Always Be Birdin'

By Samantha DeJarnettScience Nature

Always Be Birdin' episodes

April 21 The Colonization of Capital "S" Science with Helena Souffrant
**Please excuse any audio imperfections in this episode**
Helena Souffrant, a Masters student at the Yale School of the Environment, joins the Always Be Birdin' Podcast to lend her knowledge about the world of Natural History. Join us as we pull at the roots of capital "S" science and reveal a long history of colonization and the desire to uphold made up categorization systems that are intrinsically linked to racism and capitalism. As we navigate these complex topics, we come to the reality that birding as we know it today can be described as a rebranding of the exploitative expeditions of the past. We also discuss the normalized rigidity of capital "S" science and what happens when white supremacy is the only voice in the room when it comes to understanding the world around us. And, as always, how can we as Black, Indigenous and birders of color, continue to challenge and dismantle the systems that inform how we go birding every day.
1 hr 18 min
January 04 Mad Times with The MadMan: A Paella Protest Story
Today we take a small break from the world of birds and listen to the story of my dear friend and birder, Jahquari Greene's, racially motivated and wrongful termination after being physically assaulted at Bar Casa Vale in Portland, OR. His mission is to ensure that this restaurant comes forward with acknowledgement and accountability and that this never happens again to anyone else. Please follow this story and support the #KeepPlating Series: A Paella Protest Pop Up, on IG at @madman_popup and TikTok at @Jahquari. If you would like a ticket to the first pop up in the series on Monday January 5th, please visit https://partiful.com/e/ZYkdSK2tGvpboNHI3YG7?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPMTI0MDI0NTc0Mjg3NDE0AAGnaELx_oXdDnpB6ID4knSkPvbYFLccw6YaRccffNbH57AyiEVgtkJm8lX77qk_aem_-EtoAX76lmUuHzTEhyBB0w
Here at the Always Be Birdin' Podcast, we never shy away from calling out racism and platforming Black voices allowing for a safe space to share their stories while creating the support and community they need to thrive and flourish in a society that has been and is always wanting to see us fail and suffer. We will always offer what we can to those who wish to #applypressure and burn these systems to the ground.
1 hr 17 min
October 14, 2025 Reclamation, Radicalization and Resistance
Welcome back to the Always Be Birdin' Podcast hosted by Sam DeJarnett for Season 2!!
Our first episode is revisiting the lasting affect of #BlackBirdersWeek on us as BIPOC birders over the last 5 years. Please enjoy my re-recording of the presentation I did at the Justice Outside Unite & Ignite 2025 conference in Philly back in September 2025, titled "Black Birders: The Reclamation and Radicalization of Birding As An Act of Resistance." This is my perspective on how Black leadership, specifically by Black women and femmes, within the hobby of birding and careers in conservation have paved the way for deep community connection and care while simultaneously setting the stage for resistance by dismantling and reworking “the narrative” created by racism, white supremacy and capitalism. Taking place beginning in 2020 with the “Incident in Central Park” with Christian Cooper, fueled by the murder of George Floyd by the police and shaped by Covid, Black birders created and sustained an online movement which stood alongside BlackLivesMatter and made space for Black, Indigenous and birders of color all over the country to connect, share and heal together. This is the story of how Black birders reclaimed and radicalized the hobby of
birding as an act of Resistance.
58 min
December 20, 2022 This Is An Episode For People Who Love Birds with Danielle Belleny
Welcome back to the Always Be Birdin' Podcast!

We're sliding into Season 3 with self proclaimed Cemetery Birder, Danielle Belleny, as we celebrate her new book, This Is A Book For People Who Love Birds. Recently published, This Is A Book For People Who Love Birds is a short but sweet introduction to the world of birds and birding. Intended for those who don't realize they love birds yet and those who have just begun their journey, Danielle does a brilliant job of taking big scientific and social ideas and packing them in a way that is easy to digest and super fun to read!

Join us as we discuss different aspects of the book and celebrate Danielle for this huge accomplishment.
Follow us on social media (listed below) for a chance to win a free copy of the This Is A Book For People Who Love Birds, Always Be Birdin' stickers and select items from Bird Collective.
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Where to buy This Is A Book For People Who Love Birds:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=this+is+a+book+for+people+who+love+birds&crid=U4GA2628BG20&sprefix=%2Caps%2C126&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_2_0_recent
Danielle Belleny Socials:
IG https://www.instagram.com/bellzisbirding/?hl=en
Follow Always Be Birdin':
IGhttps://www.instagram.com/alwaysbebirdin_podcast/?hl=en
51 min
March 30, 2022 Into the Depths with Tara Roberts
Last week I had my first ever live recording and today I have the absolute honor to bring you an interview with National Geographic Explorer and Storyteller, MIT Fellow and scuba diver, Tara Roberts. We discuss her recently released podcast, Into the Depths, where we as the listeners get to follow Tara as she works with fellow Black divers through Diving with a Purpose as they search for and help document sunken ships that carried enslaved African and were a part of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Tara talks with me about her experiences in making this podcast, what inspired her to learn how to dive and how that ultimately lead her down this deeply personal journey of identity through history and what it means to connect with our ancestors as well as descendants that are all around us today. This episode is personal to me as a mixed race Black woman in America. I was holding back tears for parts of this interview and am in awe of Tara's journey and her mission to bring the work of these Black scuba divers to the surface (no pun) and work to re-tell the stories of our ancestors and us as descendants.
Follow the podcast on IG : https://www.instagram.com/intothedepths_podcast/
Listen to Into the Depths here : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-depths/id1604457921?ign-itscg=80085&ign-itsct=pod_show_natgeo_intothedepths
Read about it here : https://www.nationalgeographic.com/impact/article/tara-roberts-diving-with-a-purpose
Watch it here : https://youtu.be/u6KR7Y6tRkY
Check out the work of Diving with a Purpose : https://divingwithapurpose.org
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Follow Always Be Birdin' on IG : https://www.instagram.com/alwaysbebirdin_podcast/?hl=en
Donate : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlwaysBeBirdin

1 hr
March 03, 2022 Liberated Paths for Liberating BIPOC
Small grassroots organizations and individuals are the ones on the ground doing the hard work to create safe and educational spaces in nature for Black, Indigenous and people of color. What does it mean to have big dreams for our communities and NOT have to give them up because of barriers to funding? Philanthropy and distribution of money is gate kept by wealthy white people who are the ones to decide who is and isn't "worthy" of funding. The same money gets passed around at the top while those grassroots organizations are struggling to enact the change we need for our communities because we can't afford to put on the type of programming we want and that our communities deserve.

Today, I speak with Chandrika Francis who is the Founder and Facilitator of Oshun Swim School based in Seattle, WA, Lydia Parker who is a Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hunters of Color based in Portland, OR and Alex Troutman, Hunters of Color Mentee and Wildlife Biologist based in Austell, GA. We all do different work, but we are connected by our missions to create safe, healing and educational spaces for Black, Indigenous and people of color outside as well as the grant that is enabling us to aggressively pursue our dreams for a different future. We speak in depth and detail about the Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program through Justice Outside, why it is so important and how it is going to help us to lead our communities into collective liberation outside.

Wether you are a birder, hunter, grad student, biologist, nature lover or starting up your own small organization, this episode will help you understand the disparities of philanthropy and distribution of funding and teach you how it can and is being done differently.
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Oshun Swim School - http://www.oshunswimschool.com
Donate : https://www.patreon.com/oshunswimschool
Follow on IG : https://www.instagram.com/oshunswimschool/
Hunters of Color - https://www.huntersofcolor.org
Follow on IG : https://www.instagram.com/huntersofcolor/
Donate : https://www.patreon.com/huntersofcolor
Alex Troutman - https://alexktroutman.wixsite.com/n8tureal/about
Follow on IG : https://www.instagram.com/n8ture_al/
Donate : Paypal N8ture_Al
Justice Outside - https://justiceoutside.org
Follow on IG : https://www.instagram.com/we_are_justice_outside/
"What is the Liberated Paths approach?
With the Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program, we are working to create a more just and sustainable outdoor and environmental movement. The Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program aims to shift resources to and build power with Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color.
To build a more just and sustainable outdoor and environmental movement, the Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program supports outdoor initiatives and organizations that cultivate and celebrate the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color and affirm the many experiences and identities our communities hold. Liberated Paths currently supports recreation, marine and coastal conservation, and land conservation initiatives in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and California. As we shift resources and build power with these programs, we hope to expand Liberated Paths nationally.
Why did Justice Outside create this program?
Now more than ever, our communities’ health and wellbeing depend on having access to the outdoors and a voice in how our land and water are used. But for decades, systemic racism has determined who is welcome in outdoor spaces and whose experiences and voices are valued. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led organizations are on the frontlines of the grassroots work being done to build a better planet but our work is chronically overlooked and underfunded.
We know that when our voices are left out, our communities suffer, and our planet does too. With the Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program, we envision a way to bridge that gap."
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Follow me on IG : @AlwaysBeBirdin_Podcast Twitter : @alwaysbebirdin
Donate : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlwaysBeBirdin
1 hr 22 min
November 23, 2021 Roundtable Discussion: BIPOC Bird Clubs pt. 2
In part 2 of this roundtable discussion, Candace, Daniela, Dexter, Angel, Jason and I dive deep into several important topics. We talk about why BIPOC only spaces are important for us to continue to breakdown historical narratives of cross cultural tension within BIPOC communities that is a design of white supremacy and Bird Joy can help break these cycles of in-culture discrimination. BIPOC peoples are of the land, of the water, of the trees and the animals and when we talk about reclaiming these spaces outside, it is more than just creating safe spaces, it is bringing us back to our ancestral rights to be with the land and however we choose to show up in it, white folk must be okay with it. It is no longer whiteness that dictates how this land is used and what it looks like. Shout out to our mentors of color who set us on our individual and collective paths to Occupy Birding and Normalize Bird Joy.
**Candace Williams is credited with the term "Occupy Birding" which is used at the end of this episode.
**Dexter Patterson is credited with the term "Bird Joy" which is used multiple times in this episode and the last one.
Candace Williams of Chicago BIPOC Birding Network (unofficial) Chicago IL
IG: https://www.instagram.com/chi_in_the_city/
Daniela Herrera of Chicago BIPOC Birding Network (unofficial) Chicago IL
IG: https://www.instagram.com/latina.birder/?hl=en
Angel Ramirez of Oxnard Birder's Club, Oxnard CA
IG : https://www.instagram.com/oxnardbirdersclub/?hl=en
Dexter Patterson of BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, Madison WI
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bipocbirdingclubofwi/?hl=en
Website: https://www.bipocbirdingclub.org
Jason Hall of In Color Birding Club, Philadelphia PA
IG: https://www.instagram.com/incolorbirdingclub/?hl=en
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Follow me on IG @alwaysbebirdin_podcast
Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlwaysBeBirdin
51 min
November 19, 2021 Roundtable Discussion: BIPOC Bird Clubs pt. 1
Meet five leaders in the community creating necessary spaces for BIPOC through organized outings. In this first part, we are introduced to each of them and hear their stories of what brought them to birding and eventually to starting BIPOC birding clubs or networks. All of these people are wonderful and have a deep love of birding and brining that join into the BIPOC communities where they are from. In part 2 we talk a lot more deeply about the importance of BIPOC only spaces in birding.

