The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust recently received a $49,000 grant from the National Park Service Chesapeake Gateway Foundation to expand our internship and fellowship programs. The grant will ensure that early career and college internship opportunities at NVCT are more accessible to students from historically underrepresented groups. Future interns will receive valuable work experience and address a prominent and growing issue in the world of conservation: involving and including diverse voices.
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are vastly underrepresented in environmental science. A report completed for Green 2.0 found that less than 16% of the staff and board of conservation organizations, government environmental agencies, and ecological grantmaking foundations identify as BIPOC. This is caused by many factors, such as recruitment bias, lack of mentors suited for those of diverse backgrounds, and barriers to entry. Internships are where young professionals first gain experience, mentorship, and connections that can help them progress in their careers. They are the first step into almost any field. A survey of US undergraduates studying environmental and natural resource sciences found that to attract students of ethnic and racial backgrounds, internships must pay above minimum wage. This same survey determined that out of 829 environmental job board positions, 27% of postings were unpaid or below the minimum wage. If individuals cannot pass this first hurdle, we cannot expect them to progress further in conservation science. This results in fewer ethnic or racial minorities in the field, and the absence of those perspectives hurts our work.
We have identified that unpaid internships can be one of the root causes of minority group marginalization within the ecological sciences, but why does this matter? Everyone has a right to learn about and be stewards of the land they live on, but from a logical point of view, environmental preservation requires diverse perspectives. For our solutions to climate change or species extinction to be effective, they must be well-informed and robust. Diversity can bring innovative ideas and local knowledge to our problem-solving. A study done on 169 conservation projects worldwide found that those led by Indigenous people and local community members are more likely to yield positive results for nature and the community.
BIPOC are also at greater risk from the effects of climate change. Research accomplished by the Environmental Protection Agency consistently finds that communities of color experience higher exposure to pollutants, toxic waste, and severe environmental hazards/weather. This is due to historically racist housing practices, city planning, segregation, and placement of industrial facilities. Diverse voices helping to combat issues like climate change are needed now more than ever. The makeup of the US population has significantly changed over the years; in 1990, 23% identified as racial or ethnic minorities, and in 2023, that percentage has increased to 40%. If we are concerned with teaching future generations how to protect the Earth, we must all adjust to the changing audience.
Just as good land management fosters species diversity to enhance resiliency against environmental changes, investing in paid internships cultivates a diverse talent pool that strengthens the conservation field’s adaptability and effectiveness. Although paid internships are not the sole answer to the multifaceted issue of BIPOC representation in environmental science, they can be a start. Fellows and interns give NVCT new perspectives, experiences, and points of view that improve the land trust's work and community involvement.
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