Welcome to the Tybee Island Marine Science Center Podcast! Host Jessica Leigh Lebos interviews Lisa Goodman, executive director of Wilderness Southeast, Georgia’s first environmental education nonprofit (founded 1973), about its mission to build awareness, appreciation, and stewardship through fun, guide-led outdoor eco-tours.

Goodman describes offerings including boat and kayak trips to Wassaw Island, marsh and creek exploration, and paddles at Ebenezer Creek, a tannin-stained blackwater ecosystem with ancient bald cypress and tupelo trees. She explains Wilderness Southeast’s roots, alongside the Caretta Research Project, as organizations that branched from the Savannah Science Museum, and highlights the grant-funded Fish Gotta Swim program (founded 2002) serving Title I students year-round, growing from 550 to 1,385 students. Challenges include school transportation, testing schedules, environmental threats, and technology. She previews the October Paddle Battle fundraiser and shares booking details.

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Proudly produced by Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome to Tybee

00:51 Meet Lisa Goodman

02:16 Wassaw Island Tours

04:16 Savannah Science Museum Roots

06:52 Ebenezer Creek Kayaks

08:04 Tea Colored Water Explained

09:22 Fish Gotta Swim Program

12:02 Challenges and Changes

14:56 Lisa's Path to Leadership

18:47 Wild Stories in the Swamp

21:34 What's Next and Paddle Battle

23:04 Book a Tour and Connect

23:41 Closing Thanks and Outro

24:22 Science Center Membership Plug

Host Jessica Leigh Lebos records from the Tybee Island Marine Science Center’s Ship Watch Loft and interviews multidisciplinary abstract artist Betsy Cain, whose work appears in major museums, galleries, and collections.

Cain discusses moving to Savannah in 1981 through the early SCAD community, how living near the river and later on the marsh shaped her work through tides, light, movement, and texture, and how kayaking immersed her in marsh ecology, weather, and pluff mud—materials she has even used in art.

She describes her disciplined daily studio practice, including distinct work “stations” and taking a 20-minute nap to gain clarity. Cain reflects on Ossabaw Island’s landscapes and longtime steward Sandy West, highlights the Jepson exhibit “Off the Coast of Paradise,” and explains efforts with Art Southeast to restart the Ossabaw Island Artist Residency, funded by sales of her Ossabaw drawings and new grants, with the first resident hoped for in the fall.

Learn more about the voices and topics in this episode:

What's happening at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Resources:

Become a MEMBER

Volunteer at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Partnership and Donation Opportunities

Proudly produced by Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:55 Meet Betsy Cain

01:57 Moving to Savannah

03:12 Landscape Inspiration

04:15 Tides and Rhythm

07:39 Kayaking the Marsh

10:19 Pluff Mud Lessons

11:21 Studio Discipline

13:42 Stations and Process

15:11 Figure to Abstraction

16:57 Ossabaw Island

18:20 Exploring Ossabaw Landscapes

18:57 Painting With Sandy West

20:23 Saving The Island

21:25 Adventures At 102

22:48 Exhibit And Legacy

25:39 Reviving Artist Residency

28:15 Remembering Jane Fishman

31:27 Where To See Betsy Work

32:02 Longleaf Pine Inspiration

33:53 Art Making Philosophy

34:24 Protecting Coastal Georgia

35:22 Tybee Marine Science Center

This episode of the Tybee Marine Science Center Podcast (recorded at the Ship Watch Loft on Tybee Island) features award-winning marine biologist Dr. Chris Hintz, associate professor at Savannah State University.

Hintz recounts arriving at Savannah State in 2009, early NSF-funded coastal sampling along the Savannah River and Georgia coast, and his path from chemical/environmental engineering into marine science via coral aquaculture and filtration work, leading to a PhD at the University of South Carolina. He discusses receiving a Google Geo Good Impact award for documenting sea turtle hatchling misorientation linked to coastal light pollution affecting Ossabaw Island and other sites, plus efforts to estimate nest incubation temperatures using NOAA/NWS and NASA data without disturbing nests and to assess climate-related sex-ratio impacts.

He also describes collaborations on Ogeechee River microplastics and Gray’s Reef concerns, and research on oyster growth, reef restoration, and aquaculture’s environmental benefits.

Learn more about the voices and topics in this episode:

What's happening at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Resources:

Become a MEMBER

Volunteer at Tybee Island Marine Science Center

Partnership and Donation Opportunities

Proudly produced by Dee Daniels Media Podcast Network

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome and Awards

01:19 Georgia Coast Origin Story

03:19 Engineering to Ocean Science

09:22 Sea Turtle Light Pollution

12:05 Tracking Nest Temperatures

15:01 Microplastics and Rivers

16:32 Oysters and Acidification

18:50 Aquaculture Benefits Explained

22:41 Microscopic Ocean Monsters

23:45 State of the Ocean Today

25:29 Relaxing on the Water

27:17 Closing and Support TMSC