Nature Magic
89 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 months ago -A positive voice for nature, from Ireland.
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Episodes
Episode 33 Ramiro Crego is face to face with a wild puma
May 17, 2021 07:00 - 1 hour - 118 MBToday Mary is talking to Ramiro D. Crego. Ramiro is a conservation biologist from Argentina, living on the farm at Burren Nature Sanctuary with his wife Nora and their rescue cat, Alba and currently working remotely as a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, USA. Ramiro has been studying birds and mammals inhabiting semi-arid grasslands of Argentina and Kenya, and temperate forests in southern Chile. In his studies, Ramiro investigates how our human actio...
Episode 32 Janie Chodosh meets the Elephant Doctor of India
May 03, 2021 07:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBToday Mary is talking to Janie Chodosh, author of 'The Elephant Doctor of India'. She is an undergraduate at the University of Michigan and majored in biology, ecology, natural resources management, creative writing, and poetry. After college, she moved to Yosemite National Park where she worked as a naturalist and educator and learned to rock climb and backcountry ski. For her thesis as a graduate student in the University of Montana's environmental studies she traveled to a rural communi...
Episode 31 (Nature Educators No 5) Dr Claire Warden is mending the planet with golden glue
April 19, 2021 07:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBToday Mary is talking to Dr. Claire Warden. Claire is an advocate for outdoor learning. Among many achievemnts she is Founder of Living Classrooms, the International Association of Nature Pedagogy and the Mindstretchers Academy. Claire is also director of the wonderful Auchlone Nature Kindergarten in Scotland where children spend 80% of their day outside. She received the international award 'Exceptional Master Leader' for her work on the Floorbooks Approach and she has written many other e...
Episode 30 Warwick Schiller - What horses teach humans
April 05, 2021 07:00 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBToday Mary is speaking to Warwick Schiller. Warwick is a You tube superstar with over 20 million views of his horse training videos. Warwick moved from his home country of Australia in his 20s to the United States. He became NRHA Reserve World Champion representing Australia at the 2010 & 2018 World Equestrian Games. Warwick's ever-evolving training philosophy places the horse's mental well-being at the forefront of every interaction. He now spends his time helping people create deep and m...
Episode 29 (Nature Educators No 4) Professor David Sobel is otterly delightful
March 22, 2021 08:00 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MBToday Mary is talking to Professor David Sobel as a contributor to the nature educators series within Nature Magic. David is a Professor in the Education Department at Antioch University New England. He consults and speaks widely on child development and place-based education with schools, environmental organisations and the National Park Service in the US. He has authored eight books and more than 70 articles focused on children and nature for educators, parents, environmentalists and scho...
Professor Temple Grandin on the bovine mind
March 08, 2021 08:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBProfessor Temple Grandin is professor of Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. She is a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior, and an autism spokesperson. She is one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to document the insights she gained from her personal experience of a...
Episode 28 Professor Temple Grandin on the bovine mind
March 08, 2021 08:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBProfessor Temple Grandin is professor of Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. She is a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior, and an autism spokesperson. She is one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to document the insights she gained from her personal experience of a...
Episode 27 (Nature Educators No 3) Professor Jan White makes a mud kitchen
February 22, 2021 08:00 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBToday Mary is talking to Professor Jan White. Jan is a leading thinker and writer on outdoor play and advocate for nature-rich outdoor provision for services for children from birth to seven. She works as an early childhood consultant across the UK, Ireland and internationally Jan has over thirty-eight years’ experience in education and has developed a deep commitment to the consistently powerful effect of the outdoors on young children. With a childhood love of rocks and soil, leading to ...
Episode 26 Sy Montgomery has the soul of an Octopus
February 08, 2021 08:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBToday Mary is talking to New York Times bestselling author Sy Montgomery. Sy is a multi-award winning nature writer and author of 28 books including ‘The Soul of an Octopus- A surprising exploration into the wonder of consciousness.' It is a deeply touching and enlightening personal story Sy writes for adults and children, for print and broadcast, in America and overseas in an effort to reach as wide an audience as possible at what she considers a critical turning point in human history. “...
