Welcome to Paramount Importance — where science meets curiosity. Hosted by marine scientist Kurt Krispyn, this podcast dives into the weird, wonderful, and wildly important questions about our world. Through open, honest, laid-back conversations with scientists, explorers, and big thinkers, we unpack the mysteries of nature, discovery, and human innovation. If you're into the unknown, the unexplained, and the unbelievable, you're in the right place.
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Professor Nicki Mitchell is one of Australia’s leading experts on how threatened wildlife can survive a rapidly changing climate. A zoologist and ecophysiologist, Nicki is a Professor in UWA’s School of Biological Sciences, Deputy Director of the UWA Oceans Institute and Lead Councillor of the Biodiversity Council. For eight years, she served on Australia’s Commonwealth Threatened Species…
Dr Daniel Jan Martin is an award-winning environmental planner and designer working at the intersection of conservation, landscape architecture and urban ecology. As Lecturer and Co-Head of Landscape Architecture at The University of Western Australia, Daniel is helping reshape how we think about cities—not as places separate from nature, but as living systems connected through water, vegetation,…
Dr Amanda Ash is one of the people you want explaining parasites. A Senior Lecturer in Parasitology at Murdoch University and a parasitologist with the Harry Butler Institute, Amanda has spent her career studying how parasites move between wildlife, livestock, companion animals and humans. Her research has taken her from African painted dogs and giraffes to remote communities in Laos, where she…
When it comes to Australia’s native bees, few people have done more to bring them into the public eye than Dr Kit Prendergast. In this episode of Paramount Importance, Kurt is joined by Dr Kit Prendergast, a native bee scientist, conservation biologist, author, taxonomist and award-winning science communicator. Kit has dedicated her career to discovering, describing and protecting Australia’s…
In this episode, I sit down with Ursula Rodrigues , a fire ecologist whose PhD research explores the intersection of Western ecological science and Indigenous knowledge systems. Through close collaboration with Noongar Elders, families, and land caretakers, Ursula has helped advance a two-way learning approach to cultural fire management, using methods such as ecological monitoring, mapping, and…
At just 18 years old, Michael Lun has already established himself as one of Western Australia’s most knowledgeable peacock spider enthusiasts. Through countless hours of fieldwork, wildlife photography, and species surveys, Michael has documented rare and elusive peacock spiders, contributed to the rediscovery of species believed to be extinct, and earned recognition from researchers working in…
Professor Judy Shamoun-Baranes is a world-leading aeroecologist and Professor of Animal Movement Ecology at the University of Amsterdam, where she leads research into how animals move through one of Earth’s least visible habitats: the air. Her work sits at the intersection of ecology, meteorology, technology and conservation, using tools such as GPS tracking, accelerometers, weather radar and…
Professor Tobias Strunk and Professor Andrew Currie are world-leading researchers in neonatal medicine and immunology, working at the forefront of one of the most critical and underexplored areas of science—how we protect the most vulnerable humans on the planet in their first moments of life. Combining clinical expertise in newborn intensive care with cutting-edge immunological research, their…
Professor Navid Moheimani is a leading algal biotechnologist at Murdoch University and a global authority on microalgae, working at the forefront of sustainable innovation across energy, agriculture, and environmental management. His research explores how some of the smallest organisms on Earth, algae, can solve some of our biggest challenges, from producing oxygen and biofuels to transforming…
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Rochelle Steven, Lecturer in Environmental and Conservation Science at Murdoch University, one of Australia’s leading conservation scientists working at the intersection of avian ecology, biodiversity, citizen science, and human–wildlife interactions. Before joining Murdoch, Rochelle held a series of highly respected roles across Australia’s conservation sector,…