Host Jessica Leigh Lebos is in the Ship Watch Loft of Tybee Marine Science Center with Captain Jimmy Armel, former Army Ranger and founder of the Knot Lucky Foundation (K-N-O-T), which offers free fishing trips for active-duty service members and veterans (and immediate family) to support healing, connection, and purpose.

Armel shares his own struggles after leaving the military, including alcoholism, brain damage, and suicidal crises, and explains how fishing and later ibogaine treatment led him to shut down his for-profit charter to run the nonprofit full time. He describes transformations he’s witnessed, including posting $75,000 bail for a fellow Ranger, housing him, and building a customized mental health plan.

The episode also covers launching from Savannah Boathouse, ocean-based restoration, great white shark satellite tagging with Gray Fish Tag Research, fundraising via an annual barbecue, and ways to donate at knotlucky.org.

Learn more about the voices and topics in this episode:

What's happening at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Resources:

Become a MEMBER

Volunteer at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Partnership and Donation Opportunities

Proudly produced by Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:30 Knot Lucky Mission

02:18 Veteran Struggles and Suicide

03:29 Jimmy’s Combat Trauma

05:08 Deployments and Brain Injury

06:38 Fishing as Lifeline

07:34 Second Spiral and Breakthrough

09:59 Veteran Transformations

11:43 Ocean Purpose and Stewardship

12:46 Great White Tagging Begins

14:36 How Shark Tagging Works

15:53 Tag Data and Biggest Sharks

16:42 Adrenaline and Close Calls

18:17 Supporting Not Lucky

20:48 Fishing as Healing

22:02 Water Connection Mindset

24:18 Purpose and Harvest

25:45 How to Join Trips

26:45 Plant Medicine Advocacy

28:03 Ibogaine and Recovery

29:52 Ryan Davis Spotlight

31:24 Fishing Research Thanks

32:48 Tybee Science Center Outro

Welcome to the Tybee Island Marine Science Center Podcast! Host Jessica Leigh Lebos interviews Lisa Goodman, executive director of Wilderness Southeast, Georgia’s first environmental education nonprofit (founded 1973), about its mission to build awareness, appreciation, and stewardship through fun, guide-led outdoor eco-tours.

Goodman describes offerings including boat and kayak trips to Wassaw Island, marsh and creek exploration, and paddles at Ebenezer Creek, a tannin-stained blackwater ecosystem with ancient bald cypress and tupelo trees. She explains Wilderness Southeast’s roots, alongside the Caretta Research Project, as organizations that branched from the Savannah Science Museum, and highlights the grant-funded Fish Gotta Swim program (founded 2002) serving Title I students year-round, growing from 550 to 1,385 students. Challenges include school transportation, testing schedules, environmental threats, and technology. She previews the October Paddle Battle fundraiser and shares booking details.

Learn more about the voices and topics in this episode:

What's happening at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Resources:

Become a MEMBER

Volunteer at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Partnership and Donation Opportunities

Proudly produced by Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome to Tybee

00:51 Meet Lisa Goodman

02:16 Wassaw Island Tours

04:16 Savannah Science Museum Roots

06:52 Ebenezer Creek Kayaks

08:04 Tea Colored Water Explained

09:22 Fish Gotta Swim Program

12:02 Challenges and Changes

14:56 Lisa's Path to Leadership

18:47 Wild Stories in the Swamp

21:34 What's Next and Paddle Battle

23:04 Book a Tour and Connect

23:41 Closing Thanks and Outro

24:22 Science Center Membership Plug

Host Jessica Leigh Lebos records from the Tybee Island Marine Science Center’s Ship Watch Loft and interviews multidisciplinary abstract artist Betsy Cain, whose work appears in major museums, galleries, and collections.

Cain discusses moving to Savannah in 1981 through the early SCAD community, how living near the river and later on the marsh shaped her work through tides, light, movement, and texture, and how kayaking immersed her in marsh ecology, weather, and pluff mud—materials she has even used in art.

She describes her disciplined daily studio practice, including distinct work “stations” and taking a 20-minute nap to gain clarity. Cain reflects on Ossabaw Island’s landscapes and longtime steward Sandy West, highlights the Jepson exhibit “Off the Coast of Paradise,” and explains efforts with Art Southeast to restart the Ossabaw Island Artist Residency, funded by sales of her Ossabaw drawings and new grants, with the first resident hoped for in the fall.

Learn more about the voices and topics in this episode:

What's happening at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Resources:

Become a MEMBER

Volunteer at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Partnership and Donation Opportunities

Proudly produced by Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:55 Meet Betsy Cain

01:57 Moving to Savannah

03:12 Landscape Inspiration

04:15 Tides and Rhythm

07:39 Kayaking the Marsh

10:19 Pluff Mud Lessons

11:21 Studio Discipline

13:42 Stations and Process

15:11 Figure to Abstraction

16:57 Ossabaw Island

18:20 Exploring Ossabaw Landscapes

18:57 Painting With Sandy West

20:23 Saving The Island

21:25 Adventures At 102

22:48 Exhibit And Legacy

25:39 Reviving Artist Residency

28:15 Remembering Jane Fishman

31:27 Where To See Betsy Work

32:02 Longleaf Pine Inspiration

33:53 Art Making Philosophy

34:24 Protecting Coastal Georgia

35:22 Tybee Marine Science Center