Storytelling

Black In Conservation Documentary

During my first semester of graduate school in 2020, I told my advisor that I wanted to film my field season monitoring piping plovers on the beaches of Long Island, New York and document my journey as a budding wildlife biologist. I hoped that my story would inspire the public to rethink what wildlife biologists look like and to see the perspective of someone that hadn't grown up with representation or early exposure to the field. Capturing the day-to-day experiences in the field was the easy part. The challenge came from my inexperience as a filmmaker, however I had a strong desire to learn new skills in video production and editing. After 2.5 years of work, my story was ready to be shared.

In my final year of school, I took the opportunity to host a film screening to members of university community. After viewing the film, I shared a brief history of the events that contributed to the exclusion of African Americans from natural spaces and discussed the challenges faced by aspiring African American biologists like myself coming in the conservation field. It was a safe space for audience members to ask questions, share their experiences, and hear different perspectives. I walked away from the event empowered to share my story with a greater audience and optimistic that the future faces of conservation will be more diverse.

You can view my documentary here.

Audience Reviews