What does it really mean to listen? For Andrew Skeoch, listening is far more than hearing sounds or identifying bird calls. It is the foundation of relationship—a practice that invites us to pay attention, to be influenced and ultimately to learn from the living world.

Drawing on more than three decades of recording wild soundscapes, Andrew reflects on what birds, ecosystems and the remarkable lives of other species can teach us. Together, we explore why nature is better understood as a web of relationships than a collection of separate parts, and ask what might become possible if we approached the world with greater curiosity, humility and attention.

Andrew Skeoch is a naturalist, environmental thinker, educator and one of Australia's best-known sound recordists. For more than three decades, he has recorded wild soundscapes across Australia and around the world through Listening Earth. He is the author of Deep Listening to Nature, which explores how listening can deepen our understanding of the natural world and our relationship with it.

You can find about more about Andrew, including where to hear his recordings and buy his book here

How well do we really know the trees around us? In this episode I sit down with multidisciplinary artist, ecologist and author Vicky Shukuroglou to talk about eucalypts — those familiar yet endlessly fascinating trees that shape much of the Australian landscape. Vicky shares the story behind her new field guide - Ace Guide to Eucalypts Melbourne - exploring what inspired the project and the immense effort involved in bringing it to life. What begins as a conversation about the guide soon becomes an exploration of observation itself: how we learn to recognise trees, what classification can and cannot tell us, and how deeper attention reveals an extraordinary world of variation, relationships and stories. Together we discuss Melbourne's diverse landscapes, from dry western plains and Ironbark forests to towering Mountain Ash country, exploring the ecology, evolution and cultural significance of these remarkable trees. Along the way we talk about conservation, habitat, climate change, the value of local knowledge and the importance of fostering a genuine relationship with the living world.

Through art, writing, community learning and ecological practice, Vicky encourages people to develop more attentive and meaningful relationships with place. Vicky is co-author and photographer of the book Loving Country and has spent many years exploring the connections between creativity, ecology, culture and care for Country.

Her latest book, Ace Guide to Eucalypts Melbourne, can be ordered online at: www.eucalyptsmelbourne.au. Visit the Facebook page – here.

Botanic gardens are sometimes viewed as rather static places — collections of plants, all neatly labelled. But as today's guest explains, they are so much more than that. In this episode I sit down with Professor Tim Entwistle, botanist, author and former director of three major botanic gardens including Melbourne, Sydney and Kew Gardens in London.

We explore the origins of botanic gardens, from the medicinal gardens of Renaissance Italy through to the great botanic gardens of today. Tim describes how modern gardens combine science, education, culture and recreation, becoming places where people can learn, celebrate and connect with the living world. We discuss some of Australia's most significant gardens, including Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens and the Australian Garden at Cranbourne, as well as the important role played by regional botanic gardens across Victoria and beyond.

Along the way we talk about plant collections, herbaria, seasonal calendars, First Nations knowledge, climate change adaptation and the future of urban green spaces. Tim also shares the story of a beloved 150-year-old oak tree in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens and how its legacy inspired his latest book.

Tim Entwistle is a botanist, writer and public communicator who has spent decades helping people better understand plants and their place in our lives. His books include Evergreen, The Skeptical Botanist and the forthcoming Three Worlds Oak.

Find out more about Tim at his blog: https://talkingplants.blogspot.com/

For comments, feedback or requests for future content on Just Ecology, please email karljust3@gmail.com

Mosses, along with their cousins the liverworts and hornworts, make up the world of the bryophytes, fascinating plants that have been on this planet for well over 400 million years. I sat down with Dr Cassia Read to explore these amazing plants, where we talk about where to find them, how different species are identified, why classification is important and the critical roles of bryophytes in our ecosystems. Cassia spent years studying and researching bryophytes in the drier semi-arid parts of south-eastern Australia, a place where many don’t expect to find these plants, and we learn about how mosses survive in such dry conditions. We also discuss the role of mosses in ecological restoration, and the emerging possibilities of including bryophytes in the healing of degraded lands.

Cassia is an ecologist, educator and garden designer whose work centres on creating landscapes that support both human wellbeing and biodiversity conservation in a changing climate. Her interests span landscape ecology, planting design, climate adaptation, urban greening, wildlife gardening and community engagement, and she has conducted fieldwork across a wide range of ecosystems throughout southern Australia. She is a co-founder of the Castlemaine Institute, an organisation focused on strengthening regional communities through research, education and collaborative responses to social and environmental challenges.

