(CW: we do talk about the possibility of humanity being vastly depleted by environmental destruction. This is during the final question, so you can skip this if your mental health isn’t ready to think about that today.)

We discuss Sophie’s 360 change in career trajectory and what led her to working on the island. We explore the very mixed habitat of Brownsea including Scots Pine forest, lowland heath, and tidal lagoon, and the many critters and plants which rely on these through the different seasons of the year.

Brownsea is home to one of the most southerly strongholds of Red Squirrels in British Isles, several rare heathland species including invertebrates, birds, and reptiles, and a huge migrant population of wading birds on the lagoon.

We talk about the management of these different habitats including: why the felling of trees needed in such sites, how different habitats are managed for the benefit of species, and why human intervention needed at all.

Sophie’s Instagram fieldnoteswithsophie

Relevant links for further info

Brownsea Island - National Trust

Brownsea Island - Dorset Wildlife Trust (more info on the tidal lagoon)

Why is lowland heath important? - BugLife

The gorgeous sound of Nightjars (YouTube)

Just plant trees? It’s not so simple (blog)

Why we need megafauna in conservation (Rewilding Europe)

Don’t Cancel Humanity - blog on whether the world would benefit from human extinction

What would the world look like without humans? - blog on the animated film Flow

This podcast is produced by Kirsty Fox with music from Apalusa (aka Dan Layton).

Thanks for having hope.

In this episode, we visit Maiya Evans at Brackenhurst campus to discuss the often overlooked world of amphibians and reptiles. Maiya is the chair of Nottingham Amphibian and Reptile Group (Notts ARG) and a youth representative for the national organisation ARG UK.

We talk about Maiya’s journey to studying and volunteering in conservation, specialising in Herpetology: the study of amphibians and reptiles. We discuss what it’s like to be a young women in a stereotypically male field, what happens at toad patrols, things we can do to help wildlife during heatwaves, the wonderful world of newts, and how you can get involved in volunteering projects yourself.

We do a little species focus on Great-crested Newts, which is particularly important currently as the government have been discussing stripping back protections for these creatures in housing development projects.

Maiya also mentions Newstead and Annesley Country Park in Nottinghamshire, which her parents manage. This is an old colliery pit which has been transformed for nature and recreation and I highly recommend a visit (not to be confused with Newstead Abbey which is the posh stately home and gardens where Byron hung out!).

Links

Garden Wildlife Health for recording death and disease

Amphibian and Reptile Groups map (ARG UK)

Frog Life toad patrols

How to build a Hibernaculum

How to make a small wildlife pond

How to help wildlife during heatwaves

Myth-busting bats, newts and the economy vs nature protections

Images: All images from Maiya and Notts ARG.

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We discuss Tom’s conservation journey, through the childhood inspiration of Gerald Durrell, academic studies, work placements, and various projects in both Africa and the British Isles. Tom works with habitats as a whole, but has lots of specialist knowledge and passion for reptiles and amphibians, so as a ‘species spotlight’ I ask him about the rare Natterjack Toad, and the conservation measures used to support them in the Wirral.

Founded in 2025, Friendly Frog Org is an emerging environmental conservation organization - building on experience over two decades across the globe. They have a track record of successful projects, campaigns, and initiatives that have helped to improve the health of our planet. They run the annual Camp Creature Curiosities engaging disadvantaged children in nature activities, and international conservation projects such as Africa's Sky Islands: a 20-year project researching and protecting biodiversity in the mountains of Cameroon and several other countries in the continent.

Tom and his wife have recently taken over a small farmstead too. This is a 5-acre site in the Conwy Valley, North Wales - managed for a mixture of wildlife and food production.

Friendly Frog Org

Fundraiser for Cameroon's Frog Helpers amidst civil war

Tom’s conservation blog

Friendly Frog on Instagram

Natterjack Song

This episode explores the role of nature poetry and creative practice in building environmental awareness and understanding. We examine what nature poetry is (beyond the English pastoral) and the role of the arts in campaigning for positive change. In particular we discuss ideas related to intersectional environmentalism, (a term popularised by activist Leah Thomas) and environmental racism, with a focus on ways in which the climate and biodiversity crises disproportionately affect marginalised groups.

