"Usually when you have humans arriving on these islands, they often bring with them unfortunately a suite of predators like rats, cats…and they wipe out lots of native species. And we know that introduced species, especially rodents, have been the major cause of losses of island biotas.” Dr Melanie Massaro shares what we need to do to save endangered species, especially with animal populations on islands. What makes island species particularly vulnerable to extinction and how can we reduce our impact on these populations? Melanie is an evolutionary and behavioural ecologist with an interest in a broad range of topics, including life-history evolution, contemporary adaptation, consequences of population bottlenecks, interactions between native and exotic species and conservation physiology (for more details, please refer to her research page). Melanie joined Charles Sturt University after completing two postdoctoral fellowships in New Zealand. Episode recorded: June 2019 Host: Wes Ward, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

“Before I did this course I worked at the RSPCA in Canberra. A lot of the time I was the first person people would see when they brought in injured wildlife. So I became really interested in how to reduce human impact on wildlife.” Amy is a Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management student at Charles Sturt with a passion for animals and the environment. Amy shares her experiences working at the RSPCA and studying at Charles Sturt in Port Macquarie ….and her love for bats! Episode recorded: 17 March 2020 Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

BONUS EP: Professor Lee Baumgartner discusses the Death in the Darling: the fish kill event in Menindee in early 2019. Episode recorded: 2019 Host: Wes Ward, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

“You might not have realised but there’s a war between the northern basin and southern basin. There’s already people talking about ‘Why should they get more water than we get water?’ If I look overseas, I do a lot of work in the Mekong and Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are impacted by what happens in China, the upstream country…the water wars are already starting. What is the one thing people need to live? Good quality water.” Professor Baumgartner reflects on the Menindee fish kills one year on, the impact of the 2019-2020 bushfires on our water systems, and where we’re headed as our unrelenting desire for water impacts those around us. Professor Lee Baumgartner is a Freshwater Fish Ecologist who designs, supervises and undertakes into various aspects of the biology and ecology of freshwater fish. His research has been in several broad areas, including fish passage and fish migration, dietary interactions among native fish species, the impact of human disturbance on aquatic ecosystems and, more recently, the effectiveness of native fish stocking. Professor Baumgartner’s work has also focused on developing innovative methods for assessment (such as the adaptation of sonar technology to for migration studies) and improving existing fish collection techniques. Much of his work is applied and has fed back into adaptive management strategies which have resulted in state and national policy development. Recently, he has been involved in research activities in the lower Mekong Basin; specifically understanding mechanisms to help fisheries recover from human disturbance and quantifying the value of fish in a food security context. Episode recorded: 7 April 2020 (BONUS EP 2019) Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Bonus episode Wes Ward, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound. Thank you for listening to Charles Sturt Stories.

“As I was through all these beautiful beautiful places, I started noticing all the problems alpine areas are facing – climate change, invasive species. They have really delicate ecosystems and I just decided that was something I wanted to do something about, so I signed up for my degree in the hopes of going into protected area management.” Clay is a Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management student at Charles Sturt and a New Colombo scholar who works for the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital and has a passion for area protection of alpine environments. Listen to Clay share his experiences with work and study, and hear what he thinks our next generation needs to do to combat the threats to our natural environment. Episode recorded: 12 March 2020. Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

“Even though from an individual perspective COVID-19 might not be serious, from a population health perspective, there are a lot of people who have died from it now around the world and its ability to overwhelm health systems because so many people become infected so quickly is extremely serious….Within a month you might have 14-15 flu infections – or 50 000 coronavirus infections.” Dr Victoria Brookes explains the rapid transmission of COVID-19 and why its ability to spread so quickly makes it dangerous to populations – and what strategies we need to look at to prevent it. Dr Brookes is a Senior Lecturer in Population Health and Production at the School of Animal and Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga. She is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and after spending several years in practice in the UK and Australia, she completed her PhD at The University of Sydney (preparedness for exotic disease incursions for the pig industry in Australia, funded by Australian Pork Limited). Other projects in which she is involved include investigation of rabies outbreaks in Punjab, India, and a global research collaboration to investigate the use of ensemble modelling for FMD outbreak prediction. As well as core epidemiologic methods, Dr Brookes has expertise in risk assessment and disease modelling. Dr Brookes has a particular interest in zoonoses and transboundary disease spread. She has on-the-ground emergency animal disease response experience from the 2001 outbreak of FMD in the UK and the 2007 outbreak of equine influenza in Australia. Her current role involves research into emerging infectious diseases and One Health, as well as teaching in the areas of population medicine and veterinary public health. Episode recorded: 6 May 2020 Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