Episode 25 (Nature Educators No 2) Dr Paddy Madden speaks up for the woodlouse
January 25, 2021 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33 MBToday Mary is talking to Dr Paddy Madden. "How far we adults have retreated from childhood" Paddy worked as a primary school teacher for three decades before becoming a lecturer in SESE education. He presently works as a Heritage in School Specialist and delivers CPD courses. He constructed the first school wildlife garden in Ireland in 1984 on which his thrice printed book Go Wild at School is based. In 2010 he co-founded SEED, an organisation which seeks to promote school gardening on...
Episode 25 (Nature Educators No 2) Dr Paddy Madden speaks up for the woodlouse.
January 25, 2021 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33 MBToday Mary is talking to Dr Paddy Madden. "How far we adults have retreated from childhood" Paddy worked as a primary school teacher for three decades before becoming a lecturer in SESE education. He presently works as a Heritage in School Specialist and delivers CPD courses. He constructed the first school wildlife garden in Ireland in 1984 on which his thrice printed book Go Wild at School is based. In 2010 he co-founded SEED, an organisation which seeks to promote school gardening on...
Episode 24 (Nature Educators No 1) Michelle Lawton stretches the imagination.
January 11, 2021 08:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBWelcome to 2021 and a Happy New Year to our listeners! Today is the start of a series of Nature Magic podcasts talking to inspirational people who are dedicated to nature education. Today Mary is speaking to Michelle Lawton. Michelle founded Stretch the Imagination in 2002. Stretch is a program where children are free to explore and delve deeply into their experiences. Michelle has a passion for connecting children to the natural world and she started the Natural Classroom in 2010 bringin...
Episode 24 (Nature Educators No 1) Michelle Lawton stretches the imagination
January 11, 2021 08:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBWelcome to 2021 and a Happy New Year to our listeners! Today is the start of a series of Nature Magic podcasts talking to inspirational people who are dedicated to nature education. Today Mary is speaking to Michelle Lawton. Michelle founded Stretch the Imagination in 2002. Stretch is a program where children are free to explore and delve deeply into their experiences. Michelle has a passion for connecting children to the natural world and she started the Natural Classroom in 2010 bringin...
Episode 23 Mary Bermingham walks the fairy pig
December 21, 2020 12:25 - 8 minutes - 8.03 MBA quick round up for the year on the 2020 solstice. Thanks and gratitude to our guests, listeners and the community of Kinvara and a short reading from the book Nature Magic- A positive voice for nature from Ireland. Contact Mary Bermingham at [email protected] Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie Happy New Year!
Episode 22 Brigid Barry is farming for nature
December 07, 2020 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37 MBToday Mary is talking to Brigid Barry. Brigid coordinates Farming for Nature since its inception in 2018. This was set up to encourage and inspire farmers that farm or wish to farm more for nature. Prior to this initiative, she was the manager of the landscape charity Burrenbeo Trust for 9 years, biodiversity officer for Clare County Council and a project officer on numerous conservation projects abroad for the previous 10 years in the Amazon, West Africa and the Zoology Dept in Cambridge....
Episode 21 Melanie Croce is saving seals
November 23, 2020 01:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBToday I am speaking to Melanie Croce, Melanie is the executive Director of Seal Rescue Ireland. Seal Rescue Ireland (SRI) is a charity organisation that works around the clock to rescue, rehabilitate and release native seals found sick, injured or orphaned from across the coast of Ireland. Melanie studied environmental science at Virginia tech university and went on to do environmental consulting work on the BP Oil Spill Response on the Gulf Coast, before becoming an Animal Care and Educ...
