Conservation Realist

A truly energizing chat with Dr. Rishi Sugla, Frontline Community Climate Resilience Scientist at UW's Climate Impacts Group, where we dive into:

* How universities can (need to) work in solidarity with communities on environmental justice

* Working with frontline communities on climate adaptation through true co-creation

* Bringing community organizing expertise to academia’s approach to working with communities

* Mutual aid versus charity

* Again, because it’s so important: decolonizing conservation and research!

* Basically: academia needs regular reality checks

* Going from a mindset of separate lanes to a “dance party to make the world better”

A very spooky, haunted hellooooo to you all - it's a special Halloween episode of Conservation Realist! I realize it will be past Halloween by the time most of you listen to this, but hey, let's keep the celebrations going, along with the heavily discounted candies.

Though it would be super fun to feature stories of eerie happenings in the field, or otherworldly spiritual or mythical creatures from around the world, I'm really going to focus today on the sort of uncomfortable shadows in conservation. The hard truths and complicated questions that lurk around us, but that we - unlike imprudent horror film characters - often don't care to investigate.

And then I'll have some more entertaining snippets at the end!

What's motivating this episode? Well, I've been learning more and more about my Irish heritage, including from some cousins over there who are very attuned to the spiritual traditions of Ireland. That's how I've learned that Halloween actually originated in Ireland, as the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sauin). It's a celebration and observance of the darker time of year, a time where the veil between this world and the Otherworld is lifted and spirits - including ancestors - can move between the realms more easily.

This might remind you a bit of Dia de los Muertos, the embracing of death and connecting with ancestors. For me, really, the first time I was exposed to this notion of this time of year as a time of connection was in 2011, when I was in Manila during Halloween and All Saint's Day. I visited a cemetery as families gathered to pay respects to their departed loved ones, and it was beautiful. It was festive, with stalls selling food and light-up gadgets and candles, yet also respectful and profound. And I've increasingly grown captivated with this idea of death, darkness, and the afterlife or otherworld or underworld not as something to try to avoid or hide from, but something to accept and even embrace as part of our experience in this universe.

So, I thought it would be fitting to make this little episode to share space with some of the dark or uncomfortable questions and issues in conservation. Let's get cozy, light some metaphorical candles (or even a bonfire) as we open our minds to some of the truths that we might perhaps shy away from otherwise. Because these shadowy truths and questions will never be addressed until we learn to get comfortable facing them and engaging with them!

First question to ponder: How much are you actually willing to change in your own life to "save the world"? And how does this compare to the adjustments you expect other people to make? When you envision a "conservation solution" that requires alteration or adaptation in how communities live, are those things that you yourself would actually be okay doing?

If someone knocked on your door tomorrow and said, "So, you're going to need to stop taking flights for fieldwork, for conferences, for workshops, because it contributes to climate change," how would you react? (As a note: I fully appreciate the value of in-person interactions. And I also admit that I am not willing to stop flying, and I will not give some sort of wobbly excuse like "the things I do whe n I travel help save the world through research and sharing ideas" - and I have to accept that this is me being selfish).

For those of us in the Global North, what would you change to reduce your disproportionate impact on the planet? What privileges would you relinquish? Like, really - what would you ACTUALLY do? And what's stopping you from doing it?

On a related note: What would those of us in a position of relative privilege do to make conservation truly more inclusive? Beyond stated commitments to "diversity" and increasing travel grants to a somewhat-less-but-still-wholly inadequate level? Beyond "well, we looked into decreasing the cost of this conference for Global South participants, but it's just hard"?

And: peer-reviewed publishing. Oh my goodness, is this ever an old ghost roaming the hallways way past its time! Why are so many in this field pressured to spend an inordinate amount of time to write something in awkward academic English - and, generally, English only! - that is not necessarily widely accessible (due to cost or language or both) and not necessarily read by all that many people? And why is there so much pressure to feed into this publishing machine when it's not necessarily a particularly efficient way to get information from research into action?

Part of that, of course, is the intense competition for inadequate resources for research and conservation work. Publications help get grants and fellowships. Grants and fellowships beget more grants and fellowships. But there aren't enough to fund every truly deserving project out there - though, of course, large NGOs often spend a lot on overhead and events in the nicest hotels in town (I understand that these organizations need to uphold a reputation of prestige to impress government and private sector partners, but...still...). So, the people doing the best work in conservation often have to significantly reduce the time and energy devoted to the real work and instead scour for funding, as well as funding for workshops and conferences, as well as time (and sometimes, if the publication fee waiver isn't granted, money) for publishing.

And competition and the pursuit of prestige and recognition can give rise to the worst in us. I think many of us know at least a few conservation "heroes" who are internationally recognized, yet who aren't particularly effective conservationists and who might, also, not be particularly good or nice people. They're good at self-promotion and schmoozing. And once someone becomes recognized, they attract more and more funding and recognition, but really, it needs to be shared more widely! There aren't a relatively small number of exceptional saviors of nature. There are hundreds, thousands, and they deserve support.

And... what kind of person is usually recognized as a conservation hero? Generally some sort of nerd (sorry). Some sort of researcher. Don't get me wrong, many researchers do excellent and meaningful work in the field, but many other kinds of people do, as well. Why don't we provide better platforms for managers, rangers, and community members, who often are the ones doing the real work and the ones who will have to continue this work long after research projects are done?

Does being an expert in the natural sciences make you an expert in conservation? Then why are most of the people recognized as conservation experts primarily natural science researchers?

