We Are The Riverkeepers
What if every river - no matter where you traveled - was clean enough to swim in, drink from, and sustain life?
We Are The Riverkeepers is a powerful new podcast dedicated to protecting and celebrating the world’s waterways. Created with Richmond Riverkeeper Association and hosted by Presenter, Author and Storyteller Mel Bampton, this series dives into the essential role rivers play - not just in our ecosystems, but in our lives, our stories, and our survival.
Through thorough conversations with environmentalists, scientists, Indigenous leaders, artists, and activists, we explore both the beauty and the urgency of river protection. From the tributaries of the Richmond River to the great arteries of the world, we ask:
If the rivers could speak, what would they say?
This podcast goes beyond environmentalism to reveal how the health of our rivers is deeply connected to our emotional, social, physical, and cultural well-being. Clean rivers support biodiversity, secure drinking water, food supply, recreation, and climate resilience. They also offer something more intangible: a sense of place, purpose, and spiritual connection.
In a world facing ecological crisis, We Are The Riverkeepers brings hope, action, and connection. We’re amplifying the voices of those on the front lines of river protection and inviting everyone - you included - to join us in the riverkeeping revolution.
You, me, We Are The Riverkeepers.
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We Are The Riverkeepers
What The Richmond River Can Teach Us with Prof. Amanda Reichelt-Brushett
When humans harm the rivers, how does that in turn harm humans? What can we do to turn the tides on unhealthy rivers and make them places again to play, fish, work and enjoy?
Prof. Amanda Reichelt-Brushett has spent 3 decades studying one of the most significant waterways in NSW, a river with a unique geomorphology that sees the river behave in extraordinary ways during large rain events - the Richmond River.
In this episode, we talk about:
💧What place does compassion play in improving river health?
💧What makes the Richmond River so unique and why is that significant to understanding global river systems?
💧How can organisations help communities form relationships with their rivers?
💧Why did the Richmond River get a D+ rating - the worst in NSW?
💧What can we do on a daily basis to improve the health of the rivers we love?
Mandy is the Departing Inaugural President of the Richmond Riverkeeper Association, she has an international research profile and is published in
numerous scientific journals (Google Scholar H-index 31), presented her research findings atnational and international conferences and co-authored a book chapter. She has 30 years of experience in investigating human impacts on the environment with a focus on catchment management and land and water interactions. Her research focus is based on enhancing our
understanding of sources, fate and consequences of contaminants in our environment and includes several subthemes:
💧 ecotoxicology, bioindicators and ecological risk assessment,
💧sediment and water quality assessment and management,
💧benthic and riparian assessment,
💧sustainable practice, rehabilitation and restoration.
She is Editor and co-author of a new book titled “Marine Pollution -monitoring, management and mitigation”.
Helpful links:
Pesticide occurrence in a subtropical estuary, Australia: Complementary sampling methods: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123084
Richmond River Estuary Coastal Management Program - Protecting our Estuary and its Catchment:
https://www.hydrosphere.com.au/_files/ugd/97fd4e_4a1562f8dbb34083ba8d4c9c92d67d3f.pdf
This link to the Richmond River Keeper website has some of the management plans:
https://richmondriver.org.au/catchment-atlas
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