Aliya chats with supervisor and mentor Dr. Brock Bergseth, a DECRA research fellow at James Cook University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. An interdisciplinary conservation scientist, Brock bridges the domains of marine biology and human behavior to help bolster conservation outcomes. He’s also a man driven by his passion and love for the outdoors, hunting, and self-development. His unique take on being a scientist is inspiring for anyone who feels boxed in by their current career or life path. 

This episode is divided into two parts, with Part one focused on Brock’s background, his take on conservation, and his relationship with nature and the academic/science world. 

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EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

0627: “I was three years down the pre-med path…I wasn’t doing it for all the right reasons…what really interests me?” - BB

1450: “conservation to me is my highest calling…what are the needs in conservation today?” -BB

1917: “What is your definition of conservation, why do you think its necessary, and how do you address the issue?” - AS

2501: “I think a lot of the issues that were dealing with in modern society is  the fact that we’ve so far removed ourselves from nature. Most people are lucky if they see a park for a whille. What is a park? Manicured grass…” - BB

3000: “Conservation almost boils down to conflict resolution…when you are working in field of conservation, you are navigating incredibly political decisions that have drastic impacts on peoples welfare, on people’s wellbeing…” - BB

35:14 “what do you view we need to best help marine conservation?” - AS

42:26 “[In academia] how do you navigate being on a grind, doing the kind of work you want to do, but also ensuring that you're bringing in different ways of thinking to... communicate with people [beyond science]?” - AS

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RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Dunning-Kruger Effect (psychology)

Ecologically noble savage debate (Hames 2007) - https://www.unl.edu/rhames/ms/savage-prepub.pdf

Rahui system (Bambridge 2016) - https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bw1hdq

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Dr. Brock Bergseth
JCU Research profile - https://research.jcu.edu.au/portfolio/brock.bergseth/
ARC Centre of Excellence profile - https://www.coralcoe.org.au/legacy/person/brock-bergseth
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/docb_rock/

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