This podcast is self-produced by Kirsty Fox, with music by Apalusa (Dan Layton).

IG: hopeintherisingtide

Useful links

More about Cara Thompson

What the heck is a Nature Poet Laureate?

Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature appoint Nature Poet Laureate

Cara’s poem ‘Walking on Water’ for Canal and Rivers Trust

Rewild yourself

Solstice Nature Prize for Young Writers

Further reading

Intersectional Environmentalism by Leah Thomas

Thinking with Trees by Jason Allen-Paisant

His latest book Renaturing: Small ways to wild the world, explores his journey into developing an accessible and everyday approach to rewilding that can be adapted by anyone from the ambitious gardener to the casual window-box owner.

We discuss misconceptions around the term rewilding and the difficulties of large-scale rewilding in the context of UK land ownership. We also discuss the democratisation of who gets to be involved in nature restoration and how we can make this more accessible to people who don’t own land.

Please have a look at the links below if you’re interested in finding out more and mucking in yourself.

*Editor’s note: at one point I talk about councils spraying pesticides on streets when I actually mean herbicides (glyphosates/weed killers). Apologies.

Useful links

Renaturing by James Canton (buy/find out more)

More about James Canton

IG: @jrcanton

Renaturing tips and ideas

Naturescape: order wildflower seeds online

How to sow wildflower seeds (Bumblebee Conservation Trust)

How to collect wildflower seeds from wild spaces (Wildlife Trust) : free seeds can be collected particularly in late summer/early autumn (such as now!) from plants in parks and public spaces. I recently collected Poppy seeds, Mallow, Knapweed, and Bird’s Foot Trefoil. Please make sure you know what you are collecting (that you’re not spreading an invasive species) using the ID apps mentioned below or a guide book, and please note you are not allowed to dig up and move wild plants themselves.

Growing pollinator-friendly plants on a balcony (Bumblebee Conservation Trust)

Further ideas for wildlife gardens: ponds, bee hotels, hedges (Wildlife Trust)

Rewilding/renaturing issues and movements discussed

Wild card: grassroots movement challenging the UK’s landowners

Young Wilders: enabling youth changemakers and conservationists

Knepp Estate Rewilding project

Yellowstone Wolf Project

The Problem with Deer  | Scottish Wildlife Trust

Wild NG poison-free pavements project

Problems with rhododendron

Problems with Himalayan Balsam

Identification apps

We mention identification apps, if you’re interested in these, there is Merlin for bird song and iNaturalist/Seek for images of species.

You can follow Hope in the Rising Tide on Instagram for regular content including positive news and wildlife volunteer opportunities.

In this episode I visited a small island in the Orkney archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Papay (Papa Westray) is home to under a hundred human residents, but around 150 species of birds are known to visit the island and surrounding waters each year, and many birds nest on the cliffs of Fowl Craig and the maritime heathland of the North Hill RSPB reserve.

The island is notable for its rich history, with landmarks including an ancient neolithic farmstead The Knap of Howar, and a monument to the last Orcadian Great Auk killed close by in 1813, just a few decades before the species went extinct.

Papay’s Great Auk memorial on Fowl Craig was rebuilt, recast, and relaunched in April 2025. So I sought out the brains behind this project, the Papay Ranger, Jonathan Ford, to interview him about the island’s cultural community, the fame of this extinct seabird, and the sad decline of its living relatives in the Auk family: Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Black Guillemots and Common Guillemots. We also discuss the plight of other seabirds on the island including Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas, and Kittiwakes.

This is perhaps an episode where we struggle to find hope, though the glimmer offered by a sandeel fishing ban in British and Scottish waters offers us something, along with people willing to do battle with fishing lobbyists despite years of lost causes.

MPA = Marine Protected Area

@hopeintherisingtide on Instagram

Jonathan Ford’s wildlife, heritage, and art projects

Jonathan is on Instagram and Facebook as @PapayRanger.

