Stel Bailey: Florida's own Erin Brockovich-style citizen scientist documents manatee deaths and water quality

The Nature of Florida with Oscar Corral

#Science #Environment #Oscar Corral

46:55

The War and Treaty’s Michael and Tanya Trotter grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington, DC, respectively, but both have family roots in the South. They also grew up in the musical traditions of their churches – Tanya in the Black Baptist Church and Michael in the Seventh Day Adventist Church – where they learned the power of song to move people. After becoming a father at a very young age, Michael eventually joined the armed forces and served in Iraq and Germany, where he took up songwriting as a way of dealing with his experiences there. Meanwhile Tanya embarked on a singing and acting career after a breakthrough appearance in Sister Act 2 alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Lauryn Hill. Now, after a long and sometimes traumatic journey, Michael and Tanya are married, touring, winning all sorts of awards, and set to release their fifth album together, and their fourth as The War and Treaty. Sid talks to Michael and Tanya about the new record, Plus One , as well as their collaboration with Miranda Lambert, what it was like to record at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, and how they’re blending country, soul, gospel, and R&B. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

il y a 3 ans 35:56

MP3•Maison d'episode

Stel Bailey is a citizen scientist and cancer cluster survivor who spent the last year documenting the unprecedented starvation deaths of a record number of manatees around the state of Florida. She describes the heartbreaking experience of watching manatee carcasses get disposed of as simple trash, and the fight to stop the massive pollution of Florida’s waterways. She says - and scientists concur - that manateees are starving to death because there has been a widespread die-off of seagrass beds around the state. That’s the manatee’s main food source. And scientists say the sea grass is dying off because of nutrient pollution in Florida’s bays and estuaries.

21 episodes

Stel Bailey: Florida's own Erin Brockovich-style citizen scientist documents manatee deaths and water quality

The Nature of Florida with Oscar Corral

published il y a 3 ans

MP3•Maison d'episode

21 episodes

#Science #Environment #Oscar Corral

Tous les épisodes

1
Jim Gross explains the history of the Ocklawaha River, one of Florida's most fixable environmental tragedies 38:44

il y a 2 years38:44

38:44

The Ocklawaha River remains one of Florida’s greatest environmental blunders, choked off by a dam built in the 1960s to build the cross-Florida barge canal. The canal never happened, but the dam remains. More than 10,000 acres of forest and at least 20 springs were drowned by the lake that was created. Now the dam is aging, made of mostly sand, and is at high risk of failure. Yet the state continues to drag its feet on removing the dam and restoring the river’s natural flow, which would re-introduce 20 springs and a host of wildlife like manatees back into the river system. Jim Gross leads the oldest environmental advocacy non-profit in the state, Florida Defenders of the Environment, which focuses on protecting the state’s freshwater resources. We discuss how Marjorie Harris Carr led the activism to try to stop the Rodman dam from being built and how her activism led her to found the organization. Today, the removal of the aging dam is a top priority for springs, water and environmental advocates across north Florida.…

1
Miami-Dade District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado talks about balancing a fast-growing city with the environment 37:26

il y a 2 years37:26

37:26

Miami Dade District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado talks about balancing the wants of developers with the needs of wild areas around Miami such as Biscayne Bay and the everglades. “Are we doing everything we can do to have that balance?” she asks. As a sitting elected leader in Florida’s most populous county, Raquel explains how policy at the local level can help environmental issues. She disucsses concepts such as encouraging more xeriscaping with native plants, and converting septic tanks to sewer systems to reduce nutrient pollution into our waters. “So many people politicize it now,” she says of the environment, as she laments that the issue is not seen as being in everyone’s best interest. “We are all stewards of our environment.”…

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Florida Springs Institute Director Robert Knight talks about the problems at Florida's springs and what can be done to save them 42:08

il y a 3 years42:08

42:08

Robert "Bob" Knight is the director of the Florida Springs Institute. He has also authored numerous books about the springs, their unique nature and how they are being degraded in Florida. In this episode, he talks about how Florida's system of granting permits to pump water is enabling corporations and business interests to pump water for almost nothing. This practically free use of water is draining the aquifer the the springs' water comes from. If things don't change, Bob feels the springs may be destroyed.…

