Your newest environmental podcast, launched by UCPH student

“When we help nature, we help ourselves,” MSc Climate Change student Stine Eiersholt says.

This is her inspiration for the launch of the podcast Influenced by Nature – along with her experiences with her family as well as her work in Kenya and Peru. The podcast highlights important environmental problems but with an emphasis on solutions. Whereas environmental news can be grim, this podcast does things differently.

It aims to instill a sense of optimism to listeners and show us that while large scale environmental degradation is happening, there are also many people out there passionate for a better world and working to make it happen.

A horrific revelation

Stine grew up spending time outdoors in Jutland. Her parents’ passion for nature was passed on to her from a young age. In particular, she remembers an experience hiking and camping in Oslo, just to wake up to a view over the lake. To her, nature and natural science are the basis for how things work. After high school, about six years ago, Stine took a trip to Kenya to teach in schools around Maasailand. Her time there was also spent on building water projects and vegetable patches to promote self-sufficiency. This experience pushed her cultural perspectives as she saw how closely people lived with nature, that animals were part of the shared land.

A few years later, Stine, working on her Bachelor’s degree in Nanoscience at KU, joined in on innovation hackathons happening around Copenhagen that were aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals for clean and safe water. It was these events that she really began to see that nature and human well-being are inextricably linked and that the two do not have to be mutually exclusive.

When asked about one particularly impactful moment that prompt her to begin the podcast, she referred to the 2016 World Wildlife Conservation Conference in South Africa. Hearing about it, she was stunned with the inability of countries to carry out regulations against the trafficking of wildlife due to lack of infrastructure. Animals were being allowed to cross borders despite authorities knowing that they were being trafficked. Due to their poor infrastructure, authorities could not keep the animals alive even if they were to rescue them.

“You can’t un-see what you have seen or close your eyes for what you have already read so there is really only one thing to do; act on it,” she says. This horrific revelation was something that Stine wanted to make sure the entire world knew. It was at this time, thoughts about launching her podcast were really becoming serious.

Enabling people to take action

“We are the only species that does not live in harmony with others,” Stine points out. Early 2017, Stine was on a trip to Peru to study spider monkeys with Arc Amazon (Alliance for Research and Conservation in the Amazon) when she got to see first-hand not only the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest but also the beauty. She acquired mixed feelings of the two.

“You are nothing in the rainforest; you can get stung, bitten — even get completely lost within a heartbeat. It is a true display of the majestic powers of nature. At the same time, it was the most beautiful and peaceful place I’ve ever been to,” says Stine. Yet, the habitat destruction was harrowing. This trip to the Amazon was where Stine began to interview guests for the podcast. By May, right around the launch, she had accumulated 10 episodes for release.

“With all this urbanization, we forget how much we depend on nature,” Stine states. She wants the podcast listeners to consider how important nature is to the functioning of daily life and put the environment on the same level as human life. She hopes to make the case for people to be inspired and enabled to take action.

The name Influenced by Nature was an accumulation of her life, one in which nature has played a large role in, and a realization that humans should consider how their own lives are influenced by nature. The food we eat and the weather Copenhageners cycle are only two examples.

The podcast guests range from organizations to local individuals who are passionate about a project or are making changes for the better. With its launch last May, Influenced by Nature has since completed 21 episodes covering the topics of conservation, plastics, circular economy, and food waste, to name a few. Stine takes great enjoyment in researching new projects, outstanding individual work, and organizations to have on the podcast. “[It’s] amazing to meet all these people; their knowledge and depth, their passion and their will to make this planet slightly better day by day. I see no selfish intentions, just pure affection for the world we live in,” says Stine in reference to her guests. To her, there is great satisfaction in the feedback she gets from guests expressing their appreciation for having them on.

Spread the word

Recently, Influenced by Nature teamed up with an Australian start up, Twig.fm, for women podcasters about nature. “My goal for this year is to spread the word of the Influenced by Nature Podcast so that the ideas and initiatives by our guests can inspire as many people as possible,” she says. This coming May will be the one year anniversary and an event is sure to be set. As for the future, Stine hopes to get movie and debate nights happening, as well as partnerships and sponsorships, and be part of events and festivals.

To Stine, the podcast is a place for inspiration and information. It shows that problems in environment, biodiversity, climate, and conservation are all linked and that action is needed, whether on an individual level or through a network. “I hope we will realize how dependent we are of nature and appreciate what it provides us and who knows, maybe even allow ourselves to get influenced by nature,” Stine says.