environment
Guidelines for Creating Inclusive Field Research Safety Protocols
Field research is integral to many scientific disciplines, but researchers from marginalized identities often face disproportionate risks, including discrimination, harassment, legal threats tied to identity, inaccessible field environments, and compounded challenges for those with intersecting identities. These risks can threaten physical safety, limit participation, and exacerbate inequities in disciplines such as ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation science. This paper provides guidelines for developing inclusive field safety manuals, helping researchers recognize identity-based safety concerns, understand relevant institutional policies, and adapt example protocols to their own contexts. Overall, the authors offer a practical framework for making field research safer and more equitable for all participants. To learn more, click here.
The History of Natural History and Race: Decolonizing Human Dimensions of Ecology
This article looks at how natural history—the close observation of organisms in their natural habitats—has long been central to ecology but also carries a deep history of racism. It explores how early European scientists linked human differences to the environment in ways that placed Europeans at the top of a racial hierarchy. This thinking fueled colonialism, justified slavery, and dismissed the ecological knowledge of non-Europeans. The authors highlight examples of Black ecological knowledge that developed under and in resistance to slavery, and they argue that recognizing and including their knowledge can make modern ecology more inclusive and effective. To learn more, click here.
Environmental and Climate Justice Syllabus
The Environmental and Climate Justice Syllabus gathers readings, case studies, and biographies from Black, Indigenous, and Latinx leaders’ works. It stresses the need to include ideas from outside of the U. S. and the Global North. It also touches on how issues like disasters, energy, and food justice are connected to environmental and climate justice. The syllabus began as a crowd-sourced Twitter campaign and remains an open, evolving resource bank. Its curated assortment of readings on climate and environmental justice spans several decades, giving useful insight into how the discipline has grown and transformed over time. To learn more, click here.
Rethinking Species Language — Just Language in Ecology Education
The Just Language in Ecology Education “Resources” page is a compilation of articles, media, essays, and books that challenge traditional “native” versus “invasive” species frameworks. Its contents highlight Indigenous perspectives, critiques of xenophobic language in ecology, and proposals for alternative criteria. The collection blends scholarly research, podcasts, videos, and creative writing to encourage reflection on the cultural and political implications of ecological terminology. To learn more, click here.
Unfencing the Future: Voices On How Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People and Organizations Can Work Together Toward Environmental and Conservation Goals
This report aims to inform and support non-Indigenous conservation groups and environmental funders in working with Indigenous communities. The guide emphasizes collaborative relationship built on time, listening, understanding, and a willingness to let go of power and control, moving beyond typical transactional “grants”. It delves into the history of colonization, land theft, and the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from conservation efforts, which created a significant disconnect. To foster successful partnerships, the guide highlights key themes for non-Indigenous organizations: prioritizing genuine relationships, ensuring inclusivity from the design stage, supporting Indigenous leadership in decision-making, and providing flexible, long-term funding. It strives toward “gadugi” (helping each other) and shared environmental and conservation goals, recognizing that Indigenous communities can drive meaningful and collaborative change. To learn more, click the button below.
DownloadDecolonizing Conservation with Prakash Kashwan
This podcast episode challenges the widely accepted perception of environmental conservation as a purely ethical and regenerative movement. Instead, it exposes how the field’s foundational philosophies—shaped by figures like Teddy Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir—are deeply rooted in colonialism, imperialism, and racialized capitalism. These legacies, the episode argues, continue to shape mainstream conservation efforts today. The episode centers around the paper “From Racialized Neocolonial Global Conservation to an Inclusive and Regenerative Conservation,” co-authored by Prakash Kashwan, who is the featured guest. Kashwan explains that many conservation policies unfairly separate Indigenous people from the lands they’ve cared for, leading to harmful practices that promote resource extraction under the guise of wildlife preservation. To learn more, listen to the podcast here.
Revisiting Poverty and Injustice in Rural Black Communities
Sixty years after Michael Harrington published The Other America in 1962—exposing pockets of extreme poverty in the United States—many conditions persist, or have worsened, now compounded by the effects of climate change. This 2024 article examines the stark economic realities facing rural Black communities and the inequitable distribution of resources that has perpetuated generational poverty and left the most vulnerable peoples without sustained support. “Social justice philanthropy spends billions of dollars every year to improve the wellbeing of communities, people, and the planet. While these resources have done a lot of good in a lot of places, they have largely failed to reach the communities in deepest need.” To learn more, click here.
Garrett Hardin: Extremist Info
This article from the Southern Poverty Law Center addresses the work of Garrett Hardin, who was a anti-immigrant extremist and a prominent ecologist. This is one example of a prominent environmentalist from the 1960s and 1970s who promoted a xenophobic ideology under the guise of fears of over-population affecting the environment. For more read here.
Why climate action is the antithesis of white supremacy
This article discusses the ideological underpinnings of the climate change movement and white supremacy, arguing that they are fundamentally at odds. The author suggests fighting against means acknowledging the interconnectedness of environmental systems and society whereas white supremacy rests on creating and maintaining difference. For more read here.
Beyond the Trend of Decolonizing Science
This webinar explores what it means to “decolonize science” in a discussion led by Indigenous and Black scholars. They use the Thirty Meter Telescope and the mountain of Mauna Kea as a case study of colonialism in science. For more watch here.
Designing for access in outdoor spaces doesn’t mean paving pathways
This article discusses considerations for designing accessible outdoor spaces for people with disabilities, drawing on examples from projects making mountain bike trails, hunting land and hiking trails wheelchair-accessible in Montana. People involved in those projects emphasize that small considerations, such as the size of gates and switchbacks on trails can make a significant difference in physical access. They also challenge the notion that physically disabled people want access to a different style of recreation and say that access should not be limited to paving paths. For more read here.
‘Environmentalist’ Doesn’t Just Mean White and Wealthy
This article discusses a study on perceptions of environmentalists and concern about the environment that challenges stereotypical notions of environmentalists. The study found that while the most common image of an environmentalist is a wealthy, college-educated white person, people of color and people from low-income backgrounds express a higher level of concern for the environment. They go on to discuss a need for the environmental movement to move towards environmental justice and become more inclusive. For more read here.