Orcadian bird names

Puffins: Tammy norrie

Common Guillemots: Aak

Black Guillemots: Tystie

Razorbill: Coulter neb

Great Skua: Bonxie

Arctic Skua: Scootie Allan

Arctic Tern: Pickie

Eider Ducks: Dunter

Northern Lapwing: Teeick

Curlew: Whaup

More bird names (some regional variance and overlap with Shetland names)

Related links

Sandeel fishing ban upheld (BBC)

Salmon farm threat to Scottish Islands (Geographical UK)

The last Great Auks (Smithsonian magazine article)

Books

I recommend Biblio for finding 2nd hand books online (death to Amazon etc)

The Last of Its Kind: The Search for the Great Auk and the Discovery of Extinction by Gísli Pálsson

The Great Auk Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife by Tim Birkhead

Other

Purchase the Great Auk memorial pin badge

Reedbeds are an essential habitat for Bitterns which are an Amber-listed species in terms of conservation concern. We discuss the recovery of Bittern numbers at Leighton Moss alongside other key residents including Bearded Tits and Marsh Harriers.

Follow on social media

IG: hopeintherisingtide / metafox_writer

Bsky: metafox-writer

Links

Leighton Moss nature reserve

All about bitterns (including a real recording of their famous booming!)

All about reedbeds

Volunteer with the RSPB

First wild beaver release under the new rules

Find out why flying ant day happens, why slugs are good for your garden, why wasps behave like ‘unemployed drunks’ in late summer, why spiders should be welcome in your house, and why moths are just as lovely as butterflies!

Linda is a freelance entomologist who does lots of public engagement activities and is available for hire (gentle plug as a favour for doing this podcast).

IG @drljbees / @ljbees.bsky.social / Linda Birkin on Linkdin

Timings for species chats if you really need to avoid one due to strong phobia.

12:06 -18:27 mins: Flying ants

18:28 - 24:05 mins: Slugs and snails

24:10 - 39:56 mins: Bees, wasps, hoverflies, and bee flies

39:57 - 45:14 mins: Spiders

45:15 - 55:25 mins: Moths, butterflies, and caterpillars

55:26 - 58:43 mins: Spiders again!

Follow me on Instagram @hopeintherisingtide / @metafox_writer

Useful links for further information

Citizen science slug project Linda mentions, with Imogen Cavodino

Grow plants for caterpillars

Dave Goulson's YouTube channel

Good news on bee-killing pesticide ban

Meet the unsung heroes of our soil

Benefits of slugs and snails

What do wasps do

Learn about bumble bees

Why moths matter

About house spiders

Why flying ant day happens

About bee flies

@hopeintherisingtide / @metafox_writer

In mid-November I visited Morecambe Bay on the east coast of England. This podcast documents my journey around this special landscape, recording the sounds of the birds and the tides. This is a slow meditative podcast with lots of ASMR sounds and me ad-libbing about the habitats and weather.

It is suitable for a calming and relaxing time - in the bath, just before bed, or dare I say, to help you fall asleep! It is also a pretty good choice for people with long term illnesses/conditions who may not get out into nature much.

Here is a map to help you visualise where I am at each point in my journey (Substack only).

Links and references

Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy

Seabirds, Environmental Change, and Morecambe Bay - article by Dr Catherine Oliver with links to JB Whittaker’s ‘Morecambe Bay region as laboratory for climate change’

Debbie Yare’s art/Instagram page on walking the Bay

Rock cut tombs at Heysham

Heysham nature reserve

Heysham Moss nature reserve

* Why peat bogs need protection and restoration

* Partial ban on peat-based gardening products

South Walney nature reserve

* Shark’s Trust - Great Eggcase Hunt

Leighton Moss nature reserve

* Why reedbeds are important

Arnside tidal bore

* Why saltmarshes are important

* Clearance of saltmarsh in Merseyside

“We need to start getting our hearts in the game and not just our heads.”

For this episode I interviewed Jesse Hill - IG sabbatverse. Jesse is a transdisciplinary researcher and writer exploring creative catharsis and environmental connection.

