Outreach
Science Communication
I strongly believe that science should be a global and collective endeavor. Throughout my graduate career, I have sought out opportunities to hone my SciComm skills and work through ways in which I can talk about my discipline and research to a wider audience. Here are a few examples!
I participated in a RELATE workshop at the University of Michigan. You can check out this video that I made to talk about my research for a non-technical audience!
I was a guest on the WEE (Women in Ecology and Evolution) Podcast hosted by Dr. Kirsty MacLeod! The episode is called (Not) Sticking to the Science – give it a listen!
I was a Science Communication Fellow at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History (2017-2018) where I developed activities conveying concepts about studying animal movement using DNA and honest signaling. I have presented these activities at public in schools, libraries, and museums – all great places for kids to learn more about what its like to study animals in the wild and meet an actual living scientist!
One of these events (STEMFest at Ypsilanti District Library) has been covered here by the University of Michigan.
International talks
As part of the Gelada Research Team, I have given several educational talks on gelada biology and conservation which were designed for a wide variety of audience ranging from tourists, park experts, local school children, community leaders, local park office, as well as at Universities.
Community outreach
Simien Mountains is a UNESCO world heritage site and we are incredibly fortunate to be able to live and work within the last remaining Afroalpine ecosystem. I worked with local community members in various capacities to strategize and implement ways in which the long term project could work with local stakeholders to preserve the park as a source of livelihood. This entailed disseminating information about geladas to tourists visiting the park, making educational materials for kids about wildlife in the Simiens, and working with local Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority.
One of the main conservation issue faced in this area is the accumulation of trash and open trash pits at camp sites that attract wildlife and lead to disease transmission. While doing my dissertation fieldwork in Ethiopia, I organized monthly cleanups at Simien Mountains National Park in collaboration with local wildlife authority and communities living inside the par. These cleanups were envisioned and initiated by Save the Simiens – a non-profit organization that was set up by the long term project.
Diversity and inclusion in the field
I helped draft the Simien Mountains Code of Conduct for the long term Simien Mountains Gelada Research Project. This draft was a culmination of a series of critical conversations with the Sexual Misconduct Committee at the Department of Anthropology at UM (led by Laura MacLatchy and Rachna Reddy).
I recently wrote a piece highlighting some of my experiences doing fieldwork for FIELD (Fostering Inclusion, Equity, and Latitudinal Diversity) – a postdoc-led project funded by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, and the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, Germany. You can find my post here. This website has great resources for anyone who wishes to learn more about increasing diversity and inclusivity in field research, and documents real stories from researchers all over the world showcasing their outlook and experiences in the field.