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Deja Perkins is the Southeast CASC Graduate Student Intern and a former Southeast CASC Global Change Fellow at North Carolina State University with an interest in connecting minority communities to the outdoors while increasing support and morale for green spaces in underserved communities. This interest has informed her research into better understanding how bird survey methods across urban areas can reflect racial and socioeconomic inequalities that create gaps in science data, while also working to broaden the bird watching community to include individuals who may not usually view themselves as bird watchers.

Her work in these areas led her to team up with other young Black naturalists and scientists to launch a social media initiative called #BlackBirdersWeek that was celebrated June 1-June 5, 2020. You can check out the #BlackBirdersWeek hashtag on twitter, instagram, and related postings on Facebook to learn more about this initiative whose goal was to raise visibility for Black people in the outdoors and to promote dialogue on how Black science, technology, engineering and math professionals navigate racism within their fields.

Learn more about Deja’s contribution and participation to #BlackBirdersWeek:

North Carolina State University News: On How #BlackBirdersWeek Celebrated Black Naturalists, Birders

National Audubon Society News: ‘Black Women Who Bird’ Take the Spotlight to Make Their Presence Known

Scientific American News: Black Birders Call Out Racism, Say Nature Should Be for Everyone

NBC News: Black scientists call out racism in the field and counter it