, R. (2025). Autonomy: An Indicator of Wellbeing in Rewilded Asian Elephants Connected to Karen Communities in Thailand. Society & Animals, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10252 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

    What It Means to Know an Animal

  8. May 23

    Wellbeing and Animal Lives: Part 2

    How does the concept of wellbeing inform animal lives? Wellbeing incorporates and yet extends previous ideas of animal welfare. It envisions in both a scientific and ethical sense how people should think and act so animals have lives that are worth living. A core concept and commitment of PAN Works, Liv Baker’s articulation of wellbeing deepens our understanding of what it means and signifies for wild and domesticated animals alike. This is Part 2 of 2 episodes. HOSTS & GUESTS Dr. Liv Baker, PhD, is a conservation behaviorist, and a founder of the emergent field of compassionate conservation. She is a Fellow and Chair of the Board at PAN Works, Research Director for Mahouts Elephant Foundation, and honorary adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, where she earned her PhD in Animal Welfare Science and Applied Animal Biology. https://panworks.io/team/name/liv-baker/ William S. Lynn, PhD (Bill) is the founder of PAN Works and host of the PAN Thinks podcast. https://panworks.io/team/name/william-lynn/ Production is by Gary Sheer. https://garysheerphotography.com/ Recorded on 6 December 2023. Episode art by Pawel Borkowski on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/two-elephants-near-trees-XWTNFVCTS8E FROM THIS EPISODE Baker, L., & Winkler, B. (2020). Rewilding and mixed-community collaboration in conservation. Animal Sentience, 28(21). https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/animsent/vol5/iss28/21/ Kopnina, H., & Baker, L. (2023). Conservation, Animal Wellbeing, and Indigenous Participation at an Elephant Sanctuary in Mondulkiri, Cambodia. Society & Animals, 1(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1163-15685306-bja10126 Lynn, W. S., Baker, L., Santiago-Ávila, F. J., & Stewart, K. L. (2023). Ethics, Wellbeing and Wild Lives. In A. H. Fine, M. Mueller, Z. Ng, J. M. Peralta, & A. Beck (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook on Human-Animal Interactions, Interventions and Anthrozoology (pp. 438-452). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032153346-30 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-thinks/id1870689174 ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@panworksio 🌐 Learn More: https://panworks.io/ 🐾 Support: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-for-animal-wellbeing

See All (13)

About

If you like smart, humane conversations that don’t dodge difficult issues, PAN Thinks is for you. We unpack the ideas and arguments behind today’s hardest animal issues with careful reasoning, compassion, expert insight, and practical takeaways. Integrating ethics with science and policy, we explore "how we ought to live" in a more than human world where animals matter. Expect lively conversations that challenges conventional wisdom and gives you fresh insight into the place of animals in our lives. PAN Thinks is a production of PAN Works, a centre for ethics, science and policy dedicated to animal wellbeing.

Information

  • Creator
    PAN Works
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © PAN Works 2026
  • Show Website
    PAN Thinks