We talk about: the role of arts in engaging people with Earth sciences; the 8 sabbats in the Celtic Wheel of the Year; decomposition and connecting with the soil; the poetry in everything; how trauma and life shifts can change our relationship to nature; the magic of slime mould.

Jesse was also kind enough to do a reading of their poem ‘RE:Turners’ (text version below).

Many thanks to Jesse for a really lovely, calming and heartening conversation.

This podcast was produced by Kirsty Fox with music by Apalusa (Dan Layton).

IG: hopeintherisingtide

Links and mentions

Film poem, ‘Spring (III)’ in Tentacular

The book we mention is Losing Eden by Lucy Jones

Lucy Jones essay on slime moulds

Slime mould solving puzzles.

Jesse Hill’s research profile

Sabbat Verse: (Re)Turning with the Seasons - PhD scrapbook on Instagram.

Fern Forward: Jesse’s blog about her experiences of long term health conditions and early parenthood.

Glossary

Sabbats and the Celtic Wheel of the Year: The Wheel of the Year represents a pagan holiday calendar that’s split into 8 sections, or sabbats. These 8 sabbats divide the year equally, marking the beginning of each season as well as their mid-points. They are: Winter Solstice (Midwinter / Yule); Imbolc (Candlemas); Spring Equinox (Ostara); Beltane (May Day); Summer Solstice (Midsummer / Litha); Lughnasadh (Lammas); Autumn Equinox (Mabon); Samhain (All Hallows).

Ecopoetics: the creative-critical edges between writing and ecology, sometimes encompassing eco-art as well.

Transdisciplinary: a research strategy that crosses disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach.

Liminality: liminal spaces are the in-between. So they might describe a transistional period in a person’s life be it coming of age, or a major life change. Or a liminal space might be that time in-between two seasons when autumn’s no quite over and winter is just beginning.

Poem by Jesse Hill ©

RE: Turners

Maggots get a bad rep.

Mushrooms, too.

The decomposers – 

worming, churning flesh and s**t into elses, 

to see but upturned lips and spit. 

The soles of our feet 

depend upon them. 

      What else?

Houses, towers, cathedrals of waste unwasting. 

More than a millenia

of ancestral shame and trauma 

and the shame 

building, rising for unborns to map and 

lose themselves in. 

So,

I thank the maggots. 

I thank the fungi and

the resting, 

the conversations, 

the listening metabolism, 

empathy,

     the action.

To the ground I give my ready-to-rot: 

Stagnant hours and efforts.

Memories of no's unheard, 

of sex turned sour. 

Tumours long gone but still-

the origins of scars of skin, mind, and gut. 

Not to forget, 

but to turn .

Return, 

to compose 

(re)composing

& (re)turning

to a composition of

stronger voices, bone, and stem. 

    A regaining of current

flowing through, between hands over ears   (like water would –

does, like air –)

as inevitable.

Cultivating safe surrender

as to feel, to be moaning on the brink between pleasure and pain, in the give-and-get oneness of it all,               as

we’re turning

into the stitching skin, recoding mind,                 & recuperating gut.

A trust

within this reclamation             in bangarang 

       & into winged bluebottles, agarics fly.

(Content warning for the sensitive: I briefly mention some of the triggering elements of climate and conservation narratives including political resistance, hyperbolic news headlines, natural disasters etc., as these are required for context within the discussion. But these are not dwelled upon as the main focus is how we can develop resilience and better handle the mental health impacts of these changes.)

Please note, I looked up the pronunciation of the surname Tsui and I hope I have it vaguely correct. Apologies if not.

Thanks for listening! Resources are listed below.

Kirsty Fox

@metafox_writer

@hopeintherisingtide

#HopeInTheRisingTidePod

Links, books and related content:

Books: please order these from your local indie bookshop if possible, or get them 2nd hand or through a local library. Links provided below are for UK suppliers, so if you’re overseas, I suggest you pick an alternative to save the carbon footprint of your book being shipped extra miles!

Hive UK sell new books and you can designate a portion of the sale to a local bookshop. World of Books (WOB) sells 2nd hand and nearly new books.

