BBC Earth Podcast Producer, Eliza, answers Q&A’s about how to find the best contributors for each podcast, what techniques she uses to glean the best information from their experience and knowledge, as well as telling us some of the surprising and unexpected tales that have surfaced from these interviews, and how they enrich the themes of each episode.

1. How do you begin the process of finding experts and interesting contributors once the theme of a podcast has been decided on?

To begin with, themes spark ideas of who we can talk to. Our radio team in Bristol make a whole host of natural history output for BBC Radio 4 and 3, plus we’re over the car park from the natural history TV department, so we tap into the brilliant roster of knowledge at our doorstep.

After mining our own contacts, we embark on the mammoth task of finding more stories and contributors. This is mostly done online via science journals, websites and recommendations. For the rest of the year when we’re not making the BBC Earth podcast, we’re sifting and saving striking natural world stories for future series.

2. Once you have decided on a topic and focus for a particular podcast, do you tailor the content from the contributors to fit the topic, or do you often find the original theme alters once you have some content to work with?

The themes are a useful jumping-off point for research, but once we’ve found good stories, we prioritise that over the theme. When we’re editing, it’s important that the story is vivid and clear. The presenter, Emily Knight, is an expert at tying together disparate stories with her script.

On rare occasions, we’ve found that the original theme doesn’t fit with the stories anymore and something else strikes us as more appropriate, but we usually stick to the theme.

The range of contributors on each podcast is always extremely varied, the only common feature being their link in some way to the natural world and the topic being explored in that particular episode. How do you go about finding such a diverse cast of interviewees?

It’s important for us that we reflect a range of expertise and places – the BBC Earth podcast shouldn’t be left solely in the domain of scientists and environmentalists of the UK and America. For this series we’ve spoken to poets, mechanical engineers, wildlife camera-people, anthropologists… and from locations including Mongolia, Ethiopia and Hawaii.

Emily and I have slightly different interests, which also helps us look for stories in different places and reflect a wider variety of voices.

What is the biggest challenge when interviewing contributors from all over the world?

Time zones! Having to work out the best time to speak to a contributor in say – New Zealand – is extremely difficult. There’s a 12-hour time difference, so right now, it’s Friday in the UK and Saturday in New Zealand, pure chaos! That being said… it’s worth it for being able to bring listeners truly global stories.

3. What makes a good contributor for a podcast?

A few things… being a good storyteller is key. So the way they create images in the mind’s eye and use metaphor. Also, if they can communicate complex ideas so that even my Granny can understand what they’re on about, that’s a bonus. And finally, something more difficult to define which is just the quality of their voice. Does it draw you in and keep you listening? Then they’d be perfect.

4. The stories in the BBC Earth Podcast are often told with great enthusiasm and vigour by the contributors themselves – how do you get such succinct and interesting narratives from the subjects being interviewed? Are there certain techniques you use or is it simply down to careful editing?

Editing definitely plays a big part in it. We often restructure the story after we’ve done the interview, so it’s as clear as possible. We add sound design to help illustrate it. But there are ways to get the most out of the interviewee: planning what you want the final piece to be before the interview so you can structure your questions around that; asking them to re-tell the story in different ways; encouraging them to use a lot of sensory detail… Also, they may have told this story more than once, so it helps to think of new angles to have a fresh response.

5. Can you tell us about one or two favourite stories you’ve done for the BBC Earth Podcast?

Oh, it’s hard to choose – there’s something special about them all! But I really enjoyed speaking to the anthropologist Bumochir Dulam in Mongolia. It was a feat trying to set it up, but he was so kind when I finally spoke to him. He told me the story of nomad families and their camel coaxing rituals in the Gobi desert. A local musician will play the horsehead fiddle to encourage bonding between the mother and their calves.

Another highlight was going to pigeon fancier Jon Day’s house in East London. It’s rare to do these interviews in person due to geographical constraints, so it was a joy to meet Jon and his flock of pigeons in person.

When do you feel it’s necessary to steer the discussion during an interview?

