Spatial inequalities leave micropolitan areas and Indigenous populations underserved by informal STEM learning institutions. ScienceAdvances, October 2020.
BLM Statement from ABS
June 2020
We, the Applied Biodiversity Science (ABS) Program, stand with the groundswell of voices led by Black Lives Matter who demand social change in the form of social justice and a dismantling of racial barriers in the United States. We recognize the need for institutional change of white power structures and privilege within academia, and understand the role we hold as academics to promote and safeguard equitable and fair treatment among our students and colleagues. The changes needed are long overdue and the loss of countless Black lives should not have been the precedent for action. The historical systems of oppression reach far beyond police brutality and that includes the realms of academia and conservation science. As a group of young conservation scientists and well-established faculty, we recognize our profession has systematically ignored or failed to adequately address the negative impacts of conservation practices on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We recognize our complicit role in upholding a white power structure by not actively challenging the systems of oppression as they manifest in academia and our fields of study. The ABS Program acknowledges the need for structural change and is committed to creating an environment that fosters support and inclusion of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) within our community. We stand in solidarity with and support our BIPOC faculty, staff, colleagues, and students. Not just today and tomorrow, but far into the future as well.
The ABS Community
Coronavirus Updates
Until further notice, all ABS events have been cancelled. Please see updates from the University.
New paper on empowerment in conservation published by current and former ABS students
Congratulation to current and former ABS students, Lauren Redmore, Aby Sene-Harper, Dhananjaya Katju and Mike Petriello, on the recent publication of their article Terms of empowerment: of conservation or communities?.
Abstract: In this era of socially-oriented biodiversity conservation and resource management, practitioners and scholars all too often invoke unclear and imprecise claims of empowerment to describe changing relations between people and resources. Empowerment is an important indicator of conservation success and social transformation. Yet, when scholars and practitioners fail to adequately conceptualize empowerment, they run the risk of undermining the importance of local involvement and capacity building to achieve biodiversity conservation. Here we explore the many ways empowerment has been conceptualized in conservation. We root our commentary in the history of the use of empowerment in conservation from these diverse perspectives. We then present examples of different meanings, measurements and outcomes ascribed to empowerment. We conclude with suggestions for harnessing empowerment for the benefit of conservationists and communities alike. Because empowerment has the potential to improve resource management outcomes and local livelihoods, we recommend building an adaptive empowerment assessment framework to assist with its deployment where it is most needed. Although empowerment goals in conservation can guide practitioners and scholars to engage with communities in transparent, meaningful and lasting ways, conservation needs a critical approach that builds from an appreciation of the nuances underlying the purpose and power of empowerment for conservation.
The article Terms of empowerment: of conservation or communities? is available in Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation. You can also read their blog post discussing the article here.
New publication of ABS-funded research by Buchholtz and Redmore
Congratulations to Erin Buchholtz and Lauren Redmore on the recent publication of their paper titled “Temporal partitioning and overlapping use of a shared natural resource by people and elephants”. The paper, co-authored with Dr. Amanda Stronza, Dr. Lee Fitzgerald, Anna Songhurst, and Graham McCulloch is based on research that was funded by an ABS CMRA grant. You can read the article here.