“Birds and bats are one of the dominant invertebrate groups on earth, they go everywhere and surround us in our lives, so it’s not that surprising that there’s enough overlap every now and then for diseases to spill over…The reality is, we need to isolate the risk and deal with that. We can become so obsessed with wet markets but the last global pandemic arose from the North American pig industry, which was swine flu.” Dr Andrew Peters discusses his career to date and how birds and bats can contribute to the spillover of virus and disease to humans. What are the social, physical and environmental factors contributing? What do we really need to worry about and why did COVID-19 spill over, while lots of other viruses don’t? Andrew worked as a veterinarian after graduating in 2004, based initially at a mixed practice on the north coast of NSW and then at a bird, reptile and wildlife focused practice in Sydney. In 2009 he left practice to focus on research, doing a PhD at Charles Sturt University. He spent four years catching wild migratory birds, living in remote parts of northern Australia and Papua New Guinea and doing phylogenetic analyses in the lab in order to examine the relationship between people, the diverse native pigeon species of Australasia and a particular group of single-celled parasites. Episode recorded: 1 May 2020 Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound. Thank you for listening to Charles Sturt Stories.

“Even though fascism was considered to be defeated conventionally after WW2, and while that meant those states were defeated, it didn’t mean the ideology was defeated. From 2009, broadly, we saw right-ring extremism surge internationally and that was echoed in Australia.” How much do we know about the history of right-wing terrorism? How far back does our history of right-wing terrorism go, and how did it take root in Australia? And at what point do ideological extreme views turn into terrorist acts? Kristy Campion talks with host Jess Mansour-Nahra about the history of right-wing terrorism in Australia and what it means for us today. Dr Kristy Campion is a Lecturer of Terrorism Studies with the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security. A historian by training, her postgraduate and research expertise has focused on terrorism and extremism, both domestically and internationally. Kristy recently met with the New Zealand government and police to discuss her expertise. Episode recorded: 5 April 2019 Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound. CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of terrorism and extremist ideology and events.

“The media portrays it in a binary way...that we knew so much about jihadist terrorism and that policing and intelligence communities didn’t have any knowledge of white supremacists and ultra-nationalists. The answer is, these kinds of threats were also on the radar. But it’s true to say that we collectively don’t know as much as perhaps we should on these individuals and these groups.” Patrick spoke with host Wes Ward a month after the tragic 2019 Christchurch shooting and they discuss the immediate aftermath of the event for intelligence agencies. How much did intelligence communities know about right-wing terrorism and what is can be done about it? Patrick is an Associate Professor in the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security. He is a former intelligence analyst with experience working in national security and law enforcement agencies in Australia. Prof Walsh is currently a senior researcher at the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security (AGSPS). He is co-theme leader (emerging threats) for the $140 million government and private sector funded Cooperative Research Centre Cyber Security. He is also Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery grant ($277, 551) Intelligence and National Security Ethics, Efficacy and Accountability with Professor Seamus Miller (CSU) and ANU. Prof Walsh has 30 books, book chapters and peer-reviewed articles on intelligence reform/capability, leadership, bio-terrorism, strategic intelligence and intelligence education issues. He has been widely consulted on intelligence capability and training matters in the corrections, policing and national security sectors in Australia and internationally. Episode recorded: 26 April 2019 Host: Wes Ward, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound. CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of terrorism and extremist ideology and events.

“I joined the police just after the Equal Opportunities Act…so it was all a bit unusual to have women doing the full range of police duties. Was there resistance? Yes I think it was fair to say there was a fair bit of resistance! You were breaking new ground all the time.” Trying to avoid the steelworks in Sunderland meant Tracey became the first woman in the detective’s office in the force at that time. After navigating a world where her (male) boss would profile her boyfriends, and her fellow detectives didn’t speak to her for the first three months, Tracey worked on serious crimes, hostage negotiations, and moved to Australia to teach. Professor Tracey Green is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences at Charles Sturt and has 22 years police experience as a sworn officer in the UK. Serving to the rank of detective inspector she has extensive experience in the areas of serious and serial criminal investigation, in particular homicide, drug and police corruption. Episode recorded: 4 April 2019 Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound. Thank you for listening to Charles Sturt Stories. CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of crime and violent events.