Navigating diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in ornithology in the Caribbean 

Facilitated by Laura Baboolal and Miguel Matta, Environment for the Americas. 

Emails: lbaboolal@environmentamericas.org, mmatta@environmentamericas.org

Purpose: Accessibility in the new ornithology era shows the need to expand diversity, equity and inclusion, integrating communities both within and beyond borders and to find ways to embrace race, ethnicity, culture, gender, and accessibility in avian research, conservation, and education.

Overview: The conservation of migratory birds presents multifaceted challenges, encompassing distance, diverse habitats, and numerous threats. Adding to this complexity is the imperative to foster collaboration among varied partners, both within and across borders. This session will address the needs of underrepresented professionals, international professionals, and early career professionals, among others, including barriers to participating in international collaborations, to publishing papers, to being cited in publications, and to having access to conduct research because of varied disabilities. We will also share how indigenous knowledge may be better incorporated into bird conservation efforts and how trust can be established among diverse groups.

Objectives: 

• To highlight the importance of inclusivity of all genders, ethnicities, and disabilities.

• To address the needs of underrepresented professionals, international professionals, and early career professionals, among others.

• To share how indigenous knowledge can be better incorporated into bird conservation efforts and how trust can be established among diverse groups.

Session Structure: Workshop will run on July 17th. All attendees interested in how to diversify their programmes, organizations, field research teams and more are invited to register for the workshop via the BirdsCaribbean conference registration portal. The facilitator/s will conduct presentations at the workshop and also have one breakout session. There will also be Caribbean people presenting about important topics that are relevant to the Caribbean including culture in the Caribbean, challenges and barriers faced, and gender in the field. Data gathered from the breakout session will be collated and distributed to attendees via email post the workshop.