Datshiane Navanayagam talks to an ice hockey referee from Austria and a football referee from Denmark about their experiences as female officials in men's leagues.Austrian Julia Kainberger played ice hockey professionally for the Salzburg Eagles while also pursuing a career in officiating. She was one of the 12 European officials for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and, in 2024, became the first female referee in a men's Champions League game. Julia looks forward to a day where no female referee has to be 'the first one' anymore and it becomes the norm.Frida Klarlund is a Danish football referee who has officiated international matches since 2015. In 2021 she became the first woman to referee in the men’s second division. Frida has refereed at major tournaments such as the Women’s Champions League, World Cup qualifiers and the Women's Euros. She currently works in Denmark’s top women’s league.Produced by Emily Naylor(Image: (L) Julia Kainberger courtesy Julia Kainberger. (R) Frida Klarlund credit UEFA.)
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Using sound as a tool for conservation
What can the sounds of the natural world tell us about the health of our ecosystems? Datshiane Navanayagam talks two sound ecologists in Scotland and Australia about using soundscape monitoring as a tool to help in conservation work.Dr Elizabeth Znidersic is an Australian environmental scientist with a particular interest in sound ecology. She has worked extensively in the US and in Tasmania with the Parks and Wildlife Service. Her current project, 'Eavesdropping on wetland birds' uses sound recorders to detect secretive marsh birds and she is about embark on a world-first trial, looking into the effectiveness of using call-playback systems to help restore terrestrial ecosystems.Dr Denise Risch is a marine mammal ecologist and senior lecturer at the Scottish Association for Marine Science. For twenty years, she’s been involved in the study of aquatic soundscapes and investigates how marine species are impacted by man-made noise pollution. She’s been involved in a project which uses underwater microphones to measure turbine noise in Pentland Firth strait and another, to establish the effects of acoustic signals on harbour porpoises in Scottish waters.Produced by Hannah Dean(Image: (L) Dr Elizabeth Znidersic courtesy Dr Elizabeth Znidersic. (R) Dr Denise Risch credit Jonny Reid.)
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Women giving cash to new mums
For many families, income plunges and poverty spikes right before a child is born and remains high throughout the first year. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to doctors in Kenya and the US about the positive impact of giving cash to pregnant women and new mothers.Dr Mona Hanna is a paediatrician, professor, public health advocate and director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Paediatric Public Health Initiative. Mona also runs Rx Kids in Flint, Michigan and across the state, it is the first community-wide programme in the US designed to address poverty as a root cause of health disparities through the provision of unconditional cash allowances to pregnant and new mothers.Dr Miriam Laker-Oketta is the Senior Research Advisor at GiveDirectly, a non-profit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest people, no strings attached. Born and raised in Uganda, she initially trained and worked as an infectious diseases doctor. However, after becoming increasingly frustrated by her patients' late-stage disease presentations and their inability to afford basic medication and meet essential needs due to poverty, Miriam transitioned from medicine to direct cash aid.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Dr Mona Hanna credit Rx Kids. (R), Dr Miriam Laker-Oketta credit GiveDirectly.)
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Being a brewmaster
Ella Al-Shamahi talks to two women from South Africa and Germany about reclaiming the craft of brewing beer - something which was historically the domain of women.Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela is a brewmaster and the first black, female co-owner of a craft brewery in South Africa. Her award-winning range of Tolokazi beers pays homage to the female brewers of Africa, inspired by the Tolo Kingdom’s rich brewing history and celebrate ingredients unique to the African continent such as marula fruit and the rooibos bush. Apiwe regularly trains graduates - most of them women - in the art of beer-making at her brewing facility in Johannesburg. She is also an international beer judge and taster.Ulrike Genz is the brewmaster at Schneeeule Brewery in Berlin, which she founded in 2016 after years of developing a recipe thorough scientific study of the Berliner Weisse, a beer that had its heyday in the middle of the 19th century. Once celebrated far beyond Berlin’s borders as the “Champagne of the North” the beer is now, according to Ulrike, a “barely drinkable, mass-produced industrial beer”. Schneeeule Brewery’s mission is to give Berlin back a piece of its culture back…served, of course, in the correct glass! Produced by Hannah Dean(Image: (L) Ulrike Genz credit Markus Raupach. (R), Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela beer4change.)
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Female foragers
From mushrooms to sea kelp: Two female foragers in South Africa and Japan tell Datshiane Navanayagam about how picking wild food has helped them to feel more connected to their natural surroundings.Emily Smith is from the UK and lives in rural Japan. She moved there to explore her Japanese heritage and says she felt a deep and calming connection to her natural surroundings. She spends her days learning all she can about edible plants and mushrooms from books, the internet and, most importantly, her elderly neighbours. She is currently working on a project about Japan’s seventy-two micro seasons.Roushanna Gray is a wild food forager, based in Cape Point, South Africa. She’s passionate about teaching people how to source food for free. She takes groups into forests to forage mushrooms, berries, greens and edible weeds, and to tidal pools for seaweed and kelp. Roushanna teaches her international guests about how they can use their senses, as well as the seasons, to find the most nutritious food.Produced by Mora Morrison(Image: (L) Emily Smith, credit Joshua Atkins. (R) Roushanna Gray credit Alex Oelofse.)
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