Episode 20 Edward Dee speaks up for the badgers
November 09, 2020 20:53 - 39 minutes - 53.7 MBToday Mary is chatting to Edward Dee. This was the hardest interview to set up as Eddie was not keen to get in front of the microphone! Eddie is the phenomenal plantsman at Burren Nature Sanctuary. A truly passionate nature lover he has been planting a forest garden at his home for the last 33 years and in 2012 became the gardener at Burren Nature Sanctuary. Eddie has single handedly developed the collection of Burren Flora in the Burren Botany Bubble, which is now an important resource f...
Episode 19 Susan Kerwin builds a bat hospital
October 22, 2020 16:22 - 29 minutes - 67.3 MBToday Mary is chatting to the inspirational Susan Kerwin. Susan is a wildlife Rehabilitater based in County Limerick with a special focus on bats. She found her love for bats when suffering from insomnia after her cancer treatment. She is founder of Bat Rehabilitation Ireland and has just opened a fully dedicated bat hospital. Happy Halloween! Connect with Susan on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/Bat-Rehabilitation-Ireland-112126603812172/ Recomme...
Episode 18 Irene Graham and the magical Irish hare
October 05, 2020 15:53 - 28 minutes - 66 MBToday Mary is chatting to the super talented, Kinvara local, Irene Graham. Irene is a writer, story editor and photographer. From 1998 to 2008 she was a full-time photographer signed to Getty Images in NY, with an image speciality in portraits, nature and architecture. In 1991 she founded The Creative Writer’s Workshop, which has become an international success in fiction and memoir writing. Irene’s writing workshops and courses provide innovative writing techniques based on right-brain/left-...
Episode 17 Dr Jenny Lloyd-Strovas loves the horny toad!
September 21, 2020 10:55 - 24 minutes - 56.8 MBMary talks to Jenny Lloyd-Strovas about getting children off their devices and outside learning about nature. Dr. Jenny is a biologist, researcher and educator. Her passion is connecting people with nature so they become stewards of our natural resources. She does this by helping parents get their kids off screens, outdoors, and learning about nature in their own backyards while building STEM skills and confidence. Her program, Nature Matters Academy, embodies the moto “You love what you kn...
Episode 16 Raquel Noboa is allergic to single use items!
September 07, 2020 13:49 - 21 minutes - 49.2 MBToday Mary is chatting to Raquel Noboa from Fifty Shades Greener. Raquel has worked in the Hospitality industry for the past 23 years, working in hotels around the world since the age of 17. She knows the industry well, the challenges it faces and the mind-set barriers to greening a Hospitality business. Raquel started her own green journey at Hotel Doolin, in Ireland. She was working there as the Sales & Marketing Manager in 2012 when the Hotel decided to start a Green Hospitality programme...
Episode 15 Mary Bermingham on the Nature Magic book
August 24, 2020 08:00 - 19 minutes - 43.7 MBMary Bermingham, cofounder of Burren Nature Sanctuary and host of the podcast Nature Magic- A positive voice for nature from Ireland- talks to Simon Cocking of Irish Tech News about the new Burren Nature Sanctuary book-Nature Magic- How you can engage everyone with biodiversity. The kindle version was best seller on launch day in many categories on Amazon including Green Business and Botany. The print version is due out on Amazon on 1 September Contact Mary at [email protected] ...
Episode 14 Gordon Darcy asks us to treat the planet as a gift
August 10, 2020 10:00 - 19 minutes - 45.1 MBWe talk to Gordon about treating the planet as a gift, planting trees and his recent book The Breathing Burren. Gordon is a civil engineer but has spent most of his working life as a freelance environmental author, artist and educator. He has had 17 exhibitions featuring his nature artwork, has contributed to many magazines and has published 9 books: The Birds at Lough Beg, The Guide to the birds of Ireland, The Pocket guide to the birds of Ireland, The Pocket guide to the animals of Ireland...
Episode 13 Sean McCormack is jumping off his lawnmower!
July 27, 2020 08:00 - 21 minutes - 49.4 MBToday I am talking to Sean McCormack. Sean is a life long naturalist, a vet by profession and a self-confessed nature nerd. He studied Animal Science at Agricultural College in Essex followed by Veterinary Medicine as a graduate in Dublin at UCD. Having been involved in wildlife conservation in various volunteer capacities over the years, Sean set up his own local conservation organisation where he lives in West London, Ealing Wildlife Group. He regularly leads bat and bird walks, speaks on n...