As producer, I’m always steering the discussion… We have limited time booked in a studio and it’s crucial we get all the pieces of the story, so we don’t regret missing something afterwards. Also, someone may be so used to telling the story in a particular way, that it’s important to steer them away from that and encourage them to tell it in a way that has the most impact.

6. As well as interesting people featured in the podcasts, there are also a host of fantastic creatures scattered throughout the series – my favourite being the lone whale in ‘Isolation’. Do you prefer letting nature and science speak for itself, or is human experience important?

It’s important to let nature and science speak for itself, which is why we often have experts on the podcast who expand our understanding of the world through their research. But nearly always, there’s something deeper going on with the scientist – their study will have affected them in some fundamental way, and that’s interesting to probe. For example, Doug Larson is an ecologist in Ontario, Canada who discovered an ancient forest living above a motorway on an escarpment. These trees were protected by being out of sight from humans and were successful because they needed little resources to survive. Studying these trees for years affected Doug’s outlook on the world and made him think about his own future, and how to live well in old age. For me, a story can be more moving when you hear how the natural world has influenced human experience.

The podcast themes are often large constructs reflecting ideas relating to the human condition – isolation, lack of control, ritual etc. When creating a podcast, how important is it to you that it connects with listeners in a metaphysical way?

The metaphysical level is where we hold our values, morals and outlook –and we can learn how others experience this through stories.

For series three I spoke to Rāwiri Tinirau about the Whanganui River of New Zealand and its 170-year battle. To Rāwiri’s people, this river is an ancestor and so should be treated as such. He told the story about how the river was finally granted personhood status in 2017. On one level, there were the facts of the story and the long-running legal case. But on the metaphysical level, there were the deep, emotional connections his people have had for hundreds of years, and it’s through bringing both elements together in a story that we can truly understand its gravity.

Questions by Chris Knowles

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What is Eco Anxiety?

As we hear more worrying news daily about our planet’s environment – polar ice caps melting, species becoming extinct, the Amazon rainforests burning – there has been a steady increase in people being diagnosed with a condition known as Eco Anxiety, an extreme form of worry or depression related to the negative effects of climate change. Although the condition has become more prevalent in recent years, at present it is not recognised as a mental disorder and does not feature in the Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders – the U.S. guide for diagnosing psychological illness – but has been described by Psychology Today as being “a fairly recent psychological disorder afflicting an increasing number of individuals who worry about the environmental crisis”.

One apparent reason for its absence from the canon of clinical mental disorders is that Eco Anxiety has similarities to other clinical anxiety disorders, but differs in that it has a ‘rational’ cause.

Caroline Hickman, a teaching fellow at Bath University, and a member of The Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA), a group of psychologists who are committing their specialist knowledge to focus on climate change says, “The symptoms are the same [as clinical anxiety], the feelings are the same, but the cause is different.” She goes on to clarify this by stating  “The fear is of environmental doom – that we’re all going to die.”

News about freaky global weather disasters or scary ecological predictions can trigger this particular form of anxiety, but for some, even simple things like seeing car fumes being emitted, or becoming overwhelmed by plastic packaging in a supermarket aisle, can bring on symptoms such as hyper ventilation or panic attacks, though for many it is simply uncontrollable worry and sleepless nights that are the problem. Sam, who suffers with Eco Anxiety and features in Radio 1 and 1Xtra’s “Me And My Eco Anxiety” podcast explains it like this: “When you go to sleep… you start thinking about everything…the state of the planet really, and the potential future of it, knowing that there’s only so much you can do as one person”

The science is even more alarming. Last year’s report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was intractable in its call for urgent curbs on carbon emissions by 2030 as a bare minimum if we intend to harbour any hope of halting global warming, whilst a paper that went viral by Professor Jem Bendall entitled Deep Adaptation: A Map For Navigating Climate Tragedy and published in the same year, was even more gloomy in its conclusions, stating that we need to prepare for the possibility of complete societal collapse as a result of climate change. With a daily barrage of bad news in the media about the planet’s future it is inevitable that a lot of people have become deeply concerned, and in some individual cases this has developed in to something more traumatic.

