Shaz Zamore on a hike. (Credit: Shaz Zamore)
In May 2020, Christian Cooper, a Black bird watcher, was strolling through Central Park in New York City when he ran into a white woman walking her dog off-leash. The encounter ended with the woman calling the police on Cooper, claiming falsely that he had threatened her life.听
Now known as the 鈥淐entral Park birdwatching incident,鈥� the event ignited a national discussion about whether Black people, and other people of color, are welcome in natural areas.
It also hit home for Dr. Shaz Zamore (they/them), a neuroscientist and engineer who is a passionate mushroom hunter and 鈥渉erper,鈥� or someone who searches for reptiles and amphibians.
鈥淚 love rattlesnakes,鈥� said Zamore, the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach coordinator for the ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e such great communicators.鈥�
Zamore is also a member of . This collective of Black scientists and nature enthusiasts recently organized a national outreach campaign in response to Cooper鈥檚 story called . When it comes to Black nature lovers, they said, following your passion can often mean risking your safety.听
Top: Zamore analyzes data from an experiment they designed that used virtual reality to study the vision of flying snakes; bottom: Zamore admires a collection of chicken of the woods mushrooms on a hike near Blacksburg, Virginia. (Credit: Shaz Zamore)
Zamore spoke to CU Boulder Today about their experiences as a Black person who grew up with a love for the outdoors鈥攁nd the challenges facing people of color who are just beginning their careers in nature-centric fields like ecology, zoology and botany.听
How long have you been passionate about nature?
I was catching bugs and learning about birds and other animals for as long as I can remember. My parents are from the country parts of the Caribbean. It鈥檚 strange because in America, you go to nature. Where my parents came from, you were in nature.听
By the time I was in high school, I was getting a lot of pressure from within the Black community. I heard a lot of 鈥淥h, you鈥檙e so weird. Why do you want to go out in nature?鈥� I said, 鈥淢y whole family is like this, so I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 that weird.鈥�
Can you tell me about your work in Black AF in STEM, and about Black Birders Week?
Black Birders Week sparked a conversation about who is welcomed in public spaces. Who do we think of as birders? We were trying to counter this idea that there aren鈥檛 any Black birders by showing how many of us there are and how common experiences like Christian Cooper鈥檚 are.
Have you experienced similar racist encounters while in nature?
I wouldn鈥檛 say that I鈥檝e had an experience where I felt my safety was threatened. I know people who have had more traumatic experiences. But I think pretty much every Black birder, every Black nature enthusiast has this reflexive behavior when they see other people, especially white people, in these spaces. You do things like really taking your time to look under a rock for this reptile鈥攋ust something to show that you鈥檙e harmless, in a way.
Why do you think groups like Black AF in STEM are important for people of color, and especially young people of color, who are passionate about science and nature?听
We all have these interests that take us away from our racial community, our social community. We leave Black spaces and enter these predominantly white spaces because of our passions. What that means for you as a student, as a growing intellectual, as an academic is a lot of internal doubt. You鈥檙e not sure why you don鈥檛 see people like you.听
It鈥檚 a way of saying, 鈥榶ou鈥檙e not alone鈥�?
You might feel that you are the only person who is interested in the, I don鈥檛 know, migratory behavior of tree swallows, but there are actually other people out there who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous and are also interested that same thing. The problem is the system. It鈥檚 not you.
What can people in the sciences and academia do to begin to change this system?
I don鈥檛 think any solution can come from the Black community because it鈥檚 not inherently a Black problem.
Engaging with Black, Latinx and Indigenous people in academia is so important. Who can I invite as a plenary speaker from these underrepresented groups? How can I make sure that I cite these authors when I鈥檓 writing my papers? How much do I know about the authors that I鈥檓 citing and if I鈥檓 perpetuating this voicelessness in how I communicate my research?
What about in the classroom?
It鈥檚 also important to teach the fact that this is the reality. Bringing the conversation out into the open as a part of the curriculum, as a part of education can only do good.
But I really want to make this obvious: There isn鈥檛 a cure-all. There isn鈥檛 a panacea that鈥檚 going to fix racism. It has to include everyone across academia, each working to find their solutions.
