Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Posts Tagged: Equity
Schell, Lambert explore justice-centered conservation in cities in new book
A new book edited by UC Berkeley Rausser College researchers centers equity and justice while delving into the complex elements that support or constrain biodiversity in cities.
Research continues to show that development has created environmental hazards like factories, freeways, or power plants that are often disproportionately placed in low-income areas or communities of color, and that remaining natural resources in urban areas, like trees and parks, are concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods. With renewed attention placed on the role of conservation, researchers are exploring new ways to make cities and their inhabitants active partners in preserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change.
A new book edited by Rausser College researchers delves into the complex elements that support or constrain biodiversity in cities — including human-wildlife interactions, climate fluctuations, landscape diversity, and environmental racism. Edited by Environmental Science, Policy and Management professor Christopher Schell and former postdoctoral researcher Max Lambert, Urban Biodiversity and Equity: Justice-Centered Conservation in Cities offers scientists, decision-makers and practitioners a new model to develop solutions for managing urban biodiversity while centering social justice, environmental justice, and civil rights.
Rausser College spoke to Schell and Lambert about their book ahead of its Dec. 19 release in the United States.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired you to create this book?
Max Lambert: We were invited to put together a book on urban ecology and biodiversity. We knew there were other books out there, but we knew we wanted to write a book through a different lens: specifically, we're building off a Science paper led by Chris that centers equity and justice as the primary axis for conservation work. That was our guiding principle for taking this from journal publications to something that people can hold.
Christopher Schell: This is something that Max and I have been discussing since 2018. After our Science paper came out in 2020, Max contacted me to discuss what it would look like to expand that paper as a larger volume. We connected with folks who reached out about the paper and others whose work spans the urban-ecological spectrum to coalesce their contributions into a book that integrates equity throughout.
We didn't want to fall into the trap of thinking that academic institutions somehow have a hold on all this knowledge. Max led our efforts in trying to convey how applied this field is and emphasize the field's interconnectedness. We were excited to get folks who could span what it looks like to think of these theoretical applications in biodiversity science in relation to a city.
Lambert: And because urban ecology has blossomed so much as a field during the past 20 years, we spent a lot of time determining what topics we knew we wanted to emphasize in this book and what we would put on the back burner. We also wanted to bring in people from different backgrounds, walks of life, career stages, or parts of the world who can tie the threads of equity and justice together with this science.
How would you say the field of urban ecology has evolved over time?
Lambert: There have been pockets of people studying urban ecology from the 60s onwards, but their research never became part of the dominant mantra. By the 90s, we had the National Science Foundation (NSF) support two Long Term Ecological Research stations in Baltimore and Phoenix, which helped blossom and lead this area of research. But in my experience, even when I started my doctoral work a decade ago, urban conservation wasn't really a thing—there were still tons of folks saying we needed to protect nature from the city.
Schell: For us, the question is, when do we recognize that urban ecology has entered the public consciousness to the point that folks outside the academic sphere are thinking about it? We're certainly getting there in the Bay Area, as well as in a handful of cities across the country and globe. Folks in these communities are thinking more and more about their relationships with wildlife, biodiversity and nature inside these urban spaces. But sometimes folks look at us like we're crazy when we talk about the critically endangered species that are encased in a metropolitan area, or when we tell them about the large carnivores that roam their backyard. Some people have not yet fully understood that cities are hubs of nature that we created on top of existing biodiversity hotspots.
How does this approach differ from traditional models of conservation research?
Schell: We're leveraging a past research framework called the ecology in, of, and for cities to propose something called conservation in, of, for and with cities. We're still thinking about the many ways in which we maintain biodiversity across different axes; incorporate biological, social, and built elements of cities to manage ecosystem processes; and implement justice-centered approaches as we build sustainable practices. But all that felt unidirectional, where scientists or practitioners are doing things for the people who live in the city.
