Ocean Protect Podcast

Dr Andrew Thomas is Executive Officer at Cooks River Alliance and President of Stormwater New South Wales. The Cooks River is a 23-kilometre long (14 mile) urban waterway located in south-eastern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - and, since at least 1997, councils and community groups along the river and across the catchment have worked together to improve the health of the river. In this chat, we discuss the key challenges associated with its protection, the wins achieved so far, and why this matters not just to the environment, but also the health and wellbeing of all us who live and work in the urban jungle.Useful links:Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-thomas-63567767/Cooks River Alliance: https://cooksriver.org.au/Stormwater New South Wales: https://stormwaternsw.asn.au/"Andrew Thomas on the maintenance of stormwater treatment assets" (Ocean Protect Podcast Season 2, Episode 20, July 2020): https://play.acast.com/s/ocean-protect/andrewthomasonthemaintenanceofstormwatertreatmentassets-part1of2-To find about more about Ocean Protect and what we do, check out https://oceanprotect.com.au/

Hannah Tait is the CEO and founder of Action for Dolpins, a charity that advocates for the protection of dolphins and challenge practices that cause them harm, working to change laws, educate the public, and promote institutional changes that lead to safer, healthier lives for dolphins. In this chat, Hannah talks about how the organisation started and key campaigns. Useful links:Hannah on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-tait-74527697/https://www.afd.org.au/To find about more about Ocean Protect and what we do, check out https://oceanprotect.com.au/

Season 6 of the Ocean Protect Podcast kicks off with a fascinating chat with Dr @Matt Landos, Director at Future Fisheries Veterinary Service. In this chat, Matt discusses the chemical cocktail in our waterways and water resources and where it’s coming from - and what we need to do to save our oceans, waterways and ourselves.   Useful links:Matt on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-landos-533a1723/The Guardian article, “The river has been destroyed’: expert says agriculture has overshadowed science in the Murray-Darling Basin: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/21/murray-darling-basin-fishing-degradationPhys.org article, Even very low levels of pesticide exposure can affect fish for generations, study finds: https://phys.org/news/2024-02-pesticide-exposure-affect-fish-generations.htmlIPEN report, Aquatic Pollutants in Oceans and Fisheries: https://ipen.org/documents/aquatic-pollutants-oceans-and-fisheriesIPEN report, The Global Threat from Highly Hazardous Pesticides: https://ipen.org/documents/global-threat-highly-hazardous-pesticidesEndocrine Society & IPEN report, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Threats to Human Health: https://www.endocrine.org/topics/edc/introduction-to-edcsIPEN article, Single-Use Food Packaging from 17 Countries Contains PFAS “Forever Chemicals: https://ipen.org/news/single-use-food-packaging-17-countries-contains-pfas-%E2%80%9Cforever-chemicals%E2%80%9DIPEN article, PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Found in Outerwear and Clothing Sold Globally: https://ipen.org/news/pfas-%E2%80%9Cforever-chemicals%E2%80%9D-found-outerwear-and-clothing-sold-globallyOECD report, PFASs and alternatives in cosmetics: report on commercial availability and current uses:  https://one.oecd.org/document/ENV/CBC/MONO(2024)4/en/pdf  For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

Ocean Protect's very own Harout Tcherkezian joins Brad for the Season 5 finale. Harout has been with Ocean Protect for over twelve years, and overseas our operations in New South Wales, Australia. We chat about Harout's journey to date with Ocean Protect, the challenges of the job, and his ambition for his kids to think he's a legend. Harout on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harout-tcherkezian-44636a1a/ For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

Jeff Hansen is the Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia and a Global Director of Sea Shepherd. We talk about the key campaigns of Sea Shepherd - illegal fishing, ocean plastic and climate change - current direct actions, future plans, successes, and the challenges associated with protecting the most spectacular show on earth - nature.Useful links:https://www.seashepherd.org.au/Jeff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-hansen-521b42a For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

Sean Quilty is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 18 years’ experience in residential and industrial subdivisions, health precincts, educational precincts, waste management facilities, municipality works, major infrastructure upgrades, roadworks, road remediation, and master planning feasibility. He is Associate Principal at ADG Engineers and Associate Lecturer at Tafe Queensland, and has a passion for inspiring the next generation of engineers. In this chat, we talk about Sean's own education experience - from university drop-out to lecturer, improving education methods and making environmental protection and conservation the core aspect of engineering endeavours. Sean on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanquiltycpeng/ For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

Peter Hammarstedt is Global Director of Sea Shepherd campaigns and Chairman of the Australian Board. Peter has captained Sea Shepherd's MY Bob Barker for 11 years and is now Captaining their new vessel, the Allan Kay. In this amazing chat, Peter shares some of his insights from over 20 years of navigating the globe, confronting illegal whaling, sealing and destructive fishing. Useful links:Sea Shepherd's leadership team: https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/global/leadership/Sea Shepherd's Illegal Fishing Campaign: https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/our-campaigns/iuu-fishing/ For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

Mark Pages is a specialist in the field of micro-algae and other plant based ingredients, and founder of Phytality - a company specialising in the manufacture and supply of unique marine micro-algae and vegan omega-3 product solutions. In this chat, we discuss the sea 'food' and aquaculture industry, the importance and potential sources of Omega 3, and the benefits of the microscopic plant-like organisms called phytoplankton.Useful links:https://phytality.com.au/Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-pages-240a857/ For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

Jonas Larsen is an Environmental Scientist and Water Sensitive Urban Design Technical Officer at Logan City Council. In this chat, we talk about Jonas's incredible journey from a vision impaired child to a passion for protecting the environment he came to eventually see - working in a various roles in environmental, soil, and contaminated land and water industries, and applying his learnings to the water sensitive urban design space and bringing the biology into bioretention systems - one of the most commonly applied stormwater treatment assets to protect our waterways and oceans.Jonas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonas-larsen-871998144/ For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au