It’s Not Just You, Tori Tsui

Hope and Grief in the Anthropocene: Re-conceptualising human-nature relations, Lesley Head

Everybody Needs Beauty, Samantha Walton

Other resources:

Young people’s climate anxiety revealed in landmark survey

Solastalgia: A New Concept in Health and Identity by Glenn Albrecht

There are several other essays and papers by Glenn Albrecht, which can be found on Google Scholar. If you find one you want to read which is only accessible if you’re a student, let me know and I’ll try to get a PDF for you.

Glenn Albrecht has also written a couple of books on the topic but I have yet to read these.

Why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth - BBC Ideas video

(For if you’re interested in why soil exposure is so good for us. See also, Lucy Jones’ great book Losing Eden)

Right to Roam’s info graphics about ‘access deserts’ where people struggle to reach areas of nature.

Hope and despair dialogue from The Neverending Story - if you need some inspiration to be a warrior not a worrier!

Here’s that dialogue which I mention from The Neverending Story, featuring villainous wolf G’mork and our Fantasia hero Atreyu.

G'mork : Foolish boy. Don't you know anything about Fantasia? It's the world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it, is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundaries.

Atreyu : But why is Fantasia dying, then?

G'mork : Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So the Nothing grows stronger.

Atreyu : What is the Nothing?

G'mork : It's the emptiness that's left. It's like a despair, destroying this world. And I have been trying to help it.

Atreyu : But why?

G'mork : Because people who have no hopes are easy to control; and whoever has the control... has the power!

Atreyu : Who are you, really?

G'mork : I am the servant of the power behind the Nothing. I was sent to kill the only one who could have stopped the Nothing. I lost him in the Swamps of Sadness. His name... was Atreyu.

Atreyu : [the ground shakes again and Atreyu is knocked down. He grabs a knife shaped piece of broken stone and stands up, ready to fight] If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting! Come for me, G'mork! *I* am Atreyu!

Recommended nature podcasts

Trees a Crowd hosted by actor and nature advocate, David Oakes.

Coffee with Conservationists hosted by wildlife photographer, George Steedman Jones.

Imagining Tomorrow with sci fi writer, Emma Newman, and Friends of the Earth.

Marine Conservation Happy Hour hosted by academics, Dr Scarlett Smash and Dr Craken MacCraic.

Back in April I recorded my first interview for Hope in the Rising Tide and it’s taken a little more time than expected to turn it into a podcast, but we have finally arrived. I hope you like my blend of field diary, interview, and prose poetry to take you on a drizzly journey to the the Yorkshire coast.

For this episode, I joined as a volunteer to help with seagrass seed planting at Spurn Point nature reserve on the north side of the Humber Estuary (East Riding of Yorkshire, UK). Seagrass is a vital species for carbon storage, biodiversity, and protection from coastal erosion.

First we transferred the seedballs and seed pillows from their tanks into containers for transportation. Then we drove out to the estuary mud flat, marked out a grid, and began planting. We used two methods, a pottiputki for the seed balls (these are contraptions sometimes used for tree planting), and for the seed pillows we made shallow scrapes and pinned them with stakes against tidal movement.

Helpfully, I love splodging about in mud, so I really enjoyed myself. Listen to the recording for more details.

Huge thanks to Andy and the team for a for a fab day.

Follow me on Instagram metafox_writer

And/or the new Instagram account for Hope in the Rising Tide

#HopeInTheRisingTidePod

Links for further information and related content:

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT)

More about seagrass from YWT

A webinar about Habitat Restoration in the Humber Estuary with Andy Jayes (bonus nerding on seagrass and oyster restoration!)

Blue Meadows (a major seagrass protection and restoration project in the Southwest of England)

Recommended nature podcasts

Trees a Crowd hosted by actor and nature advocate, David Oakes.

Coffee with Conservationists hosted by wildlife photographer, George Steedman Jones.

Imagining Tomorrow with sci fi writer, Emma Newman, and Friends of the Earth.

Marine Conservation Happy Hour hosted by academics, Dr Scarlett Smash and Dr Craken MacCraic.