Heather Physioc / HP Conservation
@heatherphysioc.bsky.social
Award-Winning Outdoor Photojournalist • https://hpconservation.com • Executive Discoverability Leader • Drum Search Leader of the Year • Global Keynote Speaker • https://heatherphysioc.com
When federal rules redefine "harm" to open endangered habitats to drilling, state attorneys general are stepping up as the new legal frontline: 20 states are deploying administrative law to block habitat destruction before it begins. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/c...
States Sue Over Trump’s Cuts to Endangered Species Rules
Two lawsuits seek to reverse the Trump administration’s moves to open the habitats of imperiled wildlife to commercial activities.
nytimes.com
The Race Is On to Stop an Armored Invader on the West Coast: Tribes and scientists are mounting an urgent trapping effort to keep European green crabs from devastating a corner of Puget Sound. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/c...
The Race Is On to Stop an Armored Invader on the West Coast
Tribes and scientists are mounting an urgent trapping effort to keep European green crabs from devastating a corner of Puget Sound.
nytimes.com
Waterlogged ecosystems called peatlands hold more carbon in the ground than all the world’s forests. Draining or destroying them releases the planet-warming gases into the atmosphere. Peatlands cover just 3% of Earth but store more carbon than ALL global forests combined: apnews.com/article/clim...
Paid media spending surges 274%+ as organic traffic to many publishers drops ~25%+. www.adweek.com/media/publis...
Publishers Are Spending Hundreds of Millions a Month Buying Traffic
Exclusive data reveals that publishers’ paid search budgets have risen 274% in the last three years, part of an industry-wide response to traffic declines
adweek.com
Solar-powered, towable labs are helping restore queen conch across the Caribbean. These 20-foot mobile hatcheries shelter fragile larvae from climate stressors and can be hitched and moved out of harm’s way when hurricanes approach, pairing local job training with hands-on reef resilience.
Mobile queen conch hatcheries strive to help the species, engage Caribbean communities
Queen conch were once so abundant that fishers in many parts of the Caribbean could wade into knee-deep waters and gather armfuls of the pink, whorled shells. Today, however, the giant marine snails…
news.mongabay.com
Instead of hunting endangered salmon-crested cockatoos for their sacred Cidaku coming-of-age ritual, Indonesia’s Indigenous Huaulu people are now sourcing naturally shed feathers from rescue centers and zoos to protect the wild birds.
On an Indonesian island, an ancient ritual evolves to protect an endangered cockatoo
An Indigenous community on Indonesia’s Seram Island is preserving a centuries-old coming-of-age ritual while helping protect the endangered salmon-crested cockatoo, a new study has found. The study,…
news.mongabay.com
Wildlife conservation, hunting, and fishing are perfectly compatible with proper land management, agency funding and a supported workforce. Instead, the USFWS has lost 36% of its workforce under the second Trump administration. ourpubliclandsandwaters.substack.com/p/us-fish-an...
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Has Lost 36% of Its Workforce Under the Second Trump Administration
Meanwhile, even with fewer staff, the agency just completed the largest expansion of hunting and fishing access in its entire history
ourpubliclandsandwaters.substack.com
I recently shared my conference recommendations with a client who is building a long-term discoverability strategy and transforming around AI. My advice to them: if you can only attend one event, make it @ahrefs.bsky.social Evolve in San Diego. Here's why:
Wildfire-charred logs are more biologically active than unburned ones. A 40-year log decay study proved that leaving dead wood alone restores ecosystems and saves millions in management costs. Let nature rot! www.sierraclub.org/sierra/watch...
Watching Logs Decay Is More Interesting Than You’d Think
Logs can act like “giant teabags” to leach nutrients into ecosystems
sierraclub.org
Rotting seaweed is choking our beaches, but one surprising fix starts on the farm. Fertilizer runoff feeds massive algae blooms, and it's money down the drain for agriculture. Now, farmers are using GPS for precision fertilizing to cut costs and starve the blooms. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/it-s-...
