University of Washington ecologist Christopher Schell is studying how coronavirus shutdowns have affected wildlife in Seattle and other cities.
But when planning fieldwork, he also thinks about how he’s perceived in neighbourhoods where he installs wildlife cameras.
“I wear the nerdiest glasses I have and often a jacket that has my college logo, so that people don’t mistake me for what they think is a thug or hooligan,” said Schell, who is African American.
The recent episode of a white woman calling the police on a Black birder in New York’s Central Park shocked many people. But for Black environmental scientists, worrying about whether they are likely to be harassed or asked to justify their presence while doing fieldwork is a familiar concern.
Tanisha Williams, a botanist at Bucknell University, knows exactly which plants she’s looking for. But after being questioned by strangers in public parks, Williams, who is Black, has started carrying her field guides with her.
“I’ve been quizzed by random strangers,” she said.
“Now I bring my wildflower books and botanical field guides, trying to look like a scientist. It’s for other people. I wouldn’t otherwise lug these books.”
Overt harassment and subtle intimidation during fieldwork compound the discrimination that Black scientists and those from other underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds already feel in academic settings.
Now researchers in the environmental sciences are increasingly raising issues of discrimination and marginalization in the wake of a national reckoning on race.
They are also pointing out how a lack of diversity among scientists can lead to flawed or incomplete research.
A National Science Foundation survey found that in 2016, scholars who identified as Black or African American were awarded just 6 per cent of all doctorates in life sciences, and less than 3 per cent of doctorates in physical and Earth sciences.
Students who identified as Hispanic or Latino were awarded less than 8 per cent of doctorates in life sciences and about 5 per cent of doctorates in physical and Earth sciences. According to the most recent census, Black people make up 13.4 per cent of the population, and Latinos 18.5 per cent.
“The issue is not lack of interest” on the part of students from the underrepresented groups, said the University of Washington’s Scott Freeman, who studies educational pipelines to degrees in science, technology, engineering or math.
But many of those students come from families with fewer financial resources and face gaps in access to secondary education that is geared toward the sciences or college preparation. Those factors can influence how well they perform in freshman general chemistry — considered a gateway course for pursuing these so-called STEM majors.