Field Inclusive Experience Reflection : Sofia Correa
“There is little diversity in Wildlife Biology and making diversity visible in this field needs to be addressed. I am happy to be representing the Hispanic community as well as hopefully leveling up the field and diversifying Wildlife Research. Moments like this make you wonder about the access of People of Color (POC) to opportunities, and their rate of success when we go after our goals.”
BY SOFIA CORREA
The growth in my skill set, personal and career development, and push for inclusivity and diversity have changed me and the outlook I have on my future.
This summer, I had the opportunity to expand my horizons and take a closer look at a path of interest in Wildlife Research. Thanks to the collaboration of the Cape Fear Bird Observatory (CFBO), Field Inclusive (FI), and the Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS), I got to work with Painted Buntings, learn to band, handle, and collect data from this passerine species and practiced the use of equipment used to capture this and other bird species through different methods. Beyond growing my skill set and comfort levels about bird banding, I learned many things about Wildlife Research and the community that drives biological and ecological studies that I can apply to many aspects of my life and any career path I decide to take moving forward.
Growing up in Peru gave me a rich background in biodiversity, which enticed me to deeply care about the health of our ecosystems and taught me to do something to enact the change you want to see when it comes to the well-being of the environment. When I moved to the United States, the contrast in the focus on sustainable practices and biodiversity was devastating and I knew that I had to get involved and become part of the action. Starting with projects and classes in high school, followed by Environmental Biology as my major, I began to learn about what was being done and how I could contribute to studies that would provide the foundation for restoration and conservation efforts. My first experiences in outdoor and indoor laboratories taught me about A) my drive to conduct research and B) my love for multidisciplinary studies.
In learning more about Wildlife Research, I also learned about the lack of diversity and the challenges that People of Color (POC) have to endure to be seen, included, and respected in the field. Seeing the different levels of my peers’ achievements in comparison to the effort they put into their work was remarkable, compared to seeing POC going out of their way to get opportunities and miss due to misinformation or lack of opportunity. In my junior year of college, I decided to be proactive about my professional development and seek out new experiences, and at the first event I attended, I heard a story that spoke to my experience and learned about the work of her new non-profit, Field Inclusive. The inspiration from Lauren Pharr‘s speech taught me and led me to advocate for myself, diversity, and equity. Over the next semester, I dedicated myself to putting my name and my presence in as many scenarios as possible, applying for every internship I saw, attending every conference I could, and networking with mentors. On many occasions, my international student status or my ability to relocate for a short period prevented me from taking on some chances, yet, the right one was just around the corner.
Thanks to the willingness of FI and the CFBO to work with me through my visa restrictions and requirements, I was able to participate in a summer internship with the CFBO. I arrived in Wilmington, NC in late May, ready to take in all the knowledge about bird banding and ornithology field research. Little did I
know that I would learn so much more than that through collaborations with other organizations, anecdotes from biologists in different fields, and introspection.
The Cape Fear Bird Observatory is a young nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the conservation of birds and their habitats in North Carolina. I had the privilege of helping out in the population study of Painted Buntings (PABUs), one of the programs by the CFBO, which focuses on studying the numbers, and living conditions of the Eastern population of PABUs in the North Carolina coast. The beginning of the summer consisted of getting familiarized with everything about Painted Buntings and bird banding: molt patterns in PABUs and use of the Pyle Guide, handling and processing a bird in hand, the breeding seasons and migration patterns of PABUs, the different grips used to hold a passerine, the significance of aluminum and color bands, and much more. I got to see the application of the concepts I had studied in ornithology class, a completely different experience from class laboratory practices.
With the mentorship of Evangelyn Buckland, co-founder of the CFBO, and Chelsea Bullock, an expert in Painted Buntings, I acquired the skill set to do all parts of our studies independently. I became proficient at placing aluminum and color bands, measuring bill and wing length, determining the age of a Painted Bunting by their plumage (Hatch Year, Second Year, or After Second Year), determining the sex (based on cloacal protuberance, brood patch, and plumage), etc. Moreover, I learned about Point Counts, a second method to study bird populations based on a short observation at multiple points along a habitat. I learned to listen and observe closely for bird movement, to estimate the distance of a song or a sighting, to record the environmental conditions of the immediate area, and more. Setting up banding stations, mist nets, and cage traps, and doing feeder maintenance were part of our routine, all things I learned over the summer. The skills I learned were targeted towards Painted Buntings this breeding season, yet, I will be able to transfer these to future ornithological studies.
Throughout the internship, I had several experiences that were completely new to me. I had my first time being in the field doing work outside of an academic setting, my first time launching a kayak and crossing the intercoastal waters, my first time using a GPS, my first time living independently, etc. Working through new challenges, by myself or as a team, taught me a different set of skills and about working in Wildlife Research. I learned the importance of problem-solving, having the right tools, and how one utensil can have multiple purposes in the field. More importantly, I learned about the community in Wildlife Research in North Carolina, about the collaboration and communication between people across environmental biology specialties, and how dedicated to conservation people are.
The most significant part of this internship were the connections I made and the personal and professional development I have undergone over the summer. I met many wonderful people from different areas of Wildlife Research and got to witness the collaborations forming between scientists and people involved in the studying, maintenance, and condition of the natural areas of this community. I met ornithologists from many different backgrounds, working with different species and engaging in different projects, people who are in charge of organizing property assets, as well as efforts to protect sea turtle populations, professors, and students from UNCW and other colleges.
Through volunteering and collaboration, I got to experience different fields in environmental biology and meet experts in multiple fields, especially while joining technicians during turtle walks at our different sites or banding shore birds with Audubon. One of the biggest realizations while in the field was during the annual Tern Banding session with Audubon, in which we had around 40 volunteers and workers band over 4,000 terns. During this session, I was one of three POC, and the only one under the age of 40. This made me realize how impactful my presence is. There is little diversity in Wildlife Biology and making diversity visible in this field needs to be addressed. I am happy to be representing the Hispanic community as well as hopefully leveling up the field and diversifying Wildlife Research. Moments like this make you wonder about the access of POC to opportunities, to explore different careers and pursue them, and their rate of success when we go after our goals.
This summer at Wilmington with the Cape Fear Bird Observatory was an incredible experience that I would not have gotten if I had not used the resources available at Wingate to reach out and meet people. It will always be unbelievable to me the chain of events that led me to this opportunity and the strides I took to make it happen. Now that the internship has come to an end, it feels like all that work that I put into the preparation for the internship flashed by, and the actual life experiences and career development I have done over the summer take precedence. I learned so much during this internship: about myself, about my career, and Wildlife Research; to a degree I wouldn’t have gotten if it was not through first-hand account. Moreover, I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given by Field Inclusive to expand my career views and explore the field of ornithology, as well as increase POC representation in Wildlife Research. Diversity in the workplace is something that I am passionate about and knowing that my presence in the field means there is change happening towards becoming a field with more inclusivity and equality makes me want to keep showcasing my work to others.
Sofia Correa (she/her) is an undergraduate student in Wingate University’s Environmental Biology Program, and was the recipient of the 2023 Field Inclusive – Cape Fear Bird Observatory joint fellowