Contributing Editor Dr. Jordan Schaul recently asked the world famous, celebrity models and animal activists—the Barbi Twins—to find out how some of their celebrity friends are using their clout to help animals around the world. Within a few moments, the Twins arranged a sit-down interview with two other celebrity sisters—Amy and Raelyn Nelson—children of Willie...
Here’s a hard to believe statistic, by some esitmates there are more tigers in captivity in the state of Texas than there are tigers roaming free in the wild in all of Asia. There’s no debating the fact tigers are endangered. This past year I went to India to see tigers in their natural habitat....
By Boyd Matson One of the benefits of being in the water with humpback whales is that it makes me appear svelte by comparison. That’s not the primary reason I’m snorkeling with humpbacks in the waters of the Silver Bank off the Dominican Republic, but it’s a bonus I’ll gladly accept after catching a reflection...
By Boyd Matson Showing off for the girls, pushing and shoving, picking fights, refusing to listen to their mothers, I could be describing teenage boys, but in this case I’m talking teenage male elephants. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference in their behavior, and the similarities were on display when I was at the...
By Boyd Matson Bob Ballard, National Geographic Explorer in Residence, has made same amazing undersea discoveries in his career, finding the Titanic, the Bismark, PT 109, and numerous other famous ships once lost to the oceans, but he has never had a summer of exploration like this one. Using his new ship the Nautilus, a...
Big cats are a passion of ours here at National Geographic. The Big Cat Initiative is working to save lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, and jaguars. You can help too, through the Cause an Uproar campaign. Recently, National Geographic Weekend radio had a chance to visit with some big cats in our own backyard at the...
By Boyd Matson “Trust me on this one kids, spitting impala poop is really an honest to goodness game in South Africa.” As might be expected I had a little trouble at first trying to convince the 15 kids with me that putting an impala dung pellet in their mouth would be fun, but eventually...
Pak Bastarian was once an illegal logger, cutting trees in the forests of West Kalimantan, Borneo where he grew up. He sits cross-legged on the tile floor of his tidy house recalling those days. “I don’t know how many trees I cut down… countless numbers,” he says. Today he is a conservationist, leading his village...
At first glance Europa, Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, may not seem like the most likely place to find extraterrestrial life. The temperature is regularly -260 degrees Fahrenheit. Its surface is covered in a layer of ice several miles thick. And it is constantly being bombarded by fierce radiation. But National Geographic Emerging Explorer Kevin Hand...
Filmmaker and alternative-energy proponent James Cameron, who along with marine ecologist Enric Sala, is a new National Geographic Explorer in Residence, sat down with Boyd Matson for an interview on the National Geographic Weekend radio program. Cameron tells Boyd how making Hollywood blockbusters allows him follow his true passion of exploring and how becoming...
By Boyd Matson Listen to Boyd’s interview with Andrea Turkalo, then subscribe to the National Geographic Weekend podcast. [audio:http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/audio/ngwkd1125-hour1_seg1-cb1308333029.mp3,http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/audio/ngwkd1125-hour1_seg2_-cb1308333214.mp3|titles=Andrea Turkalo Part 1, Andrea Turkalo Part 2] To paraphrase an old saying, “You can’t see the elephants for the trees.” That’s the problem for researchers trying to study forest elephants. Despite being the size of an...
Last week a group email went out to the staff of National Geographic. This is what it said: Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 2:37 PM Subject: Bear Urine- not a joke A package arrived at Geo…(talk about weird) 2 small bottles of Pee. Bear Urine. No… really. Can you please send a blast to...
By Boyd Matson If you get a chance to go to a pygmy pool party don’t miss it. The Ba’Aka or pygmies as they are commonly called can put on quite the show. In a kind of water fight slash dance party atmosphere the ladies play the river like a conga drum, or maybe I...
By Boyd Matson Listen to Boyd tell the tale of the pygmy pool party on National Geographic Weekend (3:50) [audio:http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/audio/ngwkd1123-hour2_seg5-cb1307044290.mp3|titles=Pygmy Pool Party] It’s not everyday you get invited to a pygmy pool party. In fact, best as I can remember this is the only day in my life I’ve been privileged to attend such a special...
When 2011 National Geographic Emerging Explorer Juan Martinez was growing up in South Central Los Angeles, he never imagined he’d be working to change an entire generation’s relationship with nature. But as Martinez tells Boyd Matson on NG Weekend, a few jalapeño seeds changed his life. Listen to an interview with Martinez (9:00) [audio:http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/audio/ngwkd1122-hour1_seg2-cb1306412430.mp3|titles=Juan Martinez on...