Women in Conservation panel aims to educate, address representation

This year’s annual Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) includes its first Women in Conservation panel, an event borne out of what SEWE’s Mary Roberts said was a desire to highlight representation in the field — and the organization’s existing connections to the panelists.

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The panel’s appeal lies in the work and accomplishments of its “four incredible people,” Roberts told the Charleston City Paper. Each of the panelists, she said, are conservationists in land, sea or sky with a different area of expertise and knowledge.

Mandy Feavel, vice president and director of programs and operations at the Avian Conservation Center in Awendaw, works to rehabilitate injured creatures of the sky.
Dr. Forrest Gomez is director of conservation medicine at National Marine Mammal Foundation, which has an office on Johns Island, and focuses on aquatic mammals.
Amy Kight, director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Florida, treats injured and orphaned wildlife which reside mostly on land.
Panel moderator Julie Scardina, animal ambassador and corporate curator for SeaWorld, is an expert on aquatic animals.

A seat at the table

SEWE’s Roberts said the panel will address “the future of women in conservation and any challenges they’ve overcome.” But even though the event aims to underscore women’s experiences in conservation, it’s a field where “women tend to be underrepresented” to begin with.

Panelists, however, noted they have experienced varying degrees of representation in their individual fields of conservation science and medicine, with Kight seeing an abundance of representation at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.

“I’ve been in my current job for 20 years [and] 95% [of staff] are female,” she said. Kight, who said she wanted to work with animals for as long as she can remember, added it was important to show young girls that women are “doing these … rugged jobs. That’s really exciting.”

Feavel’s career has been similar, though she said she’d like to see more women in leadership positions — and for these positions to be visible.

“Women have been well represented in animal welfare/wildlife medicine roles,” Feavel told the City Paper. “It is critical that fellow young professionals and women see the impact being made by women in the field of conservation.” Gomez agreed.

“Veterinary science and marine science traditionally do not have good representation,” she said, adding that race too is a central factor. These fields are “traditionally very white.” If voices of women and people of color are missing, Gomez noted, conservationists won’t come up with “as creative of answers … as impactful of answers” to global environmental problems.

‘A critical juncture’

Gomez’s organization — which is based in San Diego and Charleston — also engages with their communities through STEM programming and education. A primary goal, Gomez added, is to use research she’s conducted on bottlenose dolphins — “sentinel” species — to inform the health of Lowcountry residents.

Though Gomez is an expert in the field of veterinary medicine, like Kight, she expressed eagerness to share tips during the panel about what folks can do “in their day-to-day lives” to protect the environment, which in recent years has been especially important.

“We are at a critical juncture, as many of us know, in conservation and climate change … habitat loss, extinction of species,” Gomez said in an interview. Although conservation involves a long and slow road forward, “everyone can help no matter where they’re from and who they are.”

Scardina echoed Gomez’ excitement to share conservation knowledge with the SEWE audience and help attendees acknowledge their personal stakes in the well-being of the ecosystem.

“Engaging with all ages to inspire action is critical, as challenges mount in achieving a future where earth’s resources can remain sustainable for all creatures — including humans,” she said. “We must be able to communicate relevance, and do so in a captivating way. … These women are dedicated, extremely knowledgeable and fascinating — a perfect way to get the audience involved — motivated to make a difference themselves.”

Tangible impacts of harm

In addition to inspiring communities into action, some panelists wanted to share the tangible impacts of human harm — and how to reduce it. Both Kight and Feavel said a significant number of animals are brought into their respective workplaces with injuries caused by human activity.

“We field thousands of calls from the public regarding birds every year,” Feavel told the City Paper, explaining that she uses these interactions to inform local residents about the “history and ecology of the species and how they can help if the bird is injured.”

Kight said she’d like the audience’s biggest takeaway to include education about steps anyone can take to protect the ecosystems that are, literally, in their backyards.

“People can turn their own little piece of the planet into a green space for our wildlife by planting native plants — not covering everything with sod or exotic landscaping,” she said.
Kight added she’s looking forward to sharing her knowledge with people other than those she might encounter at, say, an education initiative hosted by the Busch Center. But more than anything, she expressed her excitement to sit on a panel “with these incredible women. And we’re changing the world.”

“I feel like I’m still a 6-year-old little kid who just wants to volunteer with animals,” she chuckled.