Cultivating Passions Podcast
Are you searching for your next great passion? Or want learn some strategies for cultivating one you already have? Join Peter Rowland, Whitley Award-winning author and modern polymath, as he chats to the inspirational people who are shaping the future, making positive contributions and helping the world be better.
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Some of my guests also feature on my podcast ‘A Different Track’. You can find out more about it here or check out their song selections on the Spotify app
Meet The Host
Peter Rowland
I am a wildlife photographer, natural history writer, columnist for Australian Geographic Magazine, conservationist, trainer, public speaker and meditator.
When I was at school, I felt that my teachers, my careers advisor and the education system as a whole were pressuring me into deciding on a career path. I was constantly told to “Just Follow Your Passion” and this will guide me to my career and make me happy. I knew I loved wildlife, photography, writing, history and travelling, but had no idea what career path to take that could encompass all of these areas. I was a 16 yr old, born in Australia but raised in England, who had just migrated back to Australia. I was bewildered, confused and socially awkward. A life-long, fulfilling career that I could be passionate about was not even on my horizon. I was in survival mode!
Ultimately, I bombed out of university and hopped from job to job, just to earn enough money to survive and enjoy life. I had one constant though. Because of my uncertainty in deciding a career path at school, my careers advisor organised some work experience for me at the Australian Museum in Sydney. My manager there, Walter Boles, invited to return in a volunteer capacity during my school holdidays, which I did. I ended up working there, on and off, for 22 years.
While I was at the museum I was involved in research and fieldwork throughout Australasia, travelled, read numerous books on early scientists and explorers, including Darwin, Banks, Gould, Lewin, Latham and North, got images published in the museum’s nature magazine, did book reviews, published research papers, met Sir David Attenborough and Tim Flannery, and, ultimately, got to write my first book. I started to cultivate my passion for wildlife, photography, writing, history and travel. I also discovered that I had a passion for tea!
To date, I have published five scientific papers, authored and contributed to 15 books on Australian wildlife, have had my photographs displayed in galleries and cafes, and have travelled extensively.
I have had so many amazing opportunities come my way and have had the absolute pleasure of meeting and working with many wonderful people on my journey. Many of these people are driving positive changes at a community, regional and global level.
I put this podcast together to make others aware of the great work these people do and to (perhaps) inspire a new generation of people who give more back to the world than they take.
I hope that this podcast inspires many people to discover and cultivate their own passions.
Get In Touch
Do you want to be a guest on the show? Have a question that you want to pose to any of Peter’s past guests? Or have a special topic you want to find more information about?
Please drop me a line and I will do my best to help you.