Black Birders Week 2022 is May 29th to June 4th! This weeklong celebration was started in 2020 by the BlackAFinSTEM Collective to highlight Black nature enthusiasts, increase the visibility of Black birders, and celebrate diversity in the great outdoors.
In honor of Black Birders Week and PWC’s core value of inclusivity, we asked our staff to share the names of famous Black birders, ornithologists, and naturalists they want everyone to know. Here are 5 of our favorites:
1. Corina Newsome, M.Sc.
Atlanta-based ornithologist and science communicator Corina Newsome has gained a huge following on social media, and with good reason! In addition to her environmental justice advocacy, her experience working with birds at the Nashville Zoo, and her graduate research on threats facing the seaside sparrow, Corina is one of the driving forces behind Black Birders Week. She co-founded the annual celebration in 2020 with herpetologist Earyn McGee, and was soon featured in National Geographic, Scientific American, and other media for her groundbreaking work.
If you don’t already, you can follow Corina (@hood_naturalist) on Instagram and Twitter.
2. Alexis Nikole Nelson
“Happy snacking - don’t die!” With more than 3.7 million followers on TikTok, Alexis Nikole Nelson has done more than nearly anyone else on the Internet to introduce young people to the art of foraging. She uses her videos to share her knowledge of wild edible plants, and also addresses social issues like the role of foraging in African-American history.
You can keep up with Alexis’s adventures on Tiktok (@alexisnikole), as well as on Facebook and Instagram (@blackforager).
3. J. Drew Lanham, PhD
Dr. J. Drew Lanham is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of wildlife at Clemson University in South Carolina, where he researches songbird ecology and is recognized as a national leader in conservation. He is also an award-winning author of essays and poems, which take inspiration from his experience as a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist.
You can follow Dr. Lanham on Instagram and Twitter (@wildandincolor). His memoir The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature (2017 Southern Book Prize winner) is a must-read for fans of thoughtful nature writing!
4. Deja Perkins, M.Sc.
If you’re active in the Triangle’s birding community, you may recognize Deja Perkins! Deja is a Raleigh-based urban ecologist and science communicator who is passionate about showing people that nature exists in cities, too. In addition to her research on urban birds, she has worked with Triangle Bird Count, Duke Gardens, and other organizations to help people better understand the wildlife around them. She was also a co-organizer of the first Black Birders Week, and is putting North Carolina on the celebration’s map by leading in-person bird walks this week in Raleigh and Elizabethtown!
Keep up with Deja’s work on Twitter and Instagram (@naturallywild__).
5. Rodney Stotts
Rodney Stotts made headlines this spring when his memoir Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife was published, but his journey to becoming a master falconer began in the late 1980s, when visiting the bald eagles at the Smithsonian National Zoo gave him comfort in what was otherwise a difficult life of poverty and violence. He was eventually able to turn his life around through falconry and conservation, and is currently building a raptor sanctuary and falconry center in rural Virginia so he can pass on the gift of wildlife to others.
You can follow him on Twitter (@RodneyStotts1) and Instagram (@rodney_birdbrother), or learn more by watching the documentary The Falconer.
Learn more about Black Birders Week at from the BlackAFinSTEM Collective, Audubon Society, and Smithsonian. Then view this week’s schedule of online events and activities to get involved!
