"Gardeners to Guardians 15" photo courtesy of Alexandra Pearson (HHMI)

New Episodes—Streaming Now!

Episode 16: Seabird Sanctuary (Releasing on February 5)
All around the world, seabirds provide a critical link between land and sea. On Hawai’i, ecologists are working to protect two vital shearwater species that helped life first take hold across these islands.

Episode 15: Coral Comeback (Now streaming globally)
Corals are amazing, tiny animals — and just like any animal species, they’re put at risk by human impact and climate change. When stressed by heat, corals expel a symbiotic algae and turn white — known as “bleaching” — losing their main source of food and often dying within days. Half of all coral has been lost since the 1950s. But some corals do survive these bleaching events, and they’ve become the focus of the Coral Resilience Lab in Hawaii, selectively breeding corals to withstand ever-increasing amounts of heat stress.

Episode 14: Return of the Manatees (Now streaming globally)
Crystal River had long been a safe haven for the lovable Florida manatee, but after a storm flooded the region with an invasive algae, there was no food left for the manatees to graze. It’s taken monumental efforts from community members, biologists, and specialists at the Tampa Zoo to finally restore Crystal River and bring the manatees home.

Episode 13: A Farm Goes Wild (Now streaming globally)
For years, Derek Gow worked his 400-acres in western England as a conventional sheep and cattle farm. But as both a farmer and conservationist, he knew that wasn’t right for nature. Now, he’s using his experience with British rewilding projects to return his land to what it once was: a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem.

Episode 12: Turtle Trackers (Now streaming globally)
In the battle to save leatherback sea turtles, knowledge is key. Florida Atlantic University also has the only lab in the world where scientists study leatherbacks as hatchlings, pioneering new ways to learn about the 20-30 years the species spends at sea before returning to the beach to nest.  Using new, miniaturized satellite tags, they’re hoping to reveal the mysteries of the leatherbacks’ so-called “lost years.”

Episode 10: The Serpent's Lair (Now streaming globally)
Indigo snakes are a vital species in maintaining ecosystems across the southeastern US. They're a snake-eating-snake—a top predator that keeps other snakes in-check and at stable numbers. So when indigo populations began to decline due to the loss of longleaf pine forests, it risked spelling disaster for the entire ecosystem.

Episode 9: Vertical Meadows (Now streaming globally)
Bringing native plant diversity into dense city centers is one of the greatest challenges in re-greening our changing world – and for Alistair Law, he saw this as a calling to think bigger than just window-boxes and rooftop gardens. His ingenious “Vertical Meadows” turn building facades into sprawling pastures of native plants.

Episode 8: Gardener to Guardian (Now streaming globally)
Amid collapsing biodiversity worldwide, Mary Reynolds of Ireland is building a movement to turn gardeners into guardians of the planet by returning our own patch of land to nature, and by restoring hope that individual action can create lasting change.

Wild Hope is a new documentary series that highlights the intrepid change-makers who are restoring wild places and sparking new hope for the future of the planet. Each 30-minute episode flips the environmental doom and gloom narrative on its head with stories of bold interventions, unexpected alliances, and nature’s resilience.

Attention educators! Don't forget to explore each episode page in the link above to find educational materials, activity resources, and discover key term details. Plus, find curriculum connections to NGSS, AP, IB, and more at the bottom of each page. A fantastic resource for both teachers and students!