Imani Black grew up near the Chesapeake Bay, but a third-grade science camp changed the trajectory of her life. What started as a childhood fascination with oysters, blue crabs, and marine restoration eventually became a career in aquaculture—and a mission to make sure more people have an opportunity to build careers on the water.

In this episode of Life's Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Richard Wiese talks with Imani about founding Minorities in Aquaculture (MIA), the barriers she encountered as a young woman of color working on oyster farms, and why representation alone isn't enough. Imani explains how MIA has grown into a workforce-development organization creating internships, training, community, and pathways into the seafood industry.

Imani also opens up about the realities of becoming the CEO of an organization she initially wished existed for herself, why leadership can be lonely, and how the changing DEI conversation has forced her to become more intentional about communicating MIA's mission. Her ultimate goal is ambitious: make MIA a household name in aquaculture and create a pipeline of people employers immediately want to hire.

This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative. 50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In todays episode of Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher Richard Wiese sits down with Nigerian conservation scientist Charles Emogor, to explore why pangolins have become the world's most trafficked mammal and what it actually takes to protect them.

Charles shares his journey from growing up in southeastern Nigeria to becoming one of the leading voices in pangolin conservation. Along the way, he explains why successful conservation is far more complicated than simply telling people to stop hunting wildlife. Through science, community partnerships, education, and local leadership, Charles is building a model that could reshape conservation efforts across Africa.

This conversation explores wildlife, psychology, leadership, storytelling, and why lasting change always starts with understanding people first.

Photograph by Omini Bassey (ngs6); Edet Etim (ngs7-8) and Joel Porter/Alex Moore (other photos)

This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative. 50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.

In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers are Tougher, Andreas Heide, Norwegian marine biologist, filmmaker, expedition sailor, and explorer talks about a life shaped by the ocean. From receiving his first small boat at age ten to training as a military combat diver and leading expeditions into Arctic waters, Andreas explains how curiosity, freedom, and extreme environments shaped the person he became.

The conversation moves through some of his most extraordinary wildlife experiences, including the emotion of seeing blue whales that humanity once pushed close to extinction and the calculated risk of entering freezing water with wild orcas. Andreas shares what years of tracking killer whales have taught him about their behavior, why he worries more about losing his boat than being attacked, and what it feels like when a massive bull orca moves behind you underwater.

But this episode goes beyond adventure. Andreas wrestles with the complicated ethics of whaling, fishing, industrial agriculture, plastic pollution, and personal responsibility. As a filmmaker, he argues that people are saturated with statistics and fear. His goal is to show the beauty still worth protecting, the species that have recovered, and the reason no one should dismiss their own impact by saying they are only one person among eight billion.

This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales.

This podcast is a proud supporter of the Explorers Club and the EC50 Initiative. 50 people changing the world that the world needs to know about. For more information, go to explorers.org.