BIPOC Research Collective at Nature and Health: Actions for Restoration, Sustainability and Health
Story by Allie Long
The traditional depiction of nature in research—as well as in US History, literature, art and most academic inquiries—is largely conceptualized to fit white-dominant narratives. More often than not, this comes at the direct expense and erasure of other cultures and experiences.
Recognizing how current research unevenly amplifies western-dominated fields and cultures, Nature and Health wanted to host a convening that wasn’t like a typical academic conference. In practice, this translated to a gathering that was first and foremost grounded by personal, collective and community experiences that was created by and for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) researchers.
For three days in early March 2023, researchers from across the United States and Canada convened on Puyallup, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla lands (Tacoma, Washington) for a holistic exploration into nature, health and identity. This internal conference, entitled Actions for Restoration, Sustainability and Health, was hosted by Nature and Health at UW EarthLab for the more than thirty members of their BIPOC research collective.
At its core, “[t]he BIPOC Research Collective at Nature and Health is an intentional act of acknowledging past research harms, cultural cooptation, and performative diversity,” shared Star Berry, EdD, Assistant Director of Equitable Partnerships and Initiatives at Nature and Health. “This space builds peer knowledge and skills about how to conduct research through self-reflective practices and collaborative inquiry.”
Through interactive multi-day workshops, the collective’s goal was multifold: to build professional relationships amongst BIPOC researchers with intersecting interests by convening opportunities for more diverse nature and health-based future research to flourish.
“There should be more institutional support that attempts such heart-centered intentional acts of care, so that the scope of nature-health-human is not limited to centering Western logic, homogeneity, silos, and harmful practices and policies that erase BIPOC ways of healing, knowing, learning, and scientific validity. We purposefully met in order to intervene on the lack of diverse publications and to extend our mutual care to future nature-health professionals and scientists across a global sphere that influences the field and matches our commitment to making nature relevant and healthy for all,” said Berry.
During the first portion of the conference, each researcher shared what personal experiences brought them to their field of study and what they are currently interested in researching via five-minute lightning talks and trust-building exercises. These grounding experiences helped to shape and inform the second portion of the multi-day conference, which provided opportunities for the research collective to work directly with each other in small groups to brainstorm overlapping themes that could inform abstract topics for different special issues or journal publications.
The conference closed with a reflection workshop on what critical collaboration could look like for the group moving forward, be it through policy-relevant initiatives, cultivating new collaborative partnerships and sustainable future action.