Black scientists call out racism in the field and counter it
Universityof WASHINGTON—
Washington ecologist Christopher Schell is studyinghow coronavirus shutdownshave affectedwildlifeinSeattleand other cities. But when planning fieldwork, he also thinks about howhe’s perceived in neighborhoods where he installs wildlife cameras.
“Iwear the nerdiest glasses I have and often a jacket that has my college logo, so that people don’t mistakeme for what they think is a thug or hooligan,” said Schell, who is African American.
The recent episode of a white woman calling the police on a Black birder in New York’s Central Park shockedmanypeople. Butfor Black environmental scientists, worryingaboutwhether they are likely to be harassed or asked to justify their presence while doing fieldwork is a familiar concern.
Tanisha Williams, a botanist at Bucknell University, knows exactly which plants she’s looking for. But after beingquestionedbystrangers inpublicparks, Williams, who is Black, has started carrying her field guides with her.
“I’ve been quizzed by random strangers,” she said. “NowI bringmy wildflower books and botanical field guides, trying to look like a scientist. It’s for other people. Iwouldn’t otherwise lug these books.”
Overt harassmentandsubtle intimidation during fieldworkcompoundthe discrimination that Black scientists and those fromother underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds already feel in academic settings.
Now researchers in the environmental sciences are increasingly raising issues
of discrimination and marginalization in thewake of a national reckoning on race. They are also pointing out howa lack of diversityamong scientists can lead to flawed or incomplete research.
A National Science Foundation survey found that in 2016, scholarswhoidentified as Black orAfricanAmerican were awarded just 6% of all doctorates in life sciences, and less than 3% of doctorates in physical and Earth sciences. Studentswho identified as Hispanic or Latino were awarded less than 8% of doctorates in life sciences andabout 5% ofdoctorates in physical and Earth sciences. According to the most recent census, Black people make
up 13.4% of the population, and Latinos 18.5%.
“The issue is not lack of interest” on the part of students from the underrepresented groups, said the University ofWashington’s Scott Freeman, who studies educational pipelines to degrees in science, technology, engineering or math. But many of those students come from families with fewer financial resources and face gaps in access to secondary education that is gearedtowardthe sciences or college preparation. Those factors can influence howwell they perform in freshman general chemistry — considered a gateway course for pursuing these so-called STEM majors.
It’s possible to decrease the impact of these disadvantages by adjusting teaching styles, such as replacing traditional large lectures with hands-on learning, according to Freeman’s research. And students from underrepresented backgrounds who overcome initial obstacles are “hyper persistent” in their studies, continuing at higher rates in STEM fields compared with their white peers, he found. Addressing these gaps has taken on new urgency as theU.S. confronts systemic racismin the wake of nationwide protests after the death ofGeorge Floyd at the hands of police.
At a meeting this summer of the Society for Conservation Biology North America, one panel was devoted to “why conservation science needs to prioritize racial and social justice.” Hundreds of scientistshave joined a wider discussionamongacademics about racism, posting their personal experiences of discrimination under the Twitter hashtag #BlackintheIvory, referring to the ivory tower.
But environmental scientistsmust confront discrimination not just in halls of academia but in the field aswell.
Carnivore ecologist Rae Wynn-Grant, a fellow at the National Geographic Society, said she has to put her “feelings aside” when her fieldwork takes her to places where she encounters racist symbols. While driving in rural Maryland to study bears, Wynn-Grant, who is Black, passed several Confederate flags and a cloth doll of a lynched man hanging from a tree.
“This is the extra labor Black people have to do in order to participate in something they’re interested in,” she said.