Ep. 240 : FREED (Field Research in Ecology and Evolution Diversified)

When I look into the authors who wrote most of the natural history books on my shelves, I mostly see white people. Historically, this field has been gatekept by and for white folks. When I come across initiatives that challenge that dynamic, I get stoked.
I got to talk with Alannah Grant and Jonathan Chu, the University of Guelph liaisons for FREED (Field Research in Ecology and Evolution Diversified). I got to ask them about recent movements to bring awareness to and correct the lack of representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in environmental sciences, how they organize themselves, what is working and what they do on these excursions?
It was a good conversation about a great initiative. Glad they're doing what they're doing.

Ep. 176 : Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats with Dr. Cylita Guy

When I began reading it I realized Dr. Cylita Guy’s new book Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats I realized that it is more than what it seems. Cylita has written about how eight different researchers go about conducting their research along with how they themselves, as individuals, some as BIPOC scientists, interact with and encounter their work.
There are stories of late night encounters with the police, and of a scientist observing birds in park being asked to leave because other park goers were “uncomfortable” likely because the scientist was a Black woman. There are stories of urban ecology researchers that reflect the urban human population dynamics which, in some ways, are comparable to the wilds they work to understand. Life blooms everywhere, and within these pages I read the stories of the broad ecologies which I am not only witness to, but also apart of.