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Science & Medicine

Trees A Crowd

David Oakes

Ever wondered what happens when you fill a cello with bees? Or how robins have successfully colonised the outer-reaches of our universe? Or why the world is destined to be populated purely b...

Episodes

20 of 151 episodes

Zack Polanski: Wild Card at the Wild Summit

Recorded live at the Wild Summit, Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, sits down with David Oakes to talk about wh...

27:10Sep 23, 2026

Painted Dogs of Hwange: Where the Wild Pack Runs

Recorded on the outskirts of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, this episode drops David into the high-stakes reality of animal conservation....

1:05:57May 12, 2026

The Executive Branch: Beccy Speight (RSPB), Darren Moorcroft (Woodland Trust) and Craig Bennett (The Wildlife Trusts)

Around a table at the Woodland Trust's headquarters in Grantham, David sits down with three of the most powerful voices in British conservat...

1:21:49Mar 17, 2026

Rakan Zahawi: Giant ambitions at the Charles Darwin Foundation

Following on from two episodes recorded on San Cristóbal Island, this episode finds David having set sail across the Galapagos archipelago f...

32:44Mar 3, 2026

Prof. Carlos Mena: Trust the Locals, Trust the Science, Protect the Galápagos

This episode finds David in conversation with the Galápagos-born geographer, Director of Universidad San Francisco de Quito’s Galápagos camp...

36:59Feb 24, 2026

Prof. Diana Pazmiño: Rays, Research and the Real Guardians of the Galápagos

A Galápagos native – born on Isla Isabela – marine biologist and conservation geneticist Diana Pazmiño focuses her research on rays, sharks,...

55:18Feb 17, 2026

Abraham Joffe: The Secret Trade in Polar Bears (or, “How to Save an Animal Everyone Thinks Is Already Protected!”)

In the second of two CITES-centric episodes , this episode finds David in conversation with Australian filmmaker Abraham Joffe – director of...

34:59Dec 9, 2025

Iris Ho: Primates, Policy, and the Power of CITES

Recorded on the outskirts of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, this episode finds David at the 20th Conference of the Parties to CITES – the global tre...

31:12Dec 8, 2025

Elephant in the Room: Wildlife Trust of India’s Rapid Response to Grounded Humans & Uprooted Wanderers

Following on from the conversation with Dr Bhaskar Choudhury in the previous episode... Recorded further south, near Bandhavgarh National Pa...

18:49Nov 20, 2025

Dr Bhaskar Choudhury: The Floodplain Guardians and the Elephants of Kaziranga

David travels to the floodplains of Assam to meet the Wildlife Trust of India’s Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, veterinarian and project head of the C...

30:01Nov 18, 2025

"Her Deepness" Dr Sylvia Earle & Dr Tessa Hempson: Protect the Oceans Like Your Life Depends Upon It... (Because It Does!)

Amid the energy of the IUCN World Conservation Congress, David meets legendary marine biologist, oceanographer, and explorer Dr Sylvia A. Ea...

40:14Oct 21, 2025

More M.G. Leonard: Further Furry Tales from the Riverbank

Last Summer, MGL shared a very exciting secret with me. A year on, it is with no small amount of delight that I can now finally cease my sil...

10:56Jul 1, 2025

M G Leonard: Storytelling and the power of Beetles! “Elytra Literature” from Shakespeare to Starship Troopers.

A writer concerned with wondrous beetles and beautiful birds, M G Leonard and her award-winning books, for the past decade, have been inspir...

1:00:24Sep 10, 2024

Dr Hannah Trayford & Rachel Bigsby: The State of the Badger, with the Badger Trust

Britain and its rural communities have been obsessed with Badgers for centuries. Sometimes cast as hero, sometimes as villain, tales of thei...

48:09Aug 13, 2024

Matthew Oates: A Paean to the Purple Emperor. One Man’s Passion-filled Past Devoted to Great British Butterflies

Matthew Oates is a naturalist, nature writer, and poet with a lifelong passion for butterflies. In the short sward of the Cotswolds, Matthew...

52:10Jul 9, 2024

Tim Kendall & Fiona Mathews (PART TWO): Eye spy an eco-engineer! Deep in the Forest of Dean in search of the contentious Wild Boar...

In the second part of David Oakes' interview with Professors Fiona Mathews and Tim Kendall, the mammal-enthused trio head into the Forest of...

34:51Jun 18, 2024

Fiona Mathews & Tim Kendall: Wild Mammals are far from 'Boar-ing'

Fiona Mathews is a professor of Environmental Biology at the University of Sussex and the founding Chair of Mammal Conservation Europe; Tim...

45:08Jun 11, 2024

Rob Stoneman: Resurrecting Rainforests, Protecting Peat and Constructing Conservation Kingdoms along our Coastlines

Rob Stoneman wanted to make lots of money in the oil industry… and then he found peat! This episode is a deep dive into that blancmange-like...

1:00:34May 14, 2024

The Horstmann Trust: Vultures in the Valleys!

The Horstmann Trust is a brand new charity primarily focused upon breeding and ultimately releasing back into the wild four species of endan...

1:10:17Apr 9, 2024

Andy & Peter Holden: A Filial History of Nest Building

At the launch of his latest video installation at the Tate St Ives, artist Andy Holden meets with David Oakes to discuss the creativity pres...

55:15Mar 12, 2024