Who has the right to decide what happens with a species or an area or a resource? Really, who has the right? And why? And when there are competing interests, how do we decide which interest prevails? And who gets to decide that?

If you were trying to save a species, desperately, and someone in the government of the relevant jurisdiction grew passionate about it, enough to strictly enforce protections but in a way that violated human rights - what would you do? If that administration in general were known for its corruption and human rights violations, would you partner with them? Where would you draw the line in how much you cater to them in order to get your work done?

And how can we ever get a handle on what we're doing in conservation if proper monitoring and evaluation are rarely conducted?

My final spooky question of the episode - of course, there are many more that are possible! - is this: Do you dare to face all of these shadowy questions? And do you dare to trust and honor your own intelligence, training, experience, and motivations, but balance them with humility and curiosity and determination to …

It's alive! Back from the dead, in time for Halloween! This time, I chat with Dr. Lucy Keith-Diagne and Diana Seck of the African Aquatic Conservation Fund (AACF) on their work in Senegal and more broadly in West and Central Africa. Thank you, AACF - I learned a lot, including that they have accommodations at their office, so I am conjuring up some schemes to visit...

Key topics:

* Marine mammal conservation (and some mention of sea turtles!) in Senegal

* Establishing a small nonprofit for sustained local work on conservation

* Approaches to sustainable and effective conservation training

* Need for career opportunities (and funding) in conservation for local researchers

* Need for greater inclusivity in the global marine mammal conservation community

* How opportunities for networking lead to collaborative projects

* Regional work on aquatic conservation in West and Central Africa

Learning from Gerald Youngblood, Chief Marketing Officer for Lenovo North America, about the development and implementation of their Work for Humankind Project, specifically their partnership with HBCU Elizabeth City State University to provide students with immersive field experiences.

KEY POINTS:

* Lenovo’s Work for Humankind efforts to bring technology and opportunities for diversity to the conservation field

* Efforts to improve sustainability in production & transportation in tech

* Partnership with Historically Black College & University (HBCU) institutions

* Developing a field experience project that responded to student needs

* Contrasting tale of my sponsored-by-Pepsi high school

* Importance of empowering people to access and enjoy nature

A conversation with Elizabeth City State University students Angel Teagle and Aniya Martin, majoring in Emergency Management, who participated in Lenovo's Work for Humankind initiative. Lenovo specifically wanted to partner with HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) as part of their efforts to use their technology in a way that improves diversity in environmental fields and in access to nature.KEY TOPICS

·       The integrative, applied field of emergency management (seriously, it’s fascinating)

·       Lenovo’s Work for Humankind partnership with HBCU Elizabeth City State University

·       Diversity in education and career opportunities, and empowering access to nature

·       Immersive, practical learning experiences for students

·       The impact of generosity in sharing information and connections with students

A conversation with Chris Johns, Ph.D., cover guy for National Geographic's funding website, terrestrial (yes, I know some land folks) ecologist, talented photographer and videographer, currently working in communications and marketing for good causes at RTI International. KEY TOPICS:

- The importance of formative field immersion opportunities for youths in conservation, e.g. Youth Conservation Corps, AmeriCorps

- The privilege of witnessing natural places, and the responsibility for sharing our observations of how they're changing

- Connecting to conservation of a place as an "outsider" compared to places linked to your heritage

- Moving away from the traditional conservation career path

- Communications and marketing - the powers of persuasion! - and the skills, organization, and dedication required to effectively engage

Episode 10! Double digits! An excellent conversation with marine biologist and science communicator Jean Utzurrum from the Philippines, who you can follow at @jean8rum on Twitter (or whatever the "X" thing is now!). Covering colonial mindsets, complex conservation contexts, correcting misconceptions about coastal communities, and the complicated realm of social media advocacy.

KEY TOPICS:

* Colonial science in the Philippines, and internalized colonial mindsets

* “Prestige” and privilege of big international organizations

* Social media advocacy & how to retain your mental well-being while engaging in it

* “Sachet economy” and the shaming of marginalized groups for “less environmental” practices

* The need to consider the actual context of conservation problems versus copying solutions from different contexts

* Fighting the “ignorant, lazy” stereotype often used against coastal communities

* Different forms of knowledge and expertise

Episode 9! A monologue on the bycatch of charismatic marine megafauna (cool big large marine animals) in small-scale fisheries, and the complex system that it exists in. This is a major threat to marine megafauna around the world; on the other hand, small-scale fishing communities are often marginalized and vulnerable. There are no easy fixes and no getting away from the reality that conservation approaches need to change in order to solve the bycatch problem.

Episode 8 is a (spicy!) continuation of my conversation with Dr. Jo Marie Acebes (BALYENA.ORG) from Episode 2. We talk about the human collateral damage that can come with conservation interventions, including the case of mobula ray fisheries in Bohol, Philippines.

Episode 7! A bit late, but still great. This conversation with Dr. Ruth Brennan, an integration expert in environmental governance, is a fascinating and wide-ranging tour of ideas related to fisheries management and conservation in the context of Ireland's island communities. Key topics include: co-design in management and conservation efforts; humanity and social relationships in conservation and management; small-scale fishing communities, particularly island communities, in Ireland and Scotland; policy on paper versus in practice; found poetry from community voices; gender in fishing communities; and what "integration expert" means!

Full transcript & Dr. Brennan's bio at conservationrealist.substack.com