Eco Anxiety is especially prevalent in young people who feel that their future is uncertain – yet see very little action being taken by their governments and those who should be in a position to tackle what they perceive as an emergency. Alice, who features in the BBC’s Costing The Earth podcast on Eco Anxiety, and is a member of Birth Strike, a group of young people so fearful of the future they are refusing to have children, says that “it’s almost the norm to speak about this level of hopelessness” amongst young people in her circle. It is this very inability to be able to do anything, or to influence those who could, that leads to a feeling of helplessness, and inevitably, acute frustration and anxiety. But this is also the key to dealing with Eco Anxiety as Dr Lorin Lindner, an American clinical psychologist who uses nature and eco-psychological methods to treat her patients told us. She declares that we must “stop allowing ourselves to be paralyzed by the news of these fateful events (and) take action. Do one thing to help your local community garden, support a group doing work in the trenches, do one little thing to make our climate better.”

Making small changes in your own life such as using less plastic, cycling to work, joining and contributing to environmental pressure groups, or using eco-friendly products can all help combat the feeling of powerlessness which is often at the root of Eco Anxiety. In other words, start taking action in whatever way you can. Small changes cannot combat the global issues at stake, but they can make you feel like you are helping to make a difference. As Dr Lindner says “The antidote to despair and anxiety is Action, otherwise we feel helpless and hopeless to enact the change we know is necessary.”

Another form of treatment that can help with Eco Anxiety is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBD. This is essentially the notion to replace negative thought patterns with more logical and healthy ones by inducing the patient to engage with possibilities that can be ‘coped’ with instead of focusing only on scenarios that are devastating.

Dr Lindner adds that getting back in to nature itself is also beneficial to our wellbeing and can be a way to stave off the effects of Eco Anxiety

“Get out in Nature – put your feet in the dirt, build a sand castle, breathe in the forest air – research shows that depression and anxiety are impacted significantly by being outdoors, around animals, or in a natural setting.”

Dr. Daniel Maughan says in the Costing The Earth podcast, as climate change is such an acute issue and will affect us all in the near future, action must increase within our society itself, and this will inevitably affect the sense of impotence that lies at the root of our Eco Anxiety.

“…if the government makes some changes, if we as a society can start responding in a positive way to this potential catastrophe, then that might help alleviate this learned helplessness”.

Written by Chris Knowles

Images courtesy of Getty

Relevant links:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.ecowatch.com/more-children-are-being-treated-for-eco-anxiety-but-also-turning-fear-into-political-action-2640400343.amp.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/b2e7ee32-ad28-4ec4-89aa-a8b8c98f95a5

https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wellbeing/a24395537/ecoanxiety-definition-treatment/#r3z-addoor

https://www.ukhypnosis.com/2019/06/16/identifying-and-helping-with-eco-anxiety/

https://theconversation.com/im-a-psychotherapist-heres-what-ive-learned-from-listening-to-children-talk-about-climate-change-123183

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/15/parents-told-not-terrify-children-climate-change-rising-numbers/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

https://climatepsychologyalliance.org/

https://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/about/who-we-are

https://medium.com/asparagus-magazine/eco-anxiety-climate-change-coping-treatment-cbt-72625b481f54

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/eco-anxiety2.htm

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/stories/eco-anxiety

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.livescience.com/amp/65843-climate-change-anxiety-is-real.html

https://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf

http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1654087,00.html

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Photo: Xijian / Getty Images

