Abstract
Research in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) plays a key role in
understanding and intervening in our current environmental and climate
crisis. Although anthropogenic stressors and climate change continue to
disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and people of colour
(BIPOC) individuals, their valuable scientific voices are shockingly
underrepresented within EEB. To underscore this problem, we present a
case study on EEB PhD graduates in the US (1994-2018), which illustrates
that BIPOC scholars are significantly underrepresented in their cohorts.
We recommend key steps that the EEB Academy should take to increase
representation of BIPOC scholars in EEB, including anti-racism education
and practice, increased funding opportunities, integration of diverse
cultural perspectives, and a community-minded shift in PhDs.
Importantly, this advice is directed at those who wield power in the
Academy (e.g., funding agencies, societies, institutions,
departments, and faculty), rather than BIPOC scholars already struggling
against inequitable frameworks in EEB.
Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) communities are
disproportionately affected by the impacts of anthropogenic stressors
and climate change (IPCC, 2014). Already, for example, increased rates
of extreme weather events and air pollution negatively affect the health
of many Black Americans (Sarfaty et al. 2014) and threaten the
food security of Northern Indigenous populations (Ford 2009). Such
disproportionate effects are a consequence of the exacerbation of
existing societal inequalities, largely due to the intersection of
racial inequality and socioeconomic disparity (Cutter & Finch 2014).
Furthermore, the vulnerability of individuals to the impacts of climate
change is strongly linked to the strength of their political voices -
and through voting suppression, incarceration, and wealth inequality,
BIPOC voices have, and continue to be, systematically silenced (Brookset al. 2005; Richomme 2014).
Given the disproportionately large and negative effects of ongoing
environmental and climate crises on BIPOC communities, we and others
(Halsey et al. 2020; Tseng et al. 2020) are concerned by
the lack of diversity that we see in our PhD cohorts in Western
universities. As EEB (ecology and evolutionary biology) students,
scientists, and technicians, we are at the forefront of developing
knowledge that tackles issues of biodiversity, ecosystem function,
conservation, and human health, among numerous other global problems.
PhD graduates in particular hold unique positions in society; they are
be responsible for producing primary EEB research, for creating or
influencing environmental policy, and represent the pool of candidates
from which advanced EEB educators emerge. Further, compelling evidence
indicates that racial diversity itself is beneficial to the quality,
quantity, and impact of research (Hong & Page 2004; Freeman & Huang
2014; Hofstra et al. 2020). In light of current ecological crises
and widespread concerns regarding racial representation in Academia,
there is a clear and urgent need to leverage and include the voices of
BIPOC scholars in EEB research.