Conservation in, of, for and with cities is the new atom. It's explicitly calling out co-production, how we have equitable resource distribution, and how we fold in the other paradigms. We're emphasizing that if we don't have conservation with cities, none of the other components are going to work. In our minds, this is the linchpin to all those other pieces. We're not the only knowledge holders in this conversation, and by no means do you need to be of a certain age, race, class or ethnicity to participate in it. We're all in this together and have something to add to the conversation.
Lambert: You can't do conservation work without cities. You can't grey out urban areas and focus conservation work elsewhere. It's all part of the mix. Conservation with cities means engaging in conservation work at any scale — from state to national to international. You can't set goals just for remote places; you have to bring them into urban areas as well. All this goes back to our fundamental principle of centering equity and justice in all conservation. It is heavily pronounced in urban areas, but it's central to conservation work anywhere in the world.
Ecology and evolutionary biology are fundamental fields of biology, but they don't exist in a vacuum. Our Science paper showed that we need to be mindful of how society, culture, and politics influence life on Earth. We're doing the same thing here with conservation.
Can you think of any people, cities or organizations that are taking the principles you describe in your book and using them to improve urban biodiversity?
Schell: Max and I often riff off of Singapore being the mecca of urban ecology because of how that city is designed and embedded inside of nature, but we're starting to make improvements on the West Coast, too. One of the local organizations that has been pushing urban ecology forward is the California Academy of Sciences. Their Reimagining SF initiative brings together researchers and practitioners from across the Bay Area to think about San Francisco not as an urban environment with nature sprinkled in, but as a city inside of nature — one built in collaboration with ecosystem processes. It's a clear departure from the ways in which cities have thought about urban ecosystems in the past, which was strictly concerned about providing municipal services to its people.
Lambert: I went to Canberra, the capital of Australia, in 2016. It's a highly built place, but they've embedded trails and green spaces throughout the city; there are kangaroos, wallabies, and all kinds of parrots everywhere. It's very clearly designed, as Chris said, in collaboration with nature. The Presidio of San Francisco has also been an interesting nexus of urban conservation work. The Presidio Trust, which manages the park with the National Park Service, has done tremendous work with communities nearby. They've replaced non-native plants that have overgrown the area, cleaned up a bunch of pollution in the pond, and reintroduced endangered plants within the Presidio.
I also work closely with the City of Tacoma in Washington. Maintenance workers — the folks who take care of the concrete, asphalt, and sewers—are not the type of people you traditionally think of as doing conservation work, but in Tacoma, they are so impassioned to make sure biodiversity can thrive, and people can experience it everywhere they live.
Have you found engaging with policymakers or community members difficult while conducting your research?
Schell: The flagship species that my lab studies is coyotes, a species that garners a lot of interest in the Bay Area. In SF, a good chunk of folks have a real love-hate relationship with them. They think that their cats have some agency to stay outdoors indefinitely or that their dog can stay off-leash in an on-leash area, which often results in conflicts with coyotes. And as we start doing more of this work, it seems as if everybody has a story about a coyote — or a bobcat, raccoon or a fox — doing something they adore or disdain.
These fine-scale human-animal interactions bring everybody to the table. They want to hear more about how these are connected to the larger universe of stories around urban biodiversity, environmental justice, equity and resilience because it impacts them at this individual level.
Lambert: Maps will become essential to these conversations and are what entice people to join. For so long, the image of conservation was just David Attenborough in the middle of the world somewhere, in a place we can't necessarily relate to. But now, I can set up a map on iNaturalist that everyone can contribute to and access for free. Whether it's a map of all the trees in their city or observations of turtles, frogs or hawks, people will be able to put themselves in the context of their city. They can actually paint that picture of the landscape — they can see the asphalt, they can see trees — and place their community in the broader grand scheme of the universe.