So what exactly is binaural 3-d audio? Professional nature recordist Lang Elliot explains binaural as “hearing with two ears, as we humans do”, and goes on to define binaural recording as “using a microphone setup that simulates the human listening apparatus”. The sound is ‘captured’ exactly as we hear it, with every element of our 3 dimensional hearing experience recorded by two special microphones, set apart from each other like ears, which emulate the functions of the human head, and can pinpoint and record the sounds we hear in the exact location that we perceive them. As our ears are located on either side of a dense skull, with a sponge-like brain in between, each ear hears the same sound at a different time. Depending on how loud and in which direction the sound emanates from, the brain is able to process and assimilate these tiny fractions of strength and time to map out an accurate signal location. Similarly, the microphones used in binaural recording are designed specifically to replicate these functions, and to be more effective, can be placed within a soft head shaped mould complete with ear canals. By being so close in structure to the human head, all the complex audio frequency variations that occur (which are known as head-related transfer functions – or HRTFs), are recorded to create the 3 dimensional effect of ‘normal’ hearing when we listen back on 2 stereo speakers, or headphones. Of course we are not actually listening to the sounds recorded from the multiple locations and directions that we would be hearing in real life, so the 3-d audio processing used in the binaural recording is in effect, tricking our brains into believing we are actually experiencing this multi-dimensional soundscape, whilst listening back only using binary stereo speakers.

When it comes to listening to the sounds of nature this method is extremely rewarding, and very effective. The sound of a bird swooping overhead, crickets chirping in unison from multiple directions, insects buzzing, and the gentle audio ambience of the natural environment with it’s multiple sound sources can be recreated perfectly using this technique. Tuning in to field recordings made with 3-d binaural audio, it is possible to completely immerse oneself in the sounds of nature and reap the benefit of these often soothing sounds which have been proven to alleviate stress and improve general wellbeing.

There are some challenges however. Binaural audio recording is usually enacted using soft head microphones to replicate the ears and head, but each person’s ears and head are different, and this can affect the timing and distance of the sounds we hear. If the person listening back has a different head shape to the original soft head microphone set up, then the recording won’t seem as effective to them.

Doing accurate field recordings also presents difficulties beyond just the microphone technology, as German field recordist Sebastien-Thies Hinrichson says – “When you do nature sound recording with binaural microphones you have to find locations that are free of human-made noise.”-

Microphones are extremely sensitive and can record sounds from miles away, such as traffic and high altitude aircraft noise. But there are some useful tips for minimising these unwanted noises, which when adhered to, can improve the recordings immensely, such as recording nature at dawn – the dawn chorus is not only loud, but occurs at a time in the early hours when human activity is at a minimum. Also following nature’s pointers can help – a warm, still summer’s morning will yield better results than a windy, rainy one where the ambient and delicate sounds of wildlife will be obscured by the noise of the weather (unless the sound of heavy rain is what you are aiming to record!). And of course, being as far away from human activity as is possible. After all, the aim of binaural 3-d audio, especially when recording the intricate and unspoiled sounds of nature, is to improve a listener’s experience, and by doing so, create an audio world that is wholly satisfying and completely immersive.

Written by Chris Knowles

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Can you tell us about how the concept of 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter came about?

I worked for many years in the BBC’s Natural History Unit and I have always been fascinated and curious about the Natural World and how it works. We are always on the look-out for great stories about wildlife and how we, as humans, connect with the natural world. This series is about exactly that. It’s about the remarkable things that animals can do and how we might copy them to solve problems in our own world. If you think about it, Nature is full of problem solvers, after all they have had millions of years to test things out, to learn and adapt from trial and error, so now it’s our turn to take inspiration from them and to emulate their solutions in our own designs. This is called Biomimicry.

What has been the most surprising discovery you’ve unpicked, so far?

“Ha ha! That is an impossible question to answer because I found each and every one absolutely fascinating. I mean take the very first episode in which we look at the design of the Japanese Bullet train. When the train was first designed there was a problem.  Just before the trains exited the tunnels there was very loud boom. It turned out that air was building up in front of the trains as they entered and travelled through the tunnels. This compressed air ran ahead of the train and then made a big boom as it came out the other end. It was an engineer with an interest in birds who observed that when kingfishers dived into water, they barely made a sound. He realised this was down to the streamline shape of the bird’s beak. So, after careful study of the beak, he redesigned the front of train to look more like a Kingfisher’s beak. This together with a couple of other bird-inspired designs which you can hear about in the podcast means that the air didn’t build up and the train is faster and quieter. How amazing is that?

