Murry Burgess and Lauren D. Pharr first bonded over birds. The pair had met during graduate school at North Carolina State University but became fast friends while on a trip to Pennsylvania’s Powdermill Nature Reserve to train in avian banding and tracking.
“Every time I do this work there’s wonder,” Burgess says of collecting data in the field. “Often there’s this tiny powerful bird in my palm—so fragile, so soft, with this hard rapid heartbeat that shows it’s capable of flying across the country. The duality is unreal.”
An urban ecologist, Burgess now researches the impact of sensory pollutants like artificial light on songbirds as an assistant professor at her undergraduate alma mater, Mississippi State. Pharr, an avian ecologist and PhD candidate at NC State, studies the red-cockaded woodpecker, a federally endangered species endemic to the Southeast. But before, as the two conducted fieldwork—administering surveys, gathering samples, taking photos, often each by herself in rural and remote areas—interactions with wayward hunters, hostile landowners, and even the police (called by suspicious passersby) at times left the researchers feeling exposed. After talking with colleagues, they realized they weren’t the only ones who, while collecting scientific data, had faced apprehension or even alarm due to their ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or disability. And so in 2022, the duo founded Field Inclusive, a nonprofit, Pharr explains, “to amplify and support marginalized identities and those historically excluded individuals spending time outdoors.”
Field Inclusive pursues that goal through avenues that include field safety workshops, so that new researchers can understand the risks they might face and how best to handle situations as they arise, and outreach offerings such as the Beginner Birders Program they frequently hold for underserved communities and allies in Raleigh. To lower the financial barrier to undertaking fieldwork, the group also awards research fellowships and travel stipends. The nonprofit even has its own gear closet, where members can acquire the often expensive and potentially lifesaving equipment needed for spending large chunks of time outdoors in all types of weather.
More big plans loom on the horizon. “One of the major goals for Field Inclusive is to continue to build the community aspect,” Burgess says, “maybe in the form of state or regional groups, so that we have more spaces for training and more moments for us to come together and talk about our experiences and share tips and resources. One day, when the funding is right, I would love to see us have an annual conference.” When it comes down to it, “the goal is to feel like we’re not alone.”
Homebase: Starkville, Mississippi and Raleigh, North Carolina
Affiliations: Field Inclusive, North Carolina State University (Pharr), Mississippi State University (Burgess)
Side Quests: Burgess has written two nature-themed children’s books, Why Wolves Howl and Sparrow Loves Birds. Pharr has a book in progress titled Inclusive Nature, which will include voices ranging from academics to enthusiasts who have faced challenges in the outdoors.
Read about all of G&G’s 2024 Champions of Conservation.
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