Schell: One of our flagship projects deploys camera traps across urban to wildland spaces. We put up placards that give out our contact information if people are interested in the project; we've had over a dozen people in the last year reach out to us who are interested in learning more about the camera traps, including city officials. A figure from our Science paper created by co-author Dr. Simone de Roches was recently republished in the New York Times, and after reading that, some folks from the City of Piedmont's Recreation Department reached out. This small example highlights how far-reaching and continually helpful the work has been in creating collaborations across the Bay.
Lambert: I think that's the power of urban areas for conservation and getting people engaged. They know where they fit into much more easily than if you were to ask, “How do we protect tigers inMumbai?” It matters in the grand scheme — people generally care about tigers — but they have no context for it. People have context for their backyard coyote: almost everyone has a story about something in their urban area; they're just looking for someone to tell it to.
Do you think it's possible to create policies that improve urban biodiversity without first addressing the inequities like redlining?
Lambert: There are two panels to the figure that was just republished in the New York Times. The panel on the right shows conservation embedded in a cycle of social justice, environmental justice, and civil rights: that's the foundation for which successful conservation efforts will ever be possible. You can try to chip away at it in small ways, but you will always fight an uphill battle unless you center equity and justice because the things that cause injustice and inequities also degrade the natural world. These things are inherently intertwined.
Schell: If we can't figure ourselves out and figure out how we got to this point while centering equity and justice —which is something we said in the Science paper and at the beginning and end of this book, and also urged all of our co-authors to talk about it — then we will never get to our goals. This book was something that we wanted to get out into the world because this is not something we're alone in; there are other folks who are also interested in this, who also feel the same way, and who have been beating this drum in their communities. It's been a good journey to be able to put this into words and have folks understand how important it is to be able to restore ourselves as a means of then going on to continue to restore the natural world.
Moving the needle on racial equity in Extension
A recently published series of blog posts on the Connect Extension website shares insights on developing authentic, meaningful relationships with racially and culturally diverse groups.
Written by Sonja Brodt, associate director of the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and Gail Feenstra, emeritus SAREP director, the posts are based on what they learned during UC SAREP's "Racial Equity in Extension" webinar series.
The series, comprising six 90-minute webinars held in 2021, covered topics ranging from building relationships with agricultural communities of color, to respecting different knowledge systems, to rectifying racial inequities in land access.
“As extension professionals, especially for those of us in the public sector, it is incumbent upon us to work with all segments of our state's agricultural and natural resources clientele,” said Brodt. “And to do so effectively, we need to understand their worldviews and what's the knowledge base that shapes their decisions. This is especially important when those people are from cultures or segments of society that have a history of being marginalized or oppressed by our larger society, and whose significant knowledge has often been made invisible.”
L&D: Youth safety nets, videography, timesheets, conflict competence, managing stress
UC ANR Learning & Development
Landing page | Archived webinars | Learning platforms
Extension Methods & Delivery
Building Support
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
Office, Team, & Personal Management
Weaving Community Safety Nets for Youth (Extension Foundation)
Nov. 2
8-9:30 a.m. PDT
Details & Registration
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Research indicates that adolescents in military families have higher rates of suicidal behaviors than their non-military peers. However, many suicides are preventable. We can intentionally build, mobilize and maintain protective factors, recognize and respond to warning signs, and sustain a safety net of connection in our communities to better support military children, adolescents and their families. Read more.
Nov. 9
Noon-12:30 p.m.
This will be recorded and posted on the 2023-34 Call for CE Positions.
These maps illustrate current positions for UCCE Advisors, UCCE Specialists, other UCCE Academics and Community Educators, as well as the UCCE Advisor and Specialist positions under recruitment. Newly available secondary data layers provide county level data with relevant information that, when coupled with local knowledge, can help illuminate gaps and needs to inform UCCE position proposal development and future hiring.
Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 | Password: 4Learning
2023 NAEPSDP Annual Conference “Extension Elevated”
(National Association for Extension Programs and Staff Development Professionals)
Nov. 28-30
Marriott City Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Details & Registration. Agenda.
