Photo provided by the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin
As an organization that celebrates the complexity and importance of biodiversity, we are thrilled to partner with board members and collaborators like Jeff Galligan, co-founder of the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, to highlight the complexity and importance of diversity in conservation as well.
This article written by Madison Audubon board member Jeff Galligan as the final project for his Master Naturalist Certification course. Although this article does not deal specifically with birds, it does explore the settlement history of Blacks in Wisconsin and some of the people currently doing amazing work in research, education, writing and in creating spaces for people of color to experience the outdoors of natural Wisconsin.
Madison Audubon believes that our natural spaces are for everyone and acknowledges that issues do exist with access and inclusion to the outdoors for some communities. Part of changing that consists of disseminating information on contributions people of color are making in the scientific world and including perspectives and voices of a diverse range of people.
Thank you to Jeff for sharing this great resource in the Settlement history of Blacks and Black environmentalists in Wisconsin (featured on the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin’s website)!
Settlement history of Blacks and Black environmentalists in Wisconsin
Jeff Galligan holds a Black-billed Cuckoo at a BIPOC Birding Club event at the Emmons Creek Bird Banding Station. Photo by Arun Christopher Manoharan
As the co-founder of the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, I am working to create safe spaces and community for birders of color in what has traditionally been a white space. In my professional life, much of what I do is centered around developing and providing academic supports and opportunities to assist students of color, first generation students and students with disabilities in achieving academic success and credential completion. In my personal life, I am very keen about helping to create equitable opportunities for people of color in conservation and environmental and natural sciences as well as creating chances for young kids of color to be exposed to STEM fields while experiencing the outdoors of Wisconsin.
Christopher Kilgour, founder of Color in the Outdoors says “There have been multitudes of studies that have proven over and over the importance of maintaining and fostering a healthy and sustainable ecosystem and, as time goes on, it continues to be apparent that this responsibility is shared by ALL of us. It is only until we come to terms with the fact that engagement with and the ultimate survival of our planet is driven by the need for a communal approach. In addition, as we continue to examine the human condition, more specifically issues surrounding mental and physical health and wellbeing, it has also been shown that the connection to nature and outdoor spaces provide an abundance of spaces and environments to re-center, re-group, and re-ground on levels that go much deeper than many can explain. Maintaining these spaces and places for that healing and reset is an integral part of a healthy world.”
An increase in research is Research has increasingly validated and legitimized the power that being outdoors has on a person’s mental health and wellbeing. A study from the University of Exeter in England found that people living in neighborhoods with more birds and tree cover are less likely to have depression, anxiety, and stress. (CNN Health)
Another study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that just listening to bird song contributes to perceived attention restoration and stress recovery. (CNN Health)
University of Washington environmental psychologist Gregory Bratman says the, “Evidence is there to support the conclusion that contact with nature benefits our mood, our psychological well-being, our mental health, and our cognitive functioning.” (Audubon)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Photo by Jeff Galligan
If simply living in a place where there is tree cover and the sounds of birds permeate the environment, even if on a subconscious level of awareness, has a demonstrably positive impact on a person’s health and happiness, imagine what intentional immersive experiences in broader natural areas would do.
Because so many children of color are not exposed to or provided opportunities for STEM experiences, and because they do not see people who look like them in STEM fields, they far too often do not imagine or believe a career in STEM is for them. This is compounded when you narrow the view of scientific fields to those in conservation, environmentalism, and natural sciences. These fields tend to have been doing much better in recent times in terms of gender equity, but still have very little ethnic diversity.
In a 2018 report titled “The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations,” University of Michigan professor Dorcet E. Taylor examined the gender, racial, and class diversity of over 300 environmental organizations boards and staff from. Her research found that while ethnic minorities account for 38% of the United States population, they only account for 16% of board members and staff of these types of organizations. (Taylor 2018). It is important to note that these statistics are not because there is no interest in the environment or conservation in communities of color or because people of color do not want those kinds of jobs. This is all about access, opportunity, and equity. Historically, people of color are, as children, often told what they can or cannot do by people entrusted with their education who do not look like them. It happened to me. It happened to my children. It is something I have heard from friends and students ad nauseum. When you couple this “pigeonholing” with lack of opportunity or access to natural areas and immersive experiences (a significant issue for people growing up in urban areas of large cities), it is easily apparent why, in part, the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the natural sciences is such a glaring issue.
As part of the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, I have met some fantastic people and collaborated with amazing organizations that are committed to diversifying their staff and participants. I am appreciative of the genuine and transparent work being done on some fronts but realize that so much more needs to be done to ensure that all children have exposure to immersive opportunities in STEM fields, especially in the natural, environmental and conservation sciences. We all have a vested interest in what happens with this earth. The decisions that are made today regarding conservation and climate warming will affect all of us and our children. It is imperative that we all have a seat at the table when these kinds of long-reaching decisions are being discussed and made.
During the summer of 2022, I decided to take my Master Naturalist Certification, something I have wanted to do for many years. As part of this process, a final project requiring a minimum of three hours is required. As I have heard very little regarding historical Black environmentalists, conservationists, or other types of natural scientists and their contributions to science, I decided to research this topic both on a national scale and in the state of Wisconsin.
What I found dismayed me… and inspired me. (Continue reading here.)
