Centering Community in Conservation

Toward the end of my graduate career, I began exploring community-led and community-engaged approaches to conservation and restoration. I believe that community-centered approaches may be the answer to many of our conservation struggles and that conservation work focused on equity, inclusivity, and community well-being will lead us to more successful biodiversity conservation outcomes.

The Pillow Park Project

With the support of the St. David’s Foundation Parks with Purpose initiative and in collaboration with the Pillow School Park community, we worked with a local community in Austin, TX, to reconceptualize how urban school parks can be designed and activated to improve human well-being and biodiversity conservation in cities. Through this community-led initiative, I learned important practices in centering community voices and facilitating community-engaged projects.