Research Webinar: Unpacking Harmful Narratives about Individuals who identify as BIPOC and Nature

The environmental workforce is still largely white, despite calls and efforts to diversify. This talk discusses scholarship aimed at understanding if connectedness to nature is a predictor of environmental career aspirations for vulnerable groups of people – namely individuals who identify as BIPOC, women, and gender-non-conforming folks – in order to understand if efforts to increase connectedness represent a leverage point or change. Understanding these dynamics could help environmental education programs shape their focus to help diversify the environmental movement. 

Kim Coleman is an Associate Professor at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. She is a broadly trained social scientist interested in human dimensions of natural resources, including issues related to outdoor recreation and tourism, the planning and management of public land, environmental justice, and environmental education.