Season 5 Episode 17 features country music artist Joe Lasher.

Joe Lasher is a country musician and songwriter known for his authentic sound, high-energy live performances, and deep roots in traditional country music. Raised around music from a young age, Joe’s style reflects classic country storytelling blended with a modern edge, shaped by years of performing on stages across the country. Throughout his career, Joe has shared the stage with other nationally recognized country music artists including Chris Janson, Tim McGraw, Morgan Wallen, Ashley McBryde, Russell Dickerson, HARDY, and Old Dominion.

In this episode, we talk with Joe about his journey in country music, life on the road, songwriting, and what it means to stay true to your roots while building a career in today’s music industry. We also discuss the importance of community, giving back, and how music can be a powerful tool to support meaningful causes.

We are super excited to have Joe on the Space Coast and to welcome him to the community. Joe Lasher will be performing live at EEARSS to the Environment EcoFest on May 23rd, 2026 at the Cocoa Village Amphitheatre. This is a FREE EVENT, and we encourage everyone to please come out and join us in Cocoa Village for an evening of live country music alongside Molly Lovette, while highlighting nonprofit work, environmental research, education, and conservation efforts. EcoFest will include vendors, food trucks, raffles, and more — all centered around supporting science, education, and community-driven research.

Howdy Y’all and welcome to the EEARSS by Alligator Robb Podcast, produced by Terrier TV at Titusville High School.

Season 5 Episode 16 features Akshit Suthar, a PhD candidate at Clemson University’s James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center and a wildlife biologist whose journey into conservation began in rural India.

Akshit holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Master of Science in Environmental Science, and his passion for wildlife ecology and understanding how animals shape and interact with their landscapes led him to pursue doctoral research in the United States. At Clemson University, he works alongside Dr. Jim Anderson studying how waterbirds use historic antebellum rice field wetland impoundments along the South Carolina coast. His work incorporates emerging technologies including drones and passive acoustic monitoring to better understand these complex wetland ecosystems.

Before coming to the United States, Akshit conducted extensive ecological research across India, working with a wide range of species including House Sparrows, Sloth Bears, Leopards, waterbirds, and Mugger Crocodiles, with a strong emphasis on human–wildlife interactions. After witnessing frequent snakebite incidents and the killing of snakes in his rural community, he co-founded a nonprofit wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization with his classmates. The organization remains active today, providing free wildlife rescue services and education across multiple districts.

Akshit has also worked with conservation organizations throughout Gujarat, India, where he led environmental education initiatives, community-based conservation projects, coastal and marine environmental assessments, and human–wildlife conflict mitigation efforts. In 2019, he conducted the first systematic survey of Smooth-coated Otters in Gujarat after the species was believed to be locally extinct for nearly a decade. This work earned international recognition from the International Otter Survival Fund in the United Kingdom, which awarded him the “Otter Oscar” for research.

In addition to his research, Akshit has served as a visiting lecturer at universities in India and currently teaches undergraduate students at Clemson University, leading hands-on courses focused on wetlands, waterfowl ecology, and the use of emerging technologies in wildlife surveys. He has published in international scientific journals, serves as a peer reviewer, and remains actively engaged in professional conservation organizations.

This episode is a powerful conversation about global conservation, community-driven wildlife protection, technology in modern ecology, and the pathways that lead scientists from rural beginnings to international impact.

In Season 5 Episode 15 of the EEARSS by Alligator Robb Podcast, Frank Robb (Alligator Robb), along with his co-hosts Bill and Cindy, sit down with Lonnie McCaskill, a lifelong conservation professional with nearly 40 years of experience in zoo management, field conservation, and global wildlife protection.

Lonnie recently retired from the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he served as Assistant Director of Operations and Curator of Animal Care at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, New York. Over the course of his career, Lonnie has worked in more than 20 countries, contributing to both zoological institutions and frontline field conservation efforts.

With a strong passion for working with people and for the captive husbandry of animals, Lonnie has played a key role in the planning, development, and staff training of highly successful breeding and rearing programs. These programs have focused on the reintroduction of critically endangered chelonian and crocodilian species back into the wild. In addition to this work, Lonnie has served as a Board Member of the Turtle Survival Alliance and as Co-Chair of the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group for Southeast Asia. Lonnie’s extensive field experience has placed him alongside “boots on the ground” conservation teams around the world.

Through this work, he has seen firsthand the daily challenges faced by field conservation staff and has focused on building collaborations that bring new resources, training, and support to improve both conservation outcomes and quality of life for those doing the work.

A major focus of this episode is the role of rapidly advancing technology in modern conservation. Lonnie discusses how tools such as drones and sensors are being used for data collection, habitat and wildlife monitoring, population surveys, and the safety of field teams who increasingly face risks from both wildlife and illegal human activity. Lonnie has been flying drones for more than seven years and has developed strong collaborations within the law enforcement UAV community and wildlife NGOs. He regularly works with these groups to train teams and share best practices for using technology as a powerful conservation tool.

The EEARSS by Alligator Robb Podcast is produced by Terrier TV at Titusville High School and is part of the outreach efforts of EEARSS (Environmental Education Awareness Research Support and Services), a Florida-based nonprofit focused on education, research, and conservation.