A series of podcasts hosted by Dr Will Liddell, family doctor and ecologist, comprising conversations about biodiversity, health and the environment. Contributors include healthcare professionals, farmers, scientists and conservationists and the content explores their work, their careers and their thoughts about environmental issues. Sound enginering is by Rob Wynne-Griffiths.
An interview with Dr Jonny Groome about greening anaesthesia with GASP
The healthcare sector is a major contributor of greenhouse gases and plastic waste. GASP (the Greener Anaesthesia and Sustainability Project) is a collaboration between anaesthetists and a range of NHS workers, who want to reduce the environmental impact of surgery and anaesthesia. Working on environmental impact in the health care sector is complex, because of the wide range of different disciplines in the healthcare ecosystem as well as the many financial, political and ethical issues . Dr ...
19 Aug 2021
Andy Byfield discusses the conservation of wild flowers and the work of Plant Life
Andy Byfield has a long-standing interest in botany, including the flowering plants traditionally associated with arable farming, some of which have become very scarce due to changes in agricultural practices. He has been involved in botanical research and conservation for many years and helped found the charity Plant Life. Recent years have seen increasing interest in our native flora and measures such as the restoration of wild flower meadows and changes in the management of roadside ...
25 Jul 2021
John Cherry on regenerative farming and the Groundswell Conference
Regenerative Agriculture aims to put soil health and sustainability at the heart of farming practices. John Cherry has spent his career farming in Hertfordshire. He became aware of the importance of looking after soil when he noticed farm production was plateauing despite increasing inputs. After a trip to the USA , John was inspired to learn more about regenerative agriculture and he and his family now run the increasingly popular Groundswell conference for farmers and growers who have come ...
19 Jul 2021
Dr Alan Kellas on how climate change is affecting our mental health
Dr Alan Kellas is a psychiatrist with an interest in environmental issues and sutainability. He discusses the current and future impacts of global warming on our mental health and how psychiatry can be made greener with GP Dr Will LIddell. Sound Engineer: Rob Wynne-Griffiths.
25 Jun 2021
Prof Chris Reynolds on how we can cut the environmental impacts of animal production
Farming is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Farm animals play a big role in these emissions. At the same time we increasingly recognise the importance of animals to soil health and therefore the long term sustainability of food production. Chris Reynolds and his team at Reading University are researching how we can reduce the environmental impact of meat and dairy production by changing the ways we manage our animals. Chris started his career in the US...
21 Jun 2021
The Marlborough Downs Space for Nature project with Dr Jemma Batten
Will Liddell talks to Jemma Batten about how a group of farmers on the Marlborough Downs started working together on wildlife conservation at landscape scale. The collaboration has been a great success and includes restoration of a network of dew ponds, connecting communities with pollinator friendly Bee Roadzz, restoring chalk grassland habitats and the construction of tree sparrow villages. The project has inspired many 'farm clusters' to forge similar partnerships to restore ha...
21 Jun 2021
Helen Browning OBE on organic food production
Will Liddell talks to Helen Browning OBE, CEO of the Soil Association, about the origins of the organic movement, her career in farming and campaigning and the role of the Soil Association. Support for the principles of the organic movement has gathered a lot of momentum with increased concern about climate change, the carbon footprint of food production and the challenges we face to persuade people to move from a diet of ultra-proccessed food to one that is healthier and more sustainable.
21 Jun 2021
Hendrikus van Hensbergen on Action for Conservation and bringing on the next generation of environmentalists
Will Liddell in conversation with Hendrikus van Hensbergen, the founder of a remarkable charity, Action for Conservation, which has developed a programme for inspiring young environmentalists and equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to help us save the planet.
21 Jun 2021
Dr Sue Stuart Smith discusses how gardening can help our mental health
GP Will Liddell talks to Dr Sue Stuart Smith, consulant psychiatrist and psychotherapist, about her best-selling book exploring the links between gardening and our mental and physical health. There is a long history of gardens as places of healing and spiritual nourishment, while modern research in neuroscience is shedding more light on how working with soil and caring for plants helps to achieve beneficial changes in our brains. Gardening on prescription please Mr Han...
1 Jun 2021
Dr Richard Summers on the evolution and domestication of wheat and the potential of GM and gene editing
Will Liddell discusses the science behind plant breeding with Dr Richard Summers . We discuss the origins of wheat as a hybrid of wild grasses, its subsequent domestication by early farmers and the techniques of modern wheat breeding which have shaped modern what varieties. This includes some of the controversies regarding genetic modification (GM) and gene editing and the techniques wghich could transform esistance to pests and diseases.. Sound engineering by Rob Wynne-Griffiths. ...
24 May 2021
Dr Fiona Godlee discusses health, climate change and the role of the BMJ
Dr Will Liddell and Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal, discuss the threats to public health posed by environmental change and the role of medical journals in alerting doctors to the challenges we face in confronting climate change. We also discuss the role of the BMJ in campaigning for greater transparency in clinical research and issues of gender and race in medicine. Sound engineering by Rob Wynne-Griffiths.
24 May 2021
Professor Simon Potts discusses biodiversity in agricultural crops and how farming can benefit nature
Dr Will Liddell talks Prof Simon Potts of Reading University about his career in agroecology. Many of our food crops are crucially dependent on ecosystems services provided by insects and plants we call weeds. As the pressure to increase the yield and quality of crops over recent years has ramped up, so has the destruction of natural habitat in agricultural landscapes and the use of agrochemicals. However, the success of farming depends on those elements of nature which may have previously be...
14 May 2021
Ben Asaw on the fascination and extraordinary diversity of beetles
Dr Will Liddell talks to Ben Asaw of the Field Studies Council about the extraordinary diversity of beetles and their importance in ecosytems as predators, pests, pollinators and waste disposal specialists. Did you know that the great Australia barbie was effectively rescued by African dung beetles? You cannot fail to be seduced by Dan's enthusiasm for these overlooked creatures. Sound engineering by Rob Wynne-Griffiths.
8 May 2021
Dr Grace Thompson talks about Doctors for Extinction Rebellion
Dr Will Liddell talks to Dr Grace Thompson, family doctor and environmentalist, about combining medical practice, training doctors and activism. Sound engineering by Rob Wynne-Griffiths.
8 May 2021
Dr Andrew Morrice discusses Human Givens and a different view of medicine
Dr Will Liddell talks to Dr Andrew Morrice, a family doctor in Somerset, about the principles of Human Givens and how this has shaped his practice of medicine. Conventional medicine tends to focus on disease, its diagnosis and management (often with medication), while Human Givens takes into account the environment in which we find ourselves, and how this may ciontribute to ill health, as well as our own internal resources for healing. Sound engineering by Rob Wynne-Griffiths.
8 May 2021
Keith Betton of the Hampshire Ornithological Society talks birding
Will Liddell talks to Keith Betton, Chairman of the Hampshire Ornithological Society about his life-long interest in birds and how this developed into a successful career in public relations. Keith was recruited in a London park by a peer of the realm and found himself sitting on a parliamentary committee on birds at the age of 13. He talks about his international adventures and conservation issues closer to home, in particular the plight of the stone curlew. Sound engineering by Rob Wy...
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