For comments, feedback or requests for future content on Just Ecology, please email karljust3@gmail.com

It was a real privilege to interview Doug Frood, one of Victoria’s most experienced ecologists, and someone who is widely respected for his depth of perception and understanding of landscape patterns and processes. Reading these patterns, from the micro to the macro, is one of the core skills of field ecology. Similar to how our ancestors lived on Country before the time of cities and supermarkets, ecology relies on distinguishing between thousands of plant species, , noticing subtle differences in habitats, reading tracks and listening to place.

In the podcast we delve into some of these patterns, including how different types of plant communities are distributed across the landscape. We begin by exploring what a plant community is, how it forms, and what influences where it occurs, before moving into the complex interactions between ecological processes over deep time. We talk about Doug’s years of work mapping vegetation patterns across parts of the Victorian Riverina, and the blend of intuitive and scientific approaches involved.

We also talk about Doug’s passion for connecting people with nature, pondering how humans have at times become so disconnected and how we can find a path back to wholeness.

Doug has been one of my most influential teachers over the last 20 years and I am really grateful that he took time for this conversation.

You can check out more about Doug's work here

For comments, feedback or requests for future content on Just Ecology, please email karljust3@gmail.com

Environmental law is meant to protect nature—but how well does it actually work?

In this episode, I sit down with Brendan Sydes to unpack the realities behind the legal frameworks shaping conservation in Australia. Brendan is an environmental lawyer and policy expert with decades of experience across the sector. He is currently with the Australian Conservation Foundation, where he works on environmental advocacy and legal reform, and has previously held senior roles with the Environmental Defenders Office. He is also President of Connecting Country and Chair of the Biolinks Alliance, bringing a strong focus on community-led conservation and landscape-scale restoration.

We trace the evolution of environmental law over the past century—from its early focus on resource use to the rise of threatened species protections and national parks from the 1970s onwards. We dig into the limitations of the current system, including how legal frameworks can sometimes enable development rather than prevent it, and the uncomfortable reality that it’s often the community trying to protect nature from government.

Brendan also walks us through the proposed reforms to the national EPBC Act—changes that have been on the table for years but remain largely unimplemented.

A key theme throughout the conversation is that laws, on their own, don’t protect the environment—they create the framework. Their effectiveness ultimately depends on how governments apply and enforce them - and how communities hold them to account.

I hope this podcast is useful for anyone who is trying to protect their local patch.

In this episode, I sit down with Frances Cincotta to talk about growing locally indigenous plants. Frances founded the Newstead Natives nursery in central Victoria in 1999 and has spent decades immersed in the ecology and restoration of the Box–Ironbark region.

We trace the evolution of gardening in Australia—from its European roots in English cottage traditions to a growing recognition of the value and beauty of native species—and what that shift means for how we relate to the landscapes around us.

Frances shares the depth of ecological knowledge behind successful indigenous plant propagation: understanding where species occur in the wild, when seed is ready and how to sow it. We also talk about the value of indigenous gardens as habitat for native wildlife - and how they bring ecology right to our back doorstep. Frances’ knowledge is remarkable, and this is one for anyone interested in plants, restoration or simply seeing their local bushland in a new way.

For comments, feedback or requests for future content on Just Ecology, please email karljust3@gmail.com

In this episode I speak with ecologist and musician Sean McConnell, who also performs his song Baarka Ballad, written about the plight of the Baarka (Darling River).

We talk about Sean’s experiences growing up in the Riverina through cycles of drought and flood, and the extraordinary biodiversity of the region’s floodplain forests and wetlands. We discuss the evidence of Barapa villages across the floodplain, documented in Koondrook State Forest on the NSW side of the river, including extensive pond systems that were used to harvest fish.

Our conversation reflects on the profound changes that have occurred since colonisation: river regulation, widespread land clearing, the early land grabs by squatters and selectors and the short-lived economic booms that were so often accompanied by long-term environmental degradation.

Sean shares what inspired him to write Baarka Ballad: the heartbreaking mass fish kill on the Baarka in 2021, the remarkable voyage of Tuesday Browell down the river in an Egyptian-style handmade wooden boat to draw attention to its plight and the ongoing illegal extraction of water across the Murray–Darling Basin.

Finally, we talk about the power of music to help us process and transmute feelings of helplessness in the face of ongoing environmental destruction, and how the ancient practice of singing to Country has long been part of maintaining life and relationship.

A research paper on Barapa villages and constructed ponds can be found here.

Listen to some of Sean's music here.

For comments, feedback or requests for future content on Just Ecology, please email karljust3@gmail.com