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A boat ride on Florida bay with Orvis President Simon Perkins reveals devastation from an algae bloom 26:54

il y a 3 years26:54

26:54

I was recently invited to take a boat trip out to Florida Bay by Orvis, the apparel and outdoor gear company, Captains for Clean Water and the Everglades Foundation. We met at Angler House near mike marker 80 in Islamorada and headed out to the bay from there. Steve Davis, the chief science officer from the Everglades Foundation, came with us to interpret what we were seeing. Seeing the bay delivered a gut punch I did not expect. The once clear, crystalline waters that I remember so well from my childhood and youth, were now a pea-green murky mess. I couldn't even see the engine propeller, the water was so murky. A toxic blue-green algae bloom had taken over the bay, right off the keys coast. Such algae can kill fish, grasses and tourism, Davis explained. The groups had produced an excellent short film about the journey of water from shingle creek in Orlando to Florida Bay. Upon our return to Angler House, I interviewed Orvis President Simon Perkins, an avid fly-fisherman who had come along on the boat ride.…

1
Suzanne Schreiber is focusing her organization, Dream Green Volusia, on saving what's left of her county's natural places 34:23

il y a 3 years34:23

34:23

She launched her own non profit grassroots environmental organization in Volusia county, Dream Green Volusia when she started seeing large tracts of undeveloped lands containing forests and wildlife be razed for development across her county. Despite being an underdog against deep pockets from special interests, she has had an impact on saving her county's wild places for the future. Volusia county, with beautiful beaches, the Indian River lagoon and major springs, represents a microcosm of the environmental challenges facing all of Florida.…

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Richard Kern, co-founder of the environmental education series Encounters In Excellence, talks about his work 33:18

il y a 3 years33:18

33:18

Richard Kern grew up with environmental filmmakers as parents and has taken the baton of Odyssey Earth and Encounters in Excellence, two environmental storytelling platforms that are used to teach children in classrooms around Florida about environmental issues.

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Fran Mainella, the former director of the U.S. National Parks Service and Florida's state park system, talks about the possibility of a national park in Florida for springs. 39:22

il y a 3 years39:22

39:22

Frank Mainella, the first woman in the United States to direct the US National Parks Service and the Florida State Parks system, talks about the value of parks and the possibility of designating a new Florida Springs National Park. Is the concept of a “Great Florida Springs and Rivers National Park” a pipe dream, or is it possible to get the national park designation on some of Florida Springs? She says “I do not think it’s a pipe dream.” Hear more in the interview.…

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Florida State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani talks about her fierce environmental advocacy in the face of long odds in Florida 41:10

il y a 3 years41:10

41:10

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a young rising star in Florida’s Democratic Party and an outspoken advocate of better environmental policies, talks about her optimism despite her party being mostly locked out of power in Florida’s government. Her fierce criticism of Tallahassee’s catering to special interest groups at the expense of voters and everyday people has helped her make a name for herself across the state. She talks about the influence of corporations like Florida Power and Light and Mosaic mining, and what people can do to change things. She says FPL’s efforts to undermine roof-top solar energy in Florida was a classic example of a corporation undermining not only efforts to stop climate change, but also other smaller businesses that are providing thousands of jobs by installing panels on roofs. Hearing Rep. Eskamani, one gets the sense that environmentalism in Florida is in the process of being wrested back from the clutches of partisan politics, because although her views are progressive, many of the things she says in this interview would strike a cord with people of any party in the state. We all love our waters, our beaches, our springs, our air, our forests. Those are not partisan passions or loves. Those are things we all love as Floridians.…

1
Louis Wolfson III, a major developer of affordable housing in America, talks about his fight to protect the everglades and springs of Florida. 34:44

il y a 3 years34:44

34:44

Louis Wolfson III; Learn how old-school Key West piracy played a role in the origins of the Wolfson family, whose descendant, fifth-generation Floridian Louis Wolfson III, has become an environmental leader in Florida through philanthropy. Today he leads one of the largest affordable housing development companies in the United States. But his love of the water and Florida's natural places are his passion. From the time he captained his own Boston Whaler at the age of 8, he explored the waters off South Florida and has seen their evolution. This history tour of Florida with Wolfson takes listeners on vivid journey through the area’s vaunted waters. Those early encounters with Roseate spoonbills and flamingos triggered a life-long love and commitment to see them survive for future generations. Today, Wolfson, a construction entrepreneur, wants to help make sure what’s left of South Florida’s nature - its everglades, bays, reefs and forests - are saved.…