As a listener, what hooks you into a podcast?

I enjoy podcasts where there is a story and a revelation. Before we made “30 Animals that made us Smarter” I listened to “50 Things that made the Modern Economy” which is also a BBC World Service podcast. Again it was the stories and the revelation that got me hooked. I love unexpected twists as well! It’s the same with radio programmes that I make. I hope the audience come away with that “Well I never knew that” feeling!

You have 200+ 5-star reviews for 30 Animals – do you incorporate feedback from listeners into development of your episodes?

It’s been fantastic to get feedback from listeners from around the globe. I hope if we do another series we can include their animal-inspired story suggestions. In the meantime, there is a special episode at the end of the series, Episode 31, which is a show recorded in front of an audience and includes an interview with a young teenager who had contacted us about the podcast with a story idea, so it was great to involve him as well as an architectural designer (Tia Kharrat) whose work features in the podcast and the series composer, Dan Pollard.

Packing a huge topic into 15 minutes must be challenging – how do you decide what stays in the podcast and what is edited out?

I think the trick is to restrict ourselves to just one story in each podcast and only include other related stories if we can keep them short. Initially we aimed for the narrations to be about 10minutes long and that always left us a bit of ‘wriggle room’ to expand! It’s a good discipline to keep things short and easily digestible but sometimes that’s easier said than done! We do include links for each episode on the website so listeners can find out more information about each story. There are also some wonderful animations by Jules Bartl on the website to accompany seven of the stories which are both great fun and informative.

30 Animals seems age-agnostic – what do you take into consideration when creating a podcast that is as appealing to young people as it is to adults?

As you say, what has really surprised and delighted us is how the podcast has appealed to such a wide breadth of ages. We have had great response from a much younger audience than certainly I was expecting eg 12 and 13 year olds, as well as much older listeners. I think this is because the stories really do have a ‘wow’ factor; for example, octopuses that can change the colour and texture of their skin to match their background, fish that don’t freeze in sub-zero temperatures, geckos that can walk up walls and along ceilings. This stuff is better than science fiction and it’s REAL! It’s as amazing to young people as well as to much older adults and I think that’s the key to why the series has such a wide appeal. The Natural World is fascinating to us all regardless of our age. I think the narrative style is also important. It’s deliberately conversational which I hope engages listeners and helps them follow what at times is quite complex science ideas.

How is sound design important to your production?

The sound design is really important. The composer, Dan Pollard, created the music. I discussed the series when we first met and played him some demo pieces. Dan was really inspired by the idea that nature transformed human designs like the Japanese Bullet train I mentioned earlier. He was keen to do something similar with the music – using natural sounds which he manipulated as part of the music, morphing recorded sounds into notes and chords. This is often very subtle but I think that’s why the music works. He’s done a brilliant job. I was also really keen because the series is about the Natural World and drawing on animals for its inspiration that we use natural sounds to illustrate the narration and immerse the audience in the landscapes or activities we are describing. Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson recorded the wonderful sounds you hear. I also use these sounds to add a light touch here and then to the narration; making animals respond to Patrick Aryee’s narration! The sharp-eared amongst you may hear that in some of the introductions.

Do you have any personal examples of ways animals have inspired you or solved personal challenges?

Ha ha! What immediately comes to mind is spiders which build their webs every day! When things go wrong, try, try, try again and don’t give up! Also, in episode 5 of the podcast we tell the story of how bats which use a technique called echolocation to navigate their surroundings could help people with a visual disability. Bats produce pulses of sounds and the listen for the echoes to build up 3D images of their surroundings. By clicking with our tongue we can also produce sounds that can be used in a similar way to navigate our surroundings. (You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear how to do this). Well, I have tried this and it is amazing! It’s like gaining an extra sense! Try it!

What does the future hold for 30 animals? Will there be another series; is it an ongoing production?

We’d all be keen to make another series. We’re on the look out for more stories we might get into it. So if you know a good story, you can e-mail us at 30animals@bbc.com They’ve been brilliant so far so please do let us know if you have a story that has just got be in the series.

