In 2017, I had the opportunity to participate in the Detroit Audubon Society‘s Earth Day Celebration. The presentation shared with Michiganders the changing faces in Bahamian Environmental Conservation. As a Person of Color and international student in the United States of America Academic setting I was personally going through significant effects of racism and discrimination at the time.

The talk I gave: ‘Preserving “Our Michigan” Birds in the Bahamas: Bahamian and Caribbean Conservation” was a frank discussion on how nature really has no boundaries or respect for our imaginary lines. When it comes to migratory birds and conservation, our geographies are connected and it’s time for us to catch up.

In my presentation, I gently introduced the topics of systemic bias and savior complexes. Species conservation is seen as a global north prerogative and actors in the global south tended to have less autonomy.

That is changing however. Organizations like BirdsCaribbean and the Bahamas National Trust are making huge strides in transboundary conservation. of course there are significant impacts from climate change and human activity that we need to slow and mitigate against.

You can see the flyer from 2017 attached. follow for more throw back #ScienceAndPerspective.

spring-flyway-2017-detroit-audubonDownload

Be you. Be safe. Be Well.

Dr. Leno