1
Jeff Brower, Volusia County Chairman, often votes against the grain of endless growth in a state that thrives on it 39:01

il y a 3 years39:01

39:01

Volusia County Chairman Jeff Brower is not your average politician. The owner of a farm with nine children, he ran for office because he wanted to stand up to developers constantly clear- cutting the forests of north Florida to make way for new developments, putting precious springs and rivers at risk. He talks about the courage of being a lone dissenter, running --and winning -- with grassroots support against big money candidates, and what he loves about Florida that made him want to run for public office.…

1
Miami Herald Environmental Journalist Curtis Morgan talks Biscayne Bay, fishing and the consequences of dumping our sewage near our beaches 37:27

il y a 3 years37:27

37:27

In this episode, Oscar interviews Miami Herald editor Curtis Morgan. Curtis is one of the best known environmental journalists in Florida. He has been a reporter or editor directing environmental coverage for close to 30 years. He’a also an avie fisherman that grew up fishing the sea grass flats around South Florida, often taking a 14-foot boat when he was a teenager out into the Gulfstream current. Since that time, he’s come to know the issues affecting the health of the everglades, Florida Bay and Biscayne bay intimately. He talks about the long gone Miami River rapids; the foolish decision by local leaders to dump almost all of South Florida’s partially treated raw sewage a mile and a half from Miami’s world-renown beaches; and the hopes for bringing back some of the lost beauty through everglades and Biscayne bay restoration.…

1
Stel Bailey: Florida's own Erin Brockovich-style citizen scientist documents manatee deaths and water quality 35:56

il y a 3 years35:56

35:56

1
Lauren L. Hill, world famous pro surfer, mom and eco-feminist, talks about how she fell in love with surfing while growing up in Florida and her fight for the environment 42:18

il y a 3 years42:18

42:18

The first time Lauren L. Hill protested for an environmental cause, she was 17, and a woman spat at her. But instead of stopping her, it encouraged her to keep speaking out for the natural world. Today's she uses her platform as a famous surfer to bring attention to environmental issues. Here's an excerpt from Lauren Hill's website: "Lauren L. Hill is a professional surfer, writer and director who has spent the past decade exploring new waves and documenting surf cultures around the world through an eco-feminist lens. She develops projects that revolve around the power of storytelling to build community and inspire action to protect our planet. Raised on the small barrier island of Anastasia, Lauren grew up in the Atlantic, freshwater springs and brackish waterways of Florida’s East Coast. She was a U.S. Women’s Longboard Champion (under 18) and has degrees in Environmental and Social Science from Stetson University. Lauren writes for a variety of publications, ranging from academic to mainstream media in the US, Europe and Australia. She was a senior writer for Surfing World Magazine and has appeared in award-winning documentary films including The Church of the Open Sky, Bella Vita, Beyond the Surface, The Heart & The Sea, and Transparentsea Voyage. Now based near Byron Bay, Australia, amongst the saltwater country of the Bundjalung nation, Lauren hosts The Waterpeople Podcast and recently authored She Surf: The Rise of Female Surfing , a celebration of the women stretching the boundaries of the sport and art of wave riding. Lauren is currently writing about food systems and permaculture design, directing a film about the physics of surfing and spending ample time in the ocean with her family."…

1
Jim Durocher, one of the leaders of Florida's Rights of Nature movement, talks about trying to get a constitutional amendment on Florida's 2024 ballot 28:23

il y a 3 years28:23

28:23

Jim Durocher is one of the leaders of a statewide campaign to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida in 2024 to grant rights to nature. The Rights of Nature movement is just getting started around the United States, and in 2020, Florida took a leading role when Orange County, home of Orlando, became the largest municipality to grant rights to nature. The vote there was overwhelmingly in support. 89% of people approved the law. In Florida, getting 89% of people to agree on anything seems like a fantasy. But it actually happened. Now the activists behind that law want to take it to the voters statewide. Durocher explains that laws in Florida that are intended to regulate the environment for clean air and water are failing miserably, and measures such as Rights of Nature are one of the few tools left to save what’s left of Florida’s unique springs, rivers, beaches and forests.…

1
Stephen Davis: The Everglades Foundation's Chief Science Officer explains how the everglades works, what's wrong with it and its ongoing restoration 36:13

il y a 3 years36:13