Conference theme areas include:
- Evaluation & Assessment
- Organizational & Staff Development
- Program Development & Delivery
- Technology & Communications
- Persevering Through the Difficult Times: Exploring Calling Development Theory as a Retention Strategy.
- How Organization Health Attracts and Retains Top Talent in Extension.
Two Videography Training Opportunities!
UC ANR Videography Training Series
Nov 20 & 21 | ANR Building, Davis
Registration.
Learn photographic theory, smartphone video production, and equipment recommendations. Dive into field recording, audio editing, and compare audio editing applications. Master editing theory and visual storytelling, explore nonlinear editing tools, and work on real footage with live coaching. Unlock your creative potential with our comprehensive videography workshop series. Get hands-on experience and expert guidance to enhance your video production skills. For more information, contact anrprogramsupport@ucanr.edu
Video Recording and Editing with Your Smartphone
8 a.m.-5 p.m. at various UC ANR locations
Registration
Riverside - Thursday, Dec. 7
Irvine - Wednesday, Jan. 10
San Diego - Thursday, Jan. 18
Davis - Thursday, Feb. 8
Fresno - Wednesday, Feb. 14
In this training, you will learn:
- How to set up your smartphone
- A and B roll
- Basic composition
- Basic Lighting (daylight/cold light)
- Audio best practices
Hands-on video shooting with interviews
For more information, contact Ricardo Vela rvela@ucanr.edu
Image by Manfred Steger from Pixabay
Visual Storytelling in PowerPoint (LinkedIn Learning)
Course link.
Incorporating visual storytelling techniques into your slides can set you apart in a very big way. In this course, instructor Jole Simmons brings years of experience as a professional presentation designer to teach you how to make your presentation come alive with a good story.
For your LinkedIn Learning account email UC ANR IT at help@ucanr.edu.
Understanding Your Timesheet
Nov. 2, 2023
Noon-12:30 p.m.
Join Anne Marie Scott, Payroll Manager, to learn how to develop employee and supervisor/approver understanding of TRS and timesheet deadlines. Part of the Business Operations Center Quarterly Webinars: Our Two Cents.
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09
Password: 4Learning
In case you missed it:
Giving Tuesday: Hot topics and Tips for Success
with Emily Delk (Oct. 17, 2023)
Video, Slide deck
Moving the Needle on Racial Equity in Extension (UC ANR and Extension Foundation)
Sonja Brodt and Gail Feenstra
The 1862 Land Grant institutions were founded during the immediate post-Civil War, postslavery period for the benefit of white farmers and homesteaders and were built on the wealth generated by land expropriated from indigenous peoples across the U.S. (Joseph A. Myers Center, 2021). With a history so fraught with racial oppression, our public sector extension service faces an enormous task not only in righting past wrongs, but in moving forward in truly meeting the needs of contemporary people of color. read more.
Teamwork Favorites (Extension Foundation)
- Diffuse the Drama, Nov. 1
- Busy is a Choice, Nov. 8
- Diffusion of Innovations, Nov. 15
11 a.m.-Noon
Registration.
Diffusing the Drama dives into three roles we play out every day; victim, villain and hero. This is from Dr. Stephen Karpman's work called the "Drama Triangle" and we'll discover how getting out of those and into healthier roles can help change our daily experience. We'd love to have you with us to offer your wisdom as we move toward coach, creator and challenger!
Nov 9
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. PT
Details & Registration
Are you stressed? Do you feel devastated when your articles and/or grant proposals get rejected? Is the pressure of publishing/funding your work making you sick? If any of this sounds familiar and you have difficulty managing the negative energy and rejection in your environment, please join us to learn:
- The impact that stress and negativity can have if they are not manage
- Identify the most common areas of stress in academic life
- Concrete strategies for managing the physical, emotional, and attitudinal effects of stress
Becoming Better with Habits (UC Davis Health)
Tuesday, Nov. 28
9 a.m.–Noon
Virtual Instructor
Registration.
