Early Work
I spent my childhood in Queens, New York, pretending that I had my own nature show. Except rather than animals from far away places, my make-believe TV show was all about urban species. I would run around searching for and following subway rats, cockroaches and squirrels. Much to my mother’s dismay, I would come to the dinner table with cicada exoskeletons decorating my shirt. Yet despite my enthusiasm for nature shows, I didn’t actually know how to create my own nature show or even how to work with wildlife at all. All of the nature show hosts describing wildlife on TV were cisgendered, hetero, white men exploring seemingly faraway places. Where were the Black women, queer folks, and urban spaces?
Fortunately, when I applied to universities for my undergraduate degree, I was invited to be part of a multi-year program funded by the National Science Foundation to provide field-based scientific training for students from systemically minoritized groups. My mentor through this program, Dr. Myra Shulman—along with many other mentors in wildlife ecology—was key for helping me to navigate into a career as a conservation scientist. Without critical programs like these, students from nontraditional backgrounds may never find their way into conservation- and wildlife-related fields.
Most Exciting Part of Your Work
I really enjoy being able to work with both people and wildlife, which is what’s necessary in order to have effective, empathetic, and long-lasting conservation. When I was younger, I thought I was only interested in wildlife, but I’m so glad that I realized how important it is to work with people, too! Working with wildlife and people means I get to do lots of different types of research, including outfitting animals with GPS collars to see where they’re moving, using trail cameras to observe wildlife without disturbing them, and creating maps with community members about their experiences with wildlife. Every day I get to learn something new! For instance, combining our GPS collar data with our community mapping data taught us that spotted hyenas (Crocuta Crocuta) are figuring out how to move in and out of the national park—through a fence!—but aren’t bothering some communities as much as we thought they might be.
Most Demanding Part of Your Work
The most demanding part of my work is that working with people and with wildlife means that I usually need to wake up early, have really long days, and then stay awake late. A typical day could include observing carnivores before dawn, checking camera traps, looking for wildlife in the field, visiting a community and having meetings or mapping sessions with community members, and then staying out late to observe nocturnal carnivores again when they’re most active. Sometimes, I also have to drive over rough, rocky roads, and take care not to fall into any holes or get run off the road by an angry buffalo. When I’m doing fieldwork in the city, I sometimes also spend some time talking with the public about what I’m up to. Talking with local communities about the science we do is just as important as the science itself, and can contribute to diversifying who is engaged in conservation. So, a typical day for me can include lots of physical demands and lots of social demands! And the animals I study aren’t always cooperative- sometimes I’ll be waiting for many hours (at a den, on a trail, etc.) before I see the wildlife I’m looking for. I keep my energy going by packing lots of water, granola bars, and other snacks to enjoy throughout the day, and I bring a notebook to write down cool ideas and observations as I wait.
What Being an Explorer Means to You
Being an Explorer means always being curious about the world and finding ways to share my excitement with others. Rather than just focusing on science, I always prioritize the “why” behind the science. Why is this research important for conservation and who is it helping? Along with the research itself, I think storytelling is a very important aspect of conservation science. I think deeply about how to engage people in the conservation issues I’m working on, making sure to reach out to people who need the information but might not normally have access to it.
Explorer Work Showcase
My current National Geographic grant is a collaboration between the Humans and Hyenas Alliance (https://hyenacoexistence.org/) and several raptor experts. About half of the funds are dedicated to a research project focused on the interactions between avian and mammalian scavenging species in relation to how they remove carcasses and diseases from the landscape. The other half of the funds are dedicated to community engagement and capacity building as we seek to make the Humans and Hyenas Alliance into a Kenyan-led non-governmental organization (NGO).
Another project I’ve been working on is the Bay Area Coyote initiative (https://bayareacoyote.org/), which is a collaborative of organizations, agencies, institutions, and individuals who are working on research and management regarding human-coyote coexistence in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our website provides helpful info about coyotes as well as a form for local communities to report their coyote sightings.
Lastly, I do a lot of science communication about human-wildlife coexistence, conservation science, and queerness in the animal kingdom. You can check it out on my Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@thescrappynaturalist), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/christine_eleanor), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/scrapnaturalist)!
So, You Want To Be a Conservation Scientist?
There are so many ways to become a conservation scientist! The most important thing to remember is that it’s always okay to try new things and to reach out to people that you look up to or who you might be interested in working with. Connecting with organizations and mentors will give you more opportunities to work with wildlife or in conservation science more broadly. Also, go out into your neighborhood or into your nearby natural spaces, and take a moment to slow down and look around. Observing and absorbing what is happening around us, and examining how our own actions are connected to the wild world (even in urban spaces), are important skills as a conservation scientist.
Get Involved
There are many ways to get involved in conservation science! You can volunteer with a conservation organization or donate to their causes. There are many local or global conservation organizations that would benefit from your help. You can also contribute to initiatives in your neighborhood, like trash clean-ups and planting native pollinator gardens. Additionally, you can contribute to what we know about wildlife by using an app like iNaturalist or eBird to log your wildlife sightings.
