The Answers Are Out There Podcast

Hosted by Sean Gerrity

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Lively and inspiring conversations with creative innovators in conservation. Host Sean Gerrity interviews entrepreneurs around the world who have successfully led projects that support nature, wildlife, and people.

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15 recent

June 8, 2026Episode 229 min

Rewilding's Rising Wave of New Careers and Possibilities with James Shooter Part 2

James Shooter is a nature photographer, filmmaker, and podcaster based in Scotland’s beautiful Cairngorms National Park. Immersed in the world of rewilding, James focuses on telling hopeful environmental stories and showing how nature can recover when people work with it rather than against it.For a decade he's worked with the rewilding charity Scotland: The Big Picture as a visual storyteller and field guide. Recently, he and his family spent eighteen months traveling across Europe, visiting rewilding projects in eighteen countries and turning those experiences into the acclaimed The Rewild Podcast.In this conversation, James shares the surprising lessons he gathered from rewilders in places like Bulgaria, Sweden, and Croatia, and why he believes the future of rewilding around the world may be far more hopeful than most people realize.(Part 2 of 2)Learn More :The Rewild Podcast on Rewilding EuropeJames Shooter PhotographyMeander Scotland Magazine: A Conversation on the Lynx with James ShooterThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

May 22, 2026Episode 142 min

Rewilding's Rising Wave of New Careers and Possibilities with James Shooter Part 1

James Shooter is a nature photographer, filmmaker, and podcaster based in Scotland’s beautiful Cairngorms National Park. Immersed in the world of rewilding, James focuses on telling hopeful environmental stories and showing how nature can recover when people work with it rather than against it.For a decade he's worked with the rewilding charity Scotland: The Big Picture as a visual storyteller and field guide. Recently, he and his family spent eighteen months traveling across Europe, visiting rewilding projects in eighteen countries and turning those experiences into the acclaimed The Rewild Podcast.In this conversation, James shares the surprising lessons he gathered from rewilders in places like Bulgaria, Sweden, and Croatia, and why he believes the future of rewilding around the world may be far more hopeful than most people realize.(Part 1 of 2)Learn More :The Rewild Podcast on Rewilding EuropeJames Shooter PhotographyMeander Scotland Magazine: A Conversation on the Lynx with James ShooterThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

July 9, 2025Episode 1249 min

Celebrating America’s Newest Large-Scale Marine Sanctuary: Violet Sage Walker: Northern Chumash Tribal Leader.

Designated in December 2024, the new Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is America’s 17th national marine sanctuary, the sixth off the U.S. West Coast, and is one of the largest in the National Marine Sanctuary System. The success of the 20 year effort was due to tenacious leadership by numerous indigenous tribes, including a key leadership role taken by Violet Sage Walker, the tribal chair of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. The sanctuary encompasses 4,543 square miles of Central California’s beautiful coastal and ocean waters, providing protection to nationally significant natural, cultural, and historical resources while bringing new opportunities for research, community engagement, and education and outreach activities. The project is demonstrating a balanced effort to restore the extraordinary marine biodiversity--some of which has been lost only in the past 40 years or so---with benefits to people such as the local indigenous fishing industry that has witnessed precipitous declines in salmon populations in recent times.Learn More :Northern Chumash Tribal Council SiteInterviews/Talks with Violet Sage Walker:Women Mind the WaterOffshore Wind California SummitArticle from Park Stewardship ForumThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

September 3, 2024Episode 1121 min

Passing on Rewilding to the Next Generation: Frans Schepers Part 2

Frans and Sean talk further about the future of rewilding. Topics include what holistic rewidling will look like as the field matures, and also expanding rewilding efforts through engaging younger generations as effective leaders and changemakers in this exciting space.This episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

August 13, 2024Episode 1035 min

Ensuring the Ongoing Rewilding of Europe: Frans Schepers Part 1

Rewilding is a growing phenomenon around the world but getting a new project launched and keeping it going through the early phases can be exceedingly challenging. There is always seemingly too much to do and not enough resources to do it all. Frans Schepers, CEO of Rewilding Europe, talks about how he and his team assist rewilding entrepreneurs from all across Europe. They provide important tools and ongoing connection with others so that no rewilding project is ever alone and each one has the very best chances of success and longevity.Learn More About Rewilding Europe:Rewilding Europe's websiteFrans's Interview with the Gottlieb Duttweiler InstituteArticle on Bison Herds in the Southern CarpathiansThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