Think of the small actions you do every day without even thinking. These are your habits. Like it or not, our habits define who we are. This course gives you actionable steps to break habits that no longer serve you, and intentionally create new ones. The end goal of working on habits is to gain clarity, confidence and the ability to accomplish your life goals.
Conflict Competence: Getting to the root of group conflict (UCD for Staff and Faculty)
Thursday, Nov. 30
Noon–1 p.m.
Details & Registration.
Group conflict can be difficult to manage and have costly consequences. It can significantly impact productivity and work quality and even destroy teams. While conflict is often attributed to interpersonal dynamics or "people problems," conflicts are commonly symptoms of other solvable issues.
In this course for leaders of groups or teams, you'll learn a structured approach to identify and address root causes of group conflict. Discover how to apply the Goals, Roles, Processes and Interpersonal Relationships (GRPI).
---
Everyone can learn something new
Office Team Personal Management banner
Extension Methods and Delivery banner
Building Support banner
L&D Messaging your clientele, Customer relations, Equity-minded review letters, Pcard vs. Travel card, Art of saying no
UC ANR LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
Landing page| Presentation Recordings| Learning Resources
Extension Methods & Delivery
Building Support
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Office, Team, and Personal Management
Extension Skills July 2023: Marketing Research for Messaging
July 13
11 a.m. - Noon
Details & Registration.
Are you interested in learning how to develop messages that resonate with your Extension partners? Join us for a brief session with Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, to discuss how to identify and work with your priority populations to tailor messages that resonate with them.
How Customer Management Relations (CRM) can play a role in helping Cooperative Extension professionals co-create value between their programs and their clients and improve customer service experiences.
Image by talha khalil from Pixabay
Top of page
Administrative units at UC ANR are here to help you build your program and access funding:
Development Services
Government Relations
Office of Contracts & Grants
Fast Track to Contracts & Grants spring 2023 presentation recordings
April 12, 2023 | Introduction to Contracts & Grants (video) Slide deck, with Kim Lamar
April 14, 2023 | From Concept to Submission (AKA Proposal Development and Proposal Process video), Slide deck, with Vanity Campbell, et al
April 19, 2023 | Cost Share and Academic Cost Recovery-Salary Savings (video), Slide deck
April 21, 2023 | Proposal budget preparation basics (or Budget Basics and Calculator) (Video), Slide deck (PDF) with Kendra Rose
May 3, 2023 | Using the new ANR Workflow Automation program to route C&G Forms “800“and Advance Account Request (Video), Slide deck (PDF) Form 800 Quick Guide (PDF) Advance Account Quick Guide (PDF)
May 5, 2023 | Understanding the awards process (Video), Slide deck (PDF)
May 10, 2023 | Working with Subrecipients (Video), Slide deck (PDF)
May 12, 2023 | Post Award Process (Video), Slide deck (PDF)
An Equity-Minded Approach to Writing Effective External Review Letters for Tenure
Activate your account (All UC ANR employees have access)
July 18
11 a.m. – Noon
Details & Registration
Senior faculty are incredibly powerful. In a two-page tenure letter, they can make or break a career. This power has an outsized impact on scholars with marginalized identities, such as Black academics, who are promoted with tenure at lower rates than their White colleagues. We suggest that this difference in tenure rates is due to an implicit, overly narrow definition of academic excellence that does not recognize all contributions that Black scholars make to their departments, institutions and academia in general. Read more.
Diversity Certificate Series (UC Davis, Equity and Inclusion Program and Learning Center)
The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Education Program, in partnership with UC Davis Learning and Development, offers the Cross-Cultural Competence Certificate Series and the Understanding Diversity Certificate Series, both of which are aimed at developing and strengthening competencies in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion. Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
Top of page
When to Use P-Cards vs. Travel Cards
UC ANR Business Operations Center (BOC)
Quarterly Webinars: Our Two Cents
July 20
12-12:30 p.m.
