Domenic Vido, An Australian Environmentally Focused Podcaster
Macie King interviews an activist who hosts the “Fairly Lame” podcast which describes itself as a “feel good environment / sustainability / conservation” weekly news show.
Was there a moment during your childhood that inspired you to dedicate your career to conservation and sustainability?
I’ve always been really interested in nature and throughout high school I enjoyed geography and biology the most, which led to me studying wildlife and conservation biology at university. There was one very influential moment I experienced when visiting the farm of a girl I used to see, which ultimately led to me going vegan. One of my goals from the start has been to open an animal sanctuary for farm animals like Edgar’s Mission, so that experience provides a lot of motivation!
Did you go to school for environmental conservation? If so, what was it like?
For undergrad I completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Wildlife & Conservation Biology) and then went on to do an honours year, both at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. I feel like my experience was heavily influenced by COVID so I may not have the fairest opinion, but it definitely had its ups and downs. Most of all I loved the teamwork aspect of it — the first class I did involved working in a small group every Monday morning to learn about a heap of different skills and surveying techniques which was just the perfect way to start the degree. Some of the topics were very confronting — in terms of visuals of dying animals, learning about the current state of the world, etc, but I feel like the teachers provided a well-rounded view of various issues and did a great job to try and minimise any bias. At Deakin there was also a heap of opportunity to travel overseas for different classes and volunteer projects which would have been a great experience. My advice to anyone currently studying or thinking about it would be to volunteer on as many different projects as you can — half to learn about what you do and don’t like, but also to build your resume as it is very competitive! When I started there was a lot of talk about how the industry is growing so much, but they didn’t say until my final year that 50% of students don’t find a related job within two years of finishing.
Can you explain more about your research conservation project? What made you choose this project? What is the end goal of the project?
My project was by far the highlight of my studies. I never wanted to do honours, primarily because of the way the lecturers spoke about it sounded very car salesmanie — like they were trying to upsell a bachelors degree, and it sounded like a lot of my peers felt the same. My project was simply looking at how coastal development impacts the animals living within the habitat between the start of the dunes and housing. It involved deploying ~100 camera traps across three bays in Victoria with varying levels of urban motivation, at random distances into this habitat. The biggest reason for choosing it was because my two favourite lecturers were the supervisors. I found this to be a crucial decision as you spend so much time with them in a pretty stressful environment its so important that you feel comfortable to ask the dumb questions and build a relationship with them! The end goal of the project was to better inform coastal development and planning — if we know how specific species respond to modification we can predict how the site of a new development could impact the animal.
Where did the name “Fairly Lame” come from? What do you hope to get out of this activism?
There’s nothing too interesting in the name other than I found it kind of funny and a good way to describe me more than anything else. My goal is to show how much good work is actually going on! Not to sway the narrative and make it appear better than it is, but more so to keep the hope alive and show that it’s definitely not all doom and gloom! I know for me personally I would get pretty despondent if I was just hearing all the horrible things going on, and I feel like that could prevent people from getting involved in sustainability/climate change if they feel as though it’s too late or it’s all pointless.
What are some positive results you’ve seen from your activism and/or research?
Most of the positive outcomes would be the messages I receive from people talking about the importance of what I’m doing for them and the hope that they get from the good news. At the end of the day, that’s pretty much what it’s all about! I also want the space to feel a bit more accessible and friendly — I feel as though sustainability can be pretty full-on and aggressive, and I try to show that I’m just a normal guy trying to learn along with everyone else!
What have been the biggest challenges tacking environmental conservation and sustainability?
The biggest challenge for me is research! Although there is a heap of good news out there, it can take a while to find a story that would work really well for social media — in terms of visuals etc. On top of this, I only speak English so I have only a limited amount of stories I can access and countries I can cover. Going through the information can also be quite challenging, especially when it comes to new policies! From my understanding in the broader field, the biggest challenge is funding — to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 it would require an extra $800 billion / year.
How can people help you specifically and the environment as a whole?
The biggest way people could help me would be to keep sharing any of my content that makes them happy, but also to DM/send in any good news they come across, or topics they want to learn more about and I can have a look! As for the environment, I’d say to just start small. Not everyone can do everything — for example for me, I try to do my part through what I eat and what I buy — clothing, avoiding single-use plastic, etc, but I have a massive reliance on my car. From my experience, you kind of start with one thing and you slowly branch out as you learn more and want to have a more consistent life! I’m actually releasing a podcast soon with @secondhand.sustainability where she gave some great advice for people wanting to get started! And as we as individuals begin to make sacrifices in our own lives we start looking at what these larger organisations are doing much more closely, and hopefully drive some change!
What would a perfect world/environment look like for you?
My perfect world has each country being also close to self-sustaining as possible, plant-based, net-zero, nations providing fair and genuine assistance to those experiencing the impacts of climate change, a greater focus on environmental topics in school, and one where everyone can just get along!
Any last thoughts? What do you want readers to take away from Fairly Lame
Just that there are so many incredible people doing amazing things for the planet and there is still so much to fight for!
You don’t need to have the perfect understanding of every single environmental issue to get involved. I think it’s more about doing what you can, getting started, and slowly continuing to look at other ways to improve!
Reflect on why you may receive pushback as you implement changes in your own personal life — other people trying to justify their own behaviour, misunderstanding, they feel like it is an attack on their identity, etc.