It’s Not Your Imagination. Seaweed Is Everywhere. Here’s why.
Wildfires, smoke, floods, and deadly heat waves have dominated the headlines this summer. Meanwhile, beachgoers have witnessed another consequence of rising temperatures: Seaweed is everywhere.
sierraclub.org
I'm truly honored. 🥹 This week at the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference in Madison, Wisconsin, my "My Wildlife Wonders" series of educational wildlife coloring book pages and activity sheets took First Place in their Open category. hpconservation.com/news/heather...
Heather Physioc Places First Place in OWAA’s 2026 Excellence in Craft Contest, Open Category - HP Conservation & Nature Stories
Heather Physioc has been awarded First Place in the Outdoor Writers Association 2026 Excellence in Craft Contest in the Open category for her My Wildlife Wonders series.
hpconservation.com
For years, laws protecting Nigeria's highly endangered gorillas failed due to local nepotism and logging bribes. Then, local women took charge of enforcement, even against kings and sisters, and stop timber barons with the threat of nude protests. And it's working. news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-...
The women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a Nigerian gorilla sanctuary
BOKI, Nigeria — The morning light fills Ulom with warmth and radiance. A dome of mountains, their green vegetation spread out like giant green walls, is visible at the edge of this serene village in…
news.mongabay.com
Scientists really looked at government budget cuts and said "fine, we'll start an OnlyFans." Introducing OnlyMarms: uncensored, G-rated rodent action for the true science degenerates. Drop a tip for the field researchers trying to survive federal funding cuts. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/s...
‘OnlyMarms’: Marmots Are on OnlyFans to Raise Money for Research
A team of scientists uploaded videos of the squirrel-like rodents in the wild on the adult-content site OnlyFans to raise money amid government budget cuts.
nytimes.com
To track disease risks and shift away from harmful pesticides, scientists are working to identify thousands of undiscovered biting insect species, arguing that precisely mapping this hidden biodiversity is key to safe, targeted coexistence. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/zoolo...
Zoologists Are Still Working Out Who’s Biting Us
Mosquitoes and other bloodsuckers play an important role. It's time we learned their names.
sierraclub.org
To restore fire-ravaged landscapes, human engineering wasn’t enough. The solution? Relocating “nuisance” beavers to do the heavy lifting — rebuilding ecosystems, buffering floodwaters, and reviving dried-up creeks far better than traditional restoration ever could. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/beave...
Beavers Build Back Better
Ecologists are relocating "nuisance" beavers to fix degraded landscapes across the West
sierraclub.org
Reintroducing myself for those who don't know me - I'm Heather Physioc, the conservation journalist, wildlife photographer & outdoor travel writer behind HP Conservation. I report on wildlife, wild places & people fighting for both. Come for the photos. Stay for the stories. hpconservation.com
Florida wants to ban shark-feeding ecotourism, but the law would still allow millions of anglers to chum freely. Scientists say banning tour operators won't fix the issue; real solutions require angler education, gear innovation, and targeted management. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/what-...
A 'Super' El Niño is causing marine heatwaves, disrupting food chains and triggering widespread seabird die-offs across the Pacific. Conservationists are calling on the fishing industry to adopt safer gear, like faster-sinking lines, to prevent fatal seabird bycatch. abcbirds.org/news/pacific...
Pacific Seabird Die-offs Demonstrate the Need for Fishery Action - American Bird Conservancy
Researchers at American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and its Ecuadorian Seabird Bycatch Reduction Program (ESBRP) are voicing concerns over the alarming number of dead and starving seabirds currently being…
abcbirds.org
Google’s new AI tool helps fact-checkers investigate AI fakes Backstory automates provenance checks, reverse image searches, and context tracing to speed up verification work. www.niemanlab.org/2026/08/goog...