Zoom webinar link https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09
Password: 4Learning | +1 669 900 6833 | Webinar ID: 751 701 428
Image by Memed_Nurrohmad from Pixabay
Fostering Health and Well-Being Across Extension (free - Sponsored by NAEPSDP - National Association of Extension Programs and Staff Development Professionals)
July 10-14
Noon – 1 p.m. Pacific Time
Register.
This year's theme is wellness and will focus on efforts at the organizational, managerial, employee and community levels to provide health and well-being programs and opportunities for employees and clientele. We will wrap up the week discussing ways to tell our health and well-being story more effectively. Who should participate in Virtual Summer School? Anyone! From Extension directors to mid-managers, to program and staff development specialists and
beyond. We welcome anyone interested in these topics to join us for any or all of the sessions.
The Art of Saying "No" (National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity)
Activate your account (All UC ANR employees have access)
July 13, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Details & Registration
Are you confused about when to say "yes" and "no" to other people's requests? Do you often say "yes" to requests without realizing the impact that response will have on your time and productivity? Do you find yourself feeling angry and resentful because you've said "yes" too often? Come and learn our favorite strategies that you can implement immediately so you can add "no" to your vocabulary.
Tuesday, July 18
12:10 - 1 p.m.
Register for the Zoom webinar.
We will explore how to create quick, healthy balanced meals in minutes. You don't need a culinary degree to prepare healthy meals, but you do need to prepare. We will review how to prep, plan and get creative for quick, nutritionally balanced meals. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join via computer or phone. Share the event flyer with your colleagues! Presented by UC Davis Health Food and Nutrition Services and Staff and Faculty Health and Well-being. Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Be the manager people won't leave (LinkedIn Learning)
Contact UC ANR IT to request your account help@ucanr.edu
Course link.
Manager relationships can be the make-or-break point for whether employees stay or go. Join veteran HR leader LaurieRuettimann as she reveals the data behind why it's more important than ever to be a manager who demonstrates empathy and inspires loyalty from the workforce. Ruettimann covers basics first: be someone people can trust, be an example of integrity and be relentlessly inclusive. She steps you through ways to inspire your employees to grow.
Evidence suggests that improvements in people management practices, especially the development of supportive managers paired with time and place flexibility, contribute to increased well-being.
Top of page
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Everyone can learn something new.
UC ANR Learning and Development.
“Advancing Health Equity” webinars offered by UC ANR, UCSF
Training series set for April 5, May 3, June 7
Have you wondered how UC ANR can make a difference in advancing health equity?
UC ANR's Community Nutrition and Health unit is proud to host a three-part training series on “Advancing Health Equity” in collaboration with UCSF School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and Center for Child and Community Health. UC ANR educators, supervisors, advisors and specialists from across our statewide programs and initiatives are invited to attend.
This will be an interactive learning opportunity to come together and visualize how UC ANR can address critical health disparities we face and put into practice the opportunities outlined in our Strategic Initiatives Health Equity Concept Note (found here on the UC ANR website).
Please save the dates and plan to join this three-part series:
Session 1: 2-3:30 p.m., Wed. Apr. 5
Build your familiarity and understanding of core concepts related to health equity to establish a shared language about health equity at UC ANR.
Zoom Meeting
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/92318469375
Meeting ID: 923 1846 9375
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,92318469375# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,92318469375# US
Session 2: 2-3:30 p.m., Wed. May 3
Identify how existing UC ANR work fits into the concepts and goals related to health equity including addressing the social determinants of health and policy, systems and environmental change work.
Zoom Meeting
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/96840522425
Meeting ID: 968 4052 2425
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,96840522425# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,96840522425# US
Session 3: 2-3:30 p.m., Wed. June 7
Inform new areas and approaches UC ANR can work in to advance health equity in the future including transitioning from expert to partner within the communities that we serve.
Zoom Meeting
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/98465748502
Meeting ID: 984 6574 8502
One tap mobile
+16694449171,,98465748502# US
+16699006833,,98465748502# US (San Jose)