Episode 12 Patrick McCormack on preparing the ground
July 13, 2020 08:00 - 35 minutes - 82.1 MBPatrick McCormack is an organic farmer from the Burren, Co Clare, in the West of Ireland. If you are lucky you can join one of his occasional guided walks and learn about the history, biodiversity and culture of this special landscape. Patrick is one of the strongest voices in Ireland speaking for nature and a return for sustainable land management. He also lives, with Cheryl his wife and family, in Father Ted's house! Recommended books So Shall We Reap By: Colin Tudge Arctic Dreams T...
Episode 11 Gonçalo Santos - in love with wild orchids
June 29, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 60 MBGonçalo Santos is a 27-year-old chemist and amateur botanist from Portugal. His passion for plants started in 2014 when he created a garden from wasteland around his apartment block. It now counts over 500 native species and is enjoyed by all his neighbours! He is living in Dublin since 2018 and since then has been recording Irish wildflowers. Recommended books A field guide to the Orchids of Europe and the Mediterranean By: Rolf Kuhn, Henrik Pedersen and Phillip Cribb Collins Wild Flower...
Episode 10 Catherine Farrell is accounting for conservation
June 16, 2020 07:32 - 46 minutes - 106 MBCatherine talks about the INCASE project, (Irish Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Environments) her love of bogs and her new novel The Easter Snow. Dr Catherine Farrell is an ecologist, specialising in restoration ecology and how to revive degraded natural systems. Catherine has worked on wetland and woodland systems across Ireland and internationally, with a particular focus on how to bring industrially used peatlands back to life. She is currently working as a research fellow in...
Episode 9 Laura Powers- lessons on lockdown
June 08, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 58.7 MBLaura talks about lessons from lockdown, being nice to spiders and the intelligence of plants. As well as being a nature lover, Laura is a celebrity psychic, a business coach, an author of 7 books, a chart topping podcaster, an actor, model, singer and a movie award judge! Laura invited me as a guest on to her health podcast ‘Healing Powers’ on the subject of the healing power of nature and then encouraged me, forcefully, to start this podcast! She was right of course! and it has been a very ...
Episode 8 Jane Stout on awesome ants, solitary bees and Ireland's Pollinator Plan
June 01, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 60.4 MBProfessor Jane Stout talks about her love for ants and solitary bees and her role in setting up the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. Jane is a professor in Botany in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. She leads the Plant-Animal Interactions research group and is Ireland’s leading expert on bees and pollination ecology. She is co-founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and deputy chair of its Steering Group, as well as co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of t...
Episode 8 Dr Jane Stout on awesome ants, solitary bees and Ireland's Pollinator Plan
June 01, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 60.4 MBProfessor Jane Stout talks about her love for ants and solitary bees and her role in setting up the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. Jane is a professor in Botany in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. She leads the Plant-Animal Interactions research group and is Ireland’s leading expert on bees and pollination ecology. She is co-founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and deputy chair of its Steering Group, as well as co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of t...
Episode 8 Jane Stout on awesome ants, solitary bees and Ireland's Pollinator Plan.
June 01, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 60.4 MBProfessor Jane Stout talks about her love for ants and solitary bees and her role in setting up the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. Jane is a professor in Botany in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. She leads the Plant-Animal Interactions research group and is Ireland’s leading expert on bees and pollination ecology. She is co-founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and deputy chair of its Steering Group, as well as co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of t...
Episode 8 Professor Jane Stout on awesome ants, solitary bees and Ireland's Pollinator Plan
June 01, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 60.4 MBProfessor Jane Stout talks about her love for ants and solitary bees and her role in setting up the All Ireland Pollinator Plan. Jane is a professor in Botany in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. She leads the Plant-Animal Interactions research group and is Ireland’s leading expert on bees and pollination ecology. She is co-founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and deputy chair of its Steering Group, as well as co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of t...
