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J. Drew Lanham
Joseph Drew Lanham was born in 1965 in a rural town in South Carolina during the Civil Rights Movement. As one of four children, he spent most of his childhood toggling between his grandmother’s old home down the road and his parents' ranch called the Home Place: A diverse terrain of droughty sands, rivers and creeks, hickories and poplars, teeming with wildlife. Lanham states, “I craved knowledge about the wildlife that lived around us. I read every book I could about the creatures that shared the Home Place kingdom with me. . . . I went back outdoors, where I walked, stalked, and waited to see as many wild things as I could. . . . Birds were everywhere, and as I learned to identify them by sight, their songs sunk into my psyche, too.” As he got older, his passion for birds inspired him to look into the world of animal conservation and ornithology. At Clemson University he earned his Bachelor's degree, Masters degree, and PhD.
Because of his pure passion for animals, Lanham contributed to the field of science, nature, and social issues. Since he was gifted in both math and science, he originally positioned himself to explore engineering or medicine, however, Lanham leaned into his passion for the wildness of the outdoors and studied forest management and the effects of wildlife, more specifically, its effects on birds. In Vanity Fair he is quoted saying, “Birds don’t mind if we misidentify them, ’cause they know who they are without our labels. What they truly despise is the disrespect of habitat destruction, pollution, hordes of free-roaming outdoor cats, and the catalog of stupid things humans do to make their already difficult lives harder.” As a result of his observations, his works focused on nature, primarily the personal, historical, cultural, and conservational aspects of nature. He works today to broaden diversity in the natural world by writing and speaking about both his findings and racial equality.
Joseph Drew Lanham’s story is breathtakingly beautiful because his story underscores that we can be whatever we desire to be no matter your race or origins. He communicates his passion for nature through his work and teaches us how to be respectful to our environment. We must protect nature as much as possible and Joseph Drew Lanham leads us in this mission!
~Jaime '23, Lorenzo '24, Jasdeep '23
Sources:
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/learning-fly
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/05/j-drew-lanham-interview
https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2022/joseph-drew-lanham#searchresults
- https://www.wfae.org/arts-culture/2022-10-12/clemson-professor-and-southbound-guest-
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