You can subscribe to 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter on Spotify, BBC Sounds, Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform.

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Finding footprints and signs of activity will tell you what’s happened on last night’s hunt, but once the animal vanishes into the tangled undergrowth the only way to track it is to stand and listen for a call. Not from the tiger itself, but an alarm call from potential prey alerting their fellow animals to the location of the predator. In this way, Webb and his crew could track the calls and therefore the tiger’s progress through the jungle. The team’s local guides would then be able to predict its path and where the tiger was likely to emerge.

Webb’s team found one of the most useful vocal indicators were langur monkeys, who amazingly use a barking alarm call for leopards and a different call for tigers. Chital deer, favourite prey of tigers, respond to the langur alarm call and begin a persistent barking of their own. One of the most defined calls to listen for when tracking is given by sambar deer, who make a guttural squeak when they become aware of a tiger in the vicinity. An explosion of alarm shouts from different animals that echoes around the jungle indicates that the tiger has been hunting.

Webb was also surprised at how vocal the tigers were themselves, calling to each other, growling during mating and roaring afterwards.

Humans have always had a desire to communicate with animals, but a wide vocal range is beneficial to other inter-species communication too. Learning new sounds means parrots, for instance, are able to change their vocalisation to blend in with new flocks and learning new sounds can also be a way of showing off brain power in a mating ritual. Beluga whales and dolphins learn hundreds of new vocalizations throughout their lives and orangutans and even elephants have been recorded appearing to imitate human speech.

Not all animals can do it, however; there are particular brain circuits that control the muscles for vocalizations, and only some animals have them. A set of over 50 genes showed a similar pattern of activity in the speech-control centres of several vocal learners, including humans, parrots, songbirds and hummingbirds. This means humans use the same genes to speak as songbirds use to sing. Animals that can’t learn new sounds, like chickens and macaques, don’t activate these genes in the same way,

As Webb puts it, it’s very exciting to home in on “monkey frequency” and use the animal’s calls to track the progress of another animal you cannot see. Rather than talking to the animals, as Dr Doolittle said, maybe we should focus on listening to them.

The BBC Earth Podcast returns this autumn with more stories of wildlife, habitats and human experience. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the first episode!

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ERIC AND THE BEES

The importance of nature’s healing qualities has been identified and encouraged in recent years. One man who fully appreciates this is former soldier Eric Grandon. After leaving the military, Eric suffered from terrible PTSD that left him unable to function and considering suicide frequently. But Eric was saved by being gifted two beehives. “Once I got into the hive for the first time, that’s when the magic happened,” he says. Working with the bees completely changed Eric’s mental state: “The outside world went away.” The cohesiveness of the beehive replicated the order of the military life Eric had lost. It’s fair to say that bees saved his life.

MIKE AND THE WHALES

Loneliness can be one of the most damaging and emotionally destructive experiences anyone can encounter. But one man has taken the solitude of one majestic creature and transformed it into a beacon of hope. Mike Ambs loves whales and is intrigued by their song. But one particular whale caught his interest – a lone blue whale who sings at a far lower frequency than any other, known as the 52-hertz whale. “It was a really unique calming sound. You feel it more than you can hear it.” But, as a consequence, this whale is never answered. But Mike thinks the perseverance of this whale is a parable for hope. He has shared the sounds of the whale which has helped people with insomnia to sleep and writers to overcome writers block.

THE DESMONDS AND THE CHIMPS

The mysteries of the blue whale may continue to elude us, but other creatures are far more familiar. Chimps live in family units and have incredibly strong bonds with their mothers. When these bonds are broken, baby chimps can suffer massive trauma. Jim and Jenny Desmond, experienced primate specialists, visited Liberia with plans to stay for a month but ended up opening a reserve for chimps orphaned by the illegal bush meat trade. “They sleep in the bed with us. They go with us everywhere.” The Desmonds care for these infant chimps, providing the 24-hour nurturing and care they need to survive and grow. “It’s pretty crazy, you have a chimp attached to you all the time. If not more than one.”