03:37 Candace Williams of Chicago BIPOC Birding Network (unofficial) Chicago IL
07:43 Daniela Herrera of Chicago BIPOC Birding Network (unofficial) Chicago IL
IG: https://www.instagram.com/latina.birder/?hl=en
14:07 Angel Ramirez of Oxnard Birder's Club, Oxnard CA
IG : https://www.instagram.com/oxnardbirdersclub/?hl=en
24:20 Dexter Patterson of BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, Madison WI
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bipocbirdingclubofwi/?hl=en
Website: https://www.bipocbirdingclub.org
38:46 Jason Hall of In Color Birding Club, Philadelphia PA
IG: https://www.instagram.com/incolorbirdingclub/?hl=en
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Follow me on IG @alwaysbebirdin_podcast
Donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlwaysBeBirdin
48 min
September 14, 2021 Approximations: Avian Training and White Supremacy with Corina Newsome
As bird lovers, one of the best and most memorable experiences we all hope to have is a close encounter with birds. Be it through meeting a falconer, visiting your local conservation organization or zoo or having a once in a lifetime moment out birding, seeing birds up close is nothing short of amazing. When we think about meeting a bird who is in captivity for educational purposes, what does it take for those birds to feel comfortable with the people that work with them and you as an audience member?

Today, I talk with Corina Newsome (@hood__naturalist), Ornithologist and Community Engagement Manager with Georgia Audubon, about the extremely exciting and interesting world of avian training for educational purposes. There is a lot to this profession and it is not an easy job. Corina and I discuss different training methods, bird language, species differences in captivity and why relationship and trust building is so important between bird and trainer.

We then Dig Into It and take all of these ideas around avian training and create a powerful metaphor for how white supremacy operates in institutional settings with Black, Brown and Indigenous people of color. We hone in on and dissect how important the intentionally slow, incremental steps (or approximations) towards re-building relationship and trust with the BIPOC community can be the radical behavioral shift white conservation organizations need to understand if they truly want to dismantle the pillars of oppression within their institutions.
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Follow Corina Newsome on IG here : https://www.instagram.com/hood__naturalist/
and connect with all her work here : https://linktr.ee/corinanewsome
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Resources for avian behavior and training which focus on choice and relationship based techniques
https://iaate.org/
https://naturalencounters.com/
https://avian-behavior.org/
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Follow me here : https://www.instagram.com/alwaysbebirdin_podcast/
Donate to the podcast here : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlwaysBeBirdin
1 hr 4 min
August 28, 2021 Thank You!
It's the one year anniversary for the podcast and I just want to say THANK YOU! Thank you so much to all my followers, to everyone who has downloaded and supported me through this wild process. You are the reason I am here a year later and have the ability to continue for another year. It's been an amazing year filled with new friends and amazing opportunities and I can never say thank you enough. You are the reason I am here. THANK YOU. Stay tuned for year two of the Always Be Birdin' Podcast!
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Continue your support here :
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlwaysBeBirdin
Follow on IG here :
https://www.instagram.com/alwaysbebirdin_podcast/?hl=en

12 min

About Always Be Birdin'

From the publisher's feed

Birds are extremely awesome. But birding can be intimidating and difficult. Always Be Birdin' aims to change the narrative of birding. How we bird, where we bird and who is birding. Join me as I go out into the field with BIPOC birding experts, novice baby birders like myself and nature enthusiasts to do some chaotic, goofy birding while dropping a knowledge bomb or two to show that no matter what, you can Always Be Birdin'.