July 19, 2024Episode 957 min

A New Nature Reserve in Southern Scotland: Jenny Barlowe & Angela Williams

Using a unique community land ownership approach, the new Tarras Valley Nature Reserve project is creating a valued gift for future generations. Initiated just a few years ago, the reserve has grown from nothing to 10,500 acres, making it one of the largest protected areas for nature in Southern Scotland. Jenny, Angela, and their team, while focused primarily on habitat and wildlife restoration, also consistently include local school children in the unfolding of the reserve's many initiatives. Learn More About the Tarras Valley Nature ReserveThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

July 2, 2024Episode 836 min

Let The River Roll: Oshun O'Rourke: Yurok Tribe

The Klamath River 4-Dam Removal project is the largest such effort going on anywhere in the world. For decades advocates for letting the river run free to benefit salmon and all other associated riverine biodiversity assumed the corporate and government entities that had built and managed the dams were too powerful and closed off to the idea of removal. But in recent years certain conditions changed and the stars somehow aligned— just long enough— for more open discussions of possibility to take place. Six indigenous tribes, agencies, politicians and corporate interests engaged in dialogues that led to a decision and a plan to bring the dams down. By the end of 2024, this portion of the mighty Klamath River will flow freely once more.Learn More About the 4-Dam Removal Project:NPR: No turning back: The largest dam removal in U.S. history beginsAmerican Rivers: 6 Things You Need to Know About the Klamath River Dam RemovalsOregon Public Broadcasting: Researchers, tribes, residents prepare for a century of sediment released from the Klamath damsThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

June 21, 2024Episode 750 min

A One-Million Acre Vision. Orange River-Karoo Conservation Area: Andreia Pawel

In a reflective quest aimed to align her emerging interests with a vocation, Andreia Pawel tent-camped in the Southern Namibian Savana for three years. Then, one day she unexpectedly received the chance to start a new one-million acre wildlife reserve: The Orange River-Karoo Conservation Area. As CEO of this fast-moving project, she looks back on falling in love with a vast landscape and its wildlife inhabitants, and the rewards of watching a newly protected place begin to thrive once again.Learn More About Andreia Powel and ORKCA:ORCKA WebsiteTrailer VideoConservation Namibia Article: Investigating a Little Known Biodiversity HotspotThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

June 19, 2024Episode 627 min

Effective Science Storytelling: Part 2 of the Dominica Whale Project with Shane Gero

This episode picks up Sean's conversation with Shane Gero from last week. In addition to sperm whales, the two discuss new ways to teach and communicate science, using storytelling as a conservation tool, and how every single job can be done with purpose.Learn More About Shane Gero and the Dominica Whale ProjectTedEd Video on Whale Talk:How Advanced is Whale Talk? with Shane Gero and David GruberShane Gero: https://www.shanegero.comThe Sperm Whale Project: https://www.thespermwhaleproject.orgTalks by Shane:*Bioneers: Preserving Animal Cultures: Lessons from Whale Wisdom*TEDxOttawa: The Lost Culture of WhalesArticles:*New York Times: Scientists Find an 'Alphabet' in Whale SongsThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net

June 4, 2024Episode 545 min

A New Caribbean Wildlife Sanctuary: Dominica Whale Project with Shane Gero, Part 1

Shane Gero is a marine biologist and renowned expert in the acoustic complexity and social behaviors of marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. He is a Scientist-in-Residence at the Department of Biology at Carleton University in Canada. Importantly, he is also an activist and staunch advocate for providing meaningful sanctuary for these species in the world oceans. His most recent work in the Caribbean Ocean, centered around Dominica, included thousands of hours of field work and has played a role in finally establishing what will soon be the largest marine sanctuary ever created in the Caribbean and the world's first ever large protected area for Sperm Whales.-----Learn More About Shane Gero and the Dominica Whale Project* Watch this TEDEd Video first!How Advanced is Whale Talk? with Shane Gero and David GruberShane Gero: https://www.shanegero.comThe Sperm Whale Project: https://www.thespermwhaleproject.orgTalks by Shane:*Bioneers: Preserving Animal Cultures: Lessons from Whale Wisdom*TEDxOttawa: The Lost Culture of WhalesArticles:*New York Times: Scientists Find an 'Alphabet' in Whale SongsThis episode was produced by Chrissie Bodznick with music by Trace Ketterling.Learn more about The Answers Are Out There Podcast at www.theanswersareouttherepodcast.net or on instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates here. Email us at sean@theanswersareouttherepodcast.net