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
"Thank you so very much for sharing this. Not only is your film stunningly beautiful and so well done, it was very moving to hear more about your story. Conservation is made better with you in it."
"I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the movie and discussion today- what an inspiring and incredible event! I can't even imagine how much physical, emotional and psychological labor went into producing both the video and the event today, but know that it really did (and will continue to) have a huge impact on the audience. Thank you for putting your story out there in such a personal and vulnerable way. I am so privileged to know you and learn from you and am going to order some of the books you recommended tonight! "