The Future Leaders in Conservation initiative seeks to engage and support students and people early in their conservation careers.
The goals of this initiative are to 1) identify how conservation organizations can support students and early career professionals, 2) build a peer-support community, and 3) host engagement sessions that serve as learning and networking opportunities. Longer term goals include establishing a mentorship network and hosting in-person events.
Get involved!
Contact us: r2rbirds@gmail.com
- Join our planning team to help with event planning, establishing our peer community, and setting our goals
- Connect us with your networks: collaborate on and advertise events, expand our community, become part of our mentorship network
- Share your ideas
- Join our community discord!
Previous events
"On the Road to Resilience"
This virtual engagement session (offered in English and Spanish) focused on ecological grief and identifying strategies for resilient conservation careers. We had two presentations: “On the Road to Resilience: Navigating Ecological Grief in Conservation” by Madison Cooper and Stephanie Olsen and “Cultivating Hope” by Sergio Gómez Villaverde and Karen Odriozola. Following the presentations, we hosted small group discussions.
"A Biodiversity of Wonder: Many Paths to Conservation"
This panel discussion was the second engagement session hosted by the Future Leaders in Conservation initiative. We highlighted some of the many ways we can engage in conservation by showcasing perspectives from people of different geographies, worldviews, and disciplines. We explored the panelists’ career journeys and unique perspectives on conservation, and how to stay motivated and hopeful while doing conservation work.
Panelists
Binta Dixon
Afrofuturism Collective Facilitator and Award recipient, American Bird Conservancy
Dolcy Miinens
Nagadjitòdjig Akì (Guardians), Kitigan Zibi
Julian García Walther
Bird Lab Director, Pronatura Noroeste
Shanna Challenger
Offshore Islands Conservation Program Coordinator, Environmental Awareness Group
Resources
Contribute to our growing list of resources. This is a work in progress, feel free to add your resources or contact us with resources you’d like to add.
A longer list of resources for dealing with ecological grief compiled by Fish & Wildlife Service employees. This includes: books, journal articles, podcasts, workshops, and more.
Meet the planning team
Esmeralda Bravo
International Fellow (Road to Recovery)
Quinn Carvey
Graduate Fellow (Road to Recovery) and PhD Candidate (University of New Brunswick)
Keir Chauhan
2024 History Graduate, Writer, Researcher, Poet
Elaine Metz
PhD Student (Virginia Tech)
Nithzia Pineda
MSc Student (CIAD México)
Lauren Pharr
PhD Candidate (North Carolina State University)
Emily Sinkular
PhD Candidate (Virginia Tech)
Henry Stevens
PhD Candidate (Georgetown University)
Thank you to our past planning team members!
Anna Lello-Smith
Fabiola Rodríguez
Kiah Williams
