Cat among the penguins

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All about Cat Among the Penguins!

Cat Among the Penguins cuts through the hype about environmental issues. Each episode offers an honest analysis of controversial topics in the environment, nature and conservation.

We are two friends who see things differently – throughout our careers, we have found endless nuances in debates about nature. We’re now here to share them in a podcast. Sensationalism won’t protect nature and the environment, so instead we set out to explore the debates with science, clarity and compassion.

We aim to be challenged, so we look forward to hearing from our listeners – if you’ve got something to say about any of our debates, please leave a comment under that episode. We will finish each series with a wrap-up discussing your comments. To hear how the podcast came about and why it’s called Cat Among the Penguins, listen to our first episode.

Rebecca Nesbit

Even as a child, I was passionate about the environment, and my first experiences of conservation came as a volunteer warden on islands including Skomer and Fetlar, Shetland. This led to me studying butterfly migration for my PhD, based at the world’s oldest agricultural research station, Rothamsted. When I was counting butterflies during my fieldwork in Gibraltar, I couldn’t believe that anyone would pay me to do this.

During my PhD, I developed a love of science writing, so pursued roles in science communication. I have done everything from running a citizen science flying ant survey to training honeybees to detect explosives. I have visited universities on four continents with Nobel Prize laureates, led nature walks and BioBlitzes, and attended the National Funeral Exhibition.

Outside work, ideas began to fall into place as I read more about both science and environmental philosophy. This came together as my book, Tickets for the Ark, which explores the ethics of nature conservation: what should we protect and why? The Cat Among the Penguins podcast continues those discussions.  

I now work on offshore renewable energy in the Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth, which is where I met Jenny. I live in Cornwall, where I pursue my hobbies of art, sailing and orienteering with equal enthusiasm though not equal skill. My garden is a wildlife meadow, home to over 350 moth species (and counting).

Jenny Hickman

Since I can remember I have had an insatiable curiosity about nature, and how the world works. After scraping through education and discovering that a Geography A Level did not take me adventuring in to rainforests and coral reefs, but to the freezer section in Tesco, I decided to call it a day with education and go figure out the world in my own way. At 19, I found myself faced with two job prospects. Full time donut peddler at Krispy Kreme donuts, or a temporary job selling tickets at London Aquarium. One of the best decisions I have ever made, my temporary ticketing job began a decade long adventure in environmental education, feeding sharks, cuddling a porcupine at a zoo, hand rearing goat kids on city farm, camping out under the stars in forest schools and bushcraft camps, but most importantly sharing my love of nature with anyone and everyone who wanted to listen (and many who didn’t.)

At 29, I realised I had found something I loved deeply enough that I actually wanted to return to education; the ocean. In 2018 I moved to Plymouth to study Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology, where, much to the surprise of absolutely everyone (especially my parents), I discovered an aptitude for research that I am sure did not exist before. My BSc led to a Masters in Marine Conservation, followed by a couple of years working in research roles, investigating shipwrecks, offshore wind, blue sharks, and marine protected areas, before leading me to the Netherlands, where I have begun my PhD.

Uncovering the secrets of nature is my very favourite thing to do. Nature is my safe haven, and my grounding force. It is, without exaggeration, what gets me out of bed in the morning and how I drop back in to my body when the rest of the world feels like chaos. If we allow it to, nature will protect, restore, amaze and confound us for the rest of our lives. If the only thing I achieve during my little visit to planet Earth is getting people excited about nature, then it has been a life well lived.