Google’s new AI tool helps fact-checkers investigate AI fakes
Backstory automates provenance checks, reverse image searches, and context tracing to speed up verification work.
niemanlab.org
A private company plans to extract 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater per year from California’s Mojave Desert, ~25x more than the aquifer naturally replenishes. The pipeline project could permanently dry up vital desert springs and imperil fragile ecosystems.
This Private Company Wants to Extract Water From the Driest Desert in the US
Critics say it will deplete a basin and put California's iconic Mojave landscape at risk
sierraclub.org
Bangladesh urbanization fragments natural habitats, but a low-cost solution is saving wildlife from deadly highway collisions. For just $5K, simple nylon ropeway bridges were installed over a busy highway, providing safe aerial corridors for macaques and langurs. news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-...
New ropeways aim to save wildlife in Bangladesh’s fragmented habitats
As Bangladesh is rapidly being urbanized, more and more forests are getting fragmented, resulting in the construction of more roads, which means more wildlife are being killed in collisions with…
news.mongabay.com
Habitat fragmentation is pushing Brazil's endangered native felines into deadly contact with domestic pets, sparking a hidden crisis of viral, fungal, and parasitic diseases. news.mongabay.com/2026/08/braz...
Brazil’s wildcats face multiple diseases due to habitat fragmentation
Every day, millions of Brazilians recall how rich the country’s feline biodiversity is when they reach into their wallets: Since entering circulation in 2010, the ‘50 real’ notes have carried a…
news.mongabay.com
An endangered turtle recovery program in Illinois was nearly derailed when over half of its captive hatchlings contracted a deadly, shell-eating fungus. The unlikely cure that saved the population? A common human athlete’s foot treatment. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/resea...
Researchers Are Trying to Save These Turtles From Disappearing in Illinois
Efforts to conserve Blanding’s turtles ramp up as habitat loss and a fungus hinder their recovery.
sierraclub.org
Large predators make roads safer by hunting near road edges at night. Predators like pumas and wolves scare deer back into the forest during the most dangerous driving hours. This "fear factor" reduces deer-vehicle collisions, saving lives and millions of dollars. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/puma-...
Puma Patrol: How cougars keep the roadways of Washington's Olympic Peninsula safe
sierraclub.org
The Society for Professional Journalists has updated its code of ethics for the AI age: “Speed, technology or medium do not excuse inaccuracy or unfairness," it says. “Journalists are ethically responsible for their work, regardless of tools and technologies used.” www.niemanlab.org/2026/08/the-...
The Society of Professional Journalists proposes edits to its code of ethics for the AI age
On Monday, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) dropped new proposed revisions to its code of ethics — the first revision to one of the most-cited media ethics standards in the country since…
niemanlab.org
A federation of nearly 300 French newspapers said Tuesday that it filed a complaint with the country's anti-trust competition authority over Google's new AI-generated summaries of search results, fearing the feature will further erode traffic to news websites. www.france24.com/en/france/20...
French newspapers appeal to antitrust regulator over Google's AI summaries
French newspapers have asked the country’s antitrust watchdog to take action over Google’s new AI-generated summaries – which appear at the top of search results – saying they are depriving news…
france24.com
Contemporary evolution: Parts of the animal kingdom are changing rapidly to keep up with a rapidly changing planet. But many animals may not have time to evolve - things are changing much too quickly. www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Extreme evolution: The animals evolving at super speed to survive
Humans have become one of the world's greatest evolutionary forces. To survive our cities, animals from urban foxes to glass-climbing lizards are responding with extreme adaptation.
bbc.com
"Where this chief discoverability officer sees marketers getting audiences wrong: Heather Physioc, chief discoverability officer at VML, shared why she thinks more content actually makes brands less visible." www.marketingbrew.com/stories/VML-...
Where this chief discoverability officer sees marketers getting audiences wrong
Heather Physioc, chief discoverability officer at VML, shared why she thinks more content actually makes brands less visible.
marketingbrew.com
