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.
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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.
People Powered Conservation
Community Science is an emerging field shifting the way ecologists and conservations pursue and communicate their research. Rather than sharing our results with our communities after scientific research is completed, we can find ways to incorporate our communities in the scientific process, creating impactful points of public engagement while amplifying our research efforts.