Veronika Perková recently interviewed me for her Nature Solutionaries pocast.
Here is the YouTube version of the podcast:
Some of the ground we covered in the podcast:
Early Days of Mongabay:
🌳 My decision to start the website was carefully planned rather than a risky leap, beginning as a side gig to a job with a paying salary. I recommend exploring passion projects while maintaining one’s current job to better ensure financial security.
🌳 I talk about the importance of careful financial planning and savings from a young age, recounting my experience managing a pet store in my teens.
Balancing Passion and Practicality:
🌳 Transitioning to a non-profit model required me to give up most reporting and take on roles I wasn’t initially skilled at, like management and fundraising.
🌳 It’s important to have a broad, long-term vision and align with audiences interested in making an impact through donations.
Support and Recognition:
🌳 My grandmother was my biggest supporter, emotionally and practically. It took my parents several years to accept my career choice after seeing external recognition and success.
🌳 External accolades played a crucial role in validating my career path to family and peers.
Conservation Journalism Challenges:
🌳 It can be difficult to pitch conservation stories to mainstream newsrooms, which often prioritize climate change, disasters, and energy topics.
🌳 Environmental degradation is broadening the audience for conservation news.
Impact of Environmental Degradation:
🌳 I talk about revisiting places from my childhood; both the devastation and resilience of certain ecosystems.
🌳 I’ve seen significant changes, like the disappearance of insects and quieter forests.
Future Outlook for Journalism:
🌳 I believe original journalism will become even more critical as the world becomes inundated with AI-generated content.
🌳 But I am concerned about the public’s ability to discern real from fake news and whether people will continue to care about facts over what conforms to their worldview.
Advice for Aspiring Conservationists:
🌳 It’s important to understand your strengths, the landscape of opportunities, and being realistic about the effort required to succeed.
