Saving Wildlife with Sam

Get to know the extraordinary people who dedicate their lives to save wildlife and the places they call home. We go beyond the headlines to uncover their wildest encounters, toughest challenges, and what keeps them hopeful in the fight for nature.

Saving Wildlife with Sam is a science podcast hosted by Sam, with 12 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Sam hosts Saving Wildlife with Sam, a science show with 12 episodes published.

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  Saving Wildlife with Sam

  Dr. Iroro Tanshi: Rediscovering a Lost Bat, Then Saving Its Forest From Fire

  Jul 14, 20261h 30m

  Dr. Iroro Tanshi found a bat species unseen in Nigeria for 45 years. Eight days later, she watched the forest it lived in catch fire. That collision, a rediscovery and a disaster eight days apart, is what launched one of the most innovative community-led wildfire prevention programs in West Africa, and it's a big part of why Iroro just won the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize, conservation's "Green Nobel." In this conversation, we talk about the short-tailed roundleaf bat she rediscovered on a mountain on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, the 2016 wildfire that nearly trapped her field team, and how a local farmer's simple question, "could you just tell us when to burn?", became the seed of a science-based fire prediction system that now uses town criers and "Forest Guardians" to keep entire communities safe. Her program has hit zero forest fires in Afi for five consecutive years and is now scaling to the DRC, Madagascar, and Indonesia through the Tropical Fire Alliance. In this conversation: 00:00:18 – Introduction 00:00:31 – Rediscovering the short-tailed roundleaf bat after 45 years 00:05:06 – Ten new bat species records for Nigeria 00:13:36 – The hammer-headed fruit bat's booming mating call 00:25:47 – Growing up in Warri, an oil town, and her father's nature-documentary rule 00:32:05 – Founding SMACON and winning the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize 00:41:00 – The 2016 wildfire that nearly trapped her field team 01:01:19 – Building a fire prediction model with town criers and Forest Guardians 01:02:25 – Zero wildfires for five years, and scaling globally with the Tropical Fire Alliance 01:25:15 Her advice for young African women in conservation About Dr. Iroro Tanshi: Dr. Iroro Tanshi is a Nigerian bat biologist and conservationist who co-founded SMACON, where she serves as Director of Research. She holds a BSc in Environmental Science and a Master's in Environmental Quality Management from the University of Benin, an MSc in Biodiversity Conservation from the University of Leeds, and a PhD from Texas Tech University. In 2016, she rediscovered the short-tailed roundleaf bat in Nigeria for the first time in 45 years. She has since won the Future for Nature Award (2020), the Whitley Award (2021), and the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize. About SMACON: SMACON (Small Mammal Conservation Organization) protects at-risk small mammals in West Africa through evidence-based conservation and community partnership. Its flagship wildfire prevention program combines weather-based fire risk prediction with traditional town crier networks and community "Forest Guardian" response teams, achieving zero forest fires in Afi for five consecutive years while protecting roughly 27,000 people across 16 communities. SMACON is now scaling that model globally through the Tropical Fire Alliance. Learn more: SMACON Website: https://www.smacon-africa.org Donate: http://wildnet.org/smacon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smaconafrica/ CONNECT WITH SAVING WILDLIFE WITH SAM: Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@savingwildlifewithsam Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savingwildlife Join the newsletter: https://forms.gle/3v5UCmN6CgLGGM3s5 Follow Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-williams-0989483/ Please like, comment, and share to help more people discover these conservation stories. 🌍

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  Saving Wildlife with Sam

  Dr. George Shillinger: Tracking the World's Largest Turtle Across the Pacific

  Jun 2, 20262h 6mS0

  <p>George Shillinger has spent 40 years protecting sea turtles. His path started a pet box turtle that had literally been to space!<br/><br/>I sat down with the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Upwell to talk about what it takes to protect an animal that crosses entire ocean basins, dives over a kilometre deep, and falls under the jurisdiction of dozens of governments.<br/><br/>Here's what struck me most: we've been pouring resources into protecting nesting beaches for decades. But sea turtles spend 99% of their lives at sea. That's where they're dying, from bycatch, ship strikes, pollution, and...

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  Saving Wildlife with Sam

  Tamsin Orr-Walker: Protecting Kea, the World's Most Curious Parrot

  Apr 26, 20261h 11mS0

  <p>A conversation about my favourite parrot! I had the pleasure of chatting with the Co-founder and Chair of the Kea Conservation Trust Tamsin Orr-Walker has spent 20 years protecting Kea, the world’s most curious parrot.<br/><br/>Kea slide down rooftops for fun, dismantle cars out of curiosity, and once caused $30,000 in damage to forestry equipment in a single night. They’re also  endangered, with fewer than 7,000 left in the wild. The very traits that make them so captivating are the same ones that keep getting them into trouble.<br/><br/>This was a fun conversation about one of the m...

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  Saving Wildlife with Sam

  Bill Sutherland: Using Evidence to Save Wildlife More Effectively

  Apr 2, 202655 minS0

  <p>Bill Sutherland is Miriam Rothschild Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology, and founder of Conservation Evidence. For over 20 years he’s been asking a deceptively simple question: if a doctor can look up the evidence for any treatment before prescribing, why can't a conservationist do the same?<br/><br/>Conservation has long relied on tradition, intuition, and accumulated experience. But the tools being used today are often the same ones used 50 years ago, while every other field has been transformed by innovation. Bill's work is changing that. In this conversation:<br/>0:00 - Introduction<br...

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  Saving Wildlife with Sam

  Jen Miller: Sea Otters, Eco-Grief, and the Conservationist's Path Back to Hope

  Mar 12, 20261h 5mS0

  <p>Jen Miller is Senior Manager of the Sea Otter Fund at the Wildlife Conservation Network, and her path has been anything but linear. A PhD from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies studying tigers and livestock depredation in India. Wolves and jaguar reintroduction policy at Defenders of Wildlife. International wildlife trafficking grants at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. And now, one of conservation's most genuinely hopeful comeback stories: bringing sea otters back to 800 miles of coastline where they've been absent for over a century.</p><p><br/></p><p>Sea otters were once called "soft gold,"...

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