Episode 7 Eamon Ryan on snorkelling off Inishbofin and meeting poets in The Burren
May 25, 2020 08:00 - 23 minutes - 54.5 MBEamon talks about snorkelling and kayaking in Inishbofin, writers and poets that inspired him, finding nature along the River Dodder and connecting to the natural world in his allotment. Eamon served as Minister for Communications Energy and Natural Resources from 2007-2011 and since then has been the leader of the Green Party in Ireland. With the European Green Deal announced this week with a €20 billion a year budget it is even more important than ever that we have strong voices in Gover...
Episode 6 Pádraic Fogarty fights for whales and wolves
May 18, 2020 08:00 - 31 minutes - 71.1 MBPádraic talks about loving the Humpback Whale and the controversial concept of reintroducing Wolves to the Island of Ireland. Pádraic is an ecologist and also the Campaigns Officer with the Irish Wildlife Trust. The Trust aims to conserve wildlife and the habitats they depend on throughout Ireland while encouraging a greater understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the need to protect it. Pádraic is author of the successful nature book ‘Whittled Away – Ireland’s Vanishing...
Episode 5 Joshua Styles is the cure for plant blindness!
May 11, 2020 08:00 - 18 minutes - 42.7 MBJoshua talks about being ‘a plant obsessive’ and taking over his mother's back garden at an early age to grow wildflowers. Joshua is a 24 year old botanist with a BSc in Ecology and a passion for plants that is irresistible. His work since gaining his first-class degree in 2017 includes founding and coordinating the North West Rare plants initiative. The NWRPI is a conservation programme based in NW England, funded primarily by Chester Zoo and Lancashire Wildlife Trust that aims to reverse ...
Episode 4 Dr Noeleen Smyth- mad about Moss
May 04, 2020 08:00 - 20 minutes - 47 MBNoeleen talks about the tricks plants play, her love of moss and its importance in controlling flooding. She speaks about being deeply connected to the ancient spiritual landscape of Ireland, her efforts to conserve plant species and combat 'plant blindness.' She is currently Conservation Botanist at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin, where she is working on launching the new National Seed Bank for Irish native flora. She also continues her work in invasive species control...
Episode 3 Jonathan Porritt on loving the Lorax
April 27, 2020 17:16 - 21 minutes - 49 MBJonathan talks about his love for rainforests and Slime mould! He is an environmental activist, and has been fighting for nature since the 1970s. He was a prominent leader of the Green Party, formerly the Ecology Party, in the UK, and was the inspirational Director of Friends of the Earth until 1990. In 1996, he founded Forum for the Future, advising leading organisations in both the public and private sector on sustainability issues. He’s passionate about promoting solutions to today’s mult...
Episode 2 Costas Christ putting the eco back in the economy
April 20, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 55.1 MBCostas Christ talks about sea turtles, organic blueberry farming and how we need to reframe our relationship with nature. Learn more about ecotourism and contact Costas at https://www.beyondgreentravel.com/what-we-do Recommended books Urashim Taro, The Fisher Lad- audio https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/urashima-taro-the-fisher-lad/ The works of Ralph Waldo Emmerson Paul Theroux Robert Frost My Side of the Mountain By: Jean Craighead George Living The Good Life: How to Live Simply and...
Episode 1 Mary Reynolds on building an Ark
April 09, 2020 22:37 - 24 minutes - 57.5 MBMary Reynolds talks about meeting plant spirits in her childhood in rural Ireland, her inspiring project 'We Are The Ark', her magical book 'The Garden Awakens' and what we can do to help save the planet. Find contact details for Mary and information on ‘We are the Ark’ at http://marymary.ie Buy her book ‘The Garden Awakens’ – Designs to nurture ourselves and our land. https://bit.ly/2UKBMxa Recommended Books Doug W Tallamy Natures Best- A new approach to conservation that starts in your ya...