LAUREN AND THE LAKE

Nature also provides a great way to escape. Sometimes metaphorically in terms of ‘losing yourself’ for just a moment, sometimes more specifically. Florida native Lauren Gay found herself in a crumbling relationship and knew she had to act. She travelled solo to The Azores and discovered a green and glorious paradise. “I call it my natural church,” she says. Sitting by a beautiful lake with unusual blue and green waters formed by volcanic eruption, she realised this destruction wrought something beautiful and that the turbulence of her own relationship would eventually lead to something positive. Lauren now blogs and podcasts about her adventures in the wild.

SACHA AND THE SWANS

Every year, Bewick swans conduct a truly epic journey travelling from Russia to their winter home in the UK. But in recent years fewer and fewer have survived the journey. No one really knew why, but ecologist Sacha Dench decided to find out. And to do that, she realised she would have to fly with the birds as they made their way across Europe. There was just one problem. Sacha hated flying after taking a traumatic, turbulent flight. But the welfare of the birds overruled her phobia and she took to the air in a tiny paramotor, following the flight of the birds and raising awareness to those on the flightpath, suspected of hunting them. The plan appears to have worked as those once dedicated to hunting the swans are now protecting them. “They’ve started to care about the future of the Bewick swan.”

The BBC Earth Podcast returns this autumn with more stories of wildlife, habitats and human experience. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the first episode.

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Tell us about a day in the life of a sound recordist specialising in ecology…

I was first introduced into the realm of sound recording from an artistic perspective and I had been used to having fairly controlled conditions with which to work. When it comes to recording outdoors and in nature, however, the conditions are far from controlled. When setting up for a new recording I might have a general idea of what I want to capture, but the sound content of what I will actually be recording is completely unpredictable. It is important for me to keep an open mind and be able to find a sense of success no matter what the outcome. A successful recording is quite difficult to define since it really depends on what is done with the recording afterwards. As a recordist specializing in ecology, it is important for me to analyze each recording within a scientific context. Fields like acoustic ecology (or soundscape ecology) and animal bioacoustics are becoming a larger part of conservation research every year.

Recording nature must have its challenges, especially when it comes to audio quality, what equipment do you lean on to counteract whatever nature throws at you?

Wind protection is a nature recordist’s best friend. Without protection from even the lightest of breezes most microphones won’t be able to capture a usable recording. I always make sure to have the best windscreens available for the job, and even simple things such as microphone clips or flexible tripods to hang on tree branches can give me more options for placement that will perhaps avoid issues that come with recording at the mercy of mother nature. I use microphones that are made by an independent company called LOM Label because I enjoy supporting the recordist who started it a few years back and he is constantly researching new ways to record sound which I think is important for almost any line of work.

How did you get into recording sounds of nature?

I have always been an avid outdoorsman and lover of nature, but I never really gave much thought to the idea that I could have a job working outside until I went to college. I was studying sound engineering and design at Berklee College of Music when I happened across a book in the library that completely opened my eyes (and ears) to the idea of natural sounds. The book, The Great Animal Orchestra by legendary recordist Bernie Krause, discussed how music is emulated in the natural world and the important role that sound plays in nature. These ideas really resonated with me as a young musician and nature lover. From there, I slowly combined my passions of sound and nature through education such as field courses in acoustic ecology and collaborative projects like a group recording expedition to southern Africa.

How much has your set up changed from that very first time you came out to record nature to now?

The very first time I recorded the sounds of nature I used my phone, so I would say that my set up has changed quite drastically since then. My recording kit was slowly built up as I needed more equipment for things such as school and local indie films projects, but eventually I found myself taking trips around my favorite parks just to record the sounds of the natural world. The biggest and most important changes I think has been my mindset. It takes a lot of practice and patience in order to know how to listen and correctly assess each environment. Audio technology has come very far in the last decade and most commercially available microphones have very minor differences that separate them. Microphones capture what they hear objectively, but they will never replace the act of listening with our own ears.

Tell us about your own podcast!

The podcast title, Listen Over Hear, is a play on words meant to emphasize the importance of being able to genuinely and actively listen to our environment instead of simply hearing it. It’s a brand new project of mine that focuses on the relationship between human culture and nature in various regions and forms. I have always been fascinated with geography and how different groups of people express themselves, and I’m hoping that this podcast will shed some light on how the musical and artistic culture of a place has been shaped by its unique soundscapes and the role that nature has played in the community. I have recorded the material for the first episodes and am in the process of gearing up for the initial release! It will be available sometime in October on all the main platforms.

What have you learned about the relationship between active and subconscious listening, as a result of producing your podcast?

So far, I have already been surprised to find that many people are excited to learn new ways of listening to their environment but simply lack the understanding of how to achieve it. A good way to start is by going on intentional sound walks and noting all the sounds you hear. As humans we have a tendency to identify and label everything we hear, but by letting go of these labels and instead paying attention to the textures, pitches, and rhythms of the world around us we can slowly redefine what listening means. From an evolutionary standpoint, humans have used hearing, even subconsciously, as a way to connect to our environment and identify our place in the world; It is just one step further to open up, actively listen, and use it as a tool to better understand and relate to each other and the natural world around us.

What has been a podcast highlight, to date?

For the first episode I visited Asheville, North Carolina in the Appalachian mountains to interview Jim Debardi, communications manager at Moog Synthesizers. Ever since Moog Music relocated to Asheville it has been a staple of the community, accepted for its ingenuity and ability to connect the natural roots of Appalachian folk culture with advanced electronics. It was neat to see how every synthesizer was hand built and incorporated things that represented the local history and relationship between people and nature. Their ideas such as repurposing local trees to use as components for some of the world’s best electronic instruments help reinforce the importance of nature in a digital world.

Your surroundings must play a big role in your recordings too, what are your first steps when scoping out a location to record in?

The first and most important step in my process is deciding what I hear that needs to be captured in a recording. Unique or polluted environments are points of emphasis simply because they are subject to change more quickly. Keystone species of an ecosystem, changes in biodiversity, and causes for concern are all things that I look for in my recordings. Soundscape recordings provide great indicators for habitat health and it is becoming increasingly important to document these soundscapes considering the rate at which unique ecosystems are disappearing.

How do you prepare for differing soundscapes such as recording sounds of the weather to recording sounds of a small animal?

With a lot of luck! Many good recordings come down to chance, especially weather. It is possible to take precautions, however. I can use outdoor skills such as building a natural shelter from available resources to prevent extraneous noises from rain and other environmental factors hitting equipment. This maintains the illusion of human absence. For recording specific animals, it can be helpful to do research beforehand such as setting camera traps to know where and when to place microphones.

What preparations do you tend to take beforehand to try and achieve the best recording possible?

Microphone placement is very important to me because a recording acts as a spatial representation of the time and place and is directly dependent on where a microphone is positioned. For instance, placing microphones around a lake or wetland during either dawn or dusk is a good way of capturing frog choruses, but it would not be the best way to hear other wildlife in the region because frogs tend to dominate the soundscape during those times and places. Another good example of how placement affects a recording is geographic features such as cliffs and rocks which will have a resonating and echoing effect on the sounds that reflect off of them.

Working with wildlife must come with its unexpected moments, what do you do when something doesn’t go to plan when recording?

That’s very true! Working with nature means that I can expect something completely different every time I step out to record. Being able to be flexible with the results is necessary when it comes to recording wildlife. There was one overnight recording session while in South Africa where I came back to retrieve my equipment only to discover that a baboon had untied my cable and stolen a microphone. While it was unfortunate to lose, the next night I was able to adapt a more secure method. There is a learning curve to recording in a new environment – especially one with thieving monkeys! Working with wildlife is exciting, but being in an unpredictable environment often means weighing the risk of something being broken or stolen with the reward of capturing something incredible.

Learn more about Luke’s podcast, Listen Over Hear, on his website. Check back in, in Autumn, for the announcement of its launch: https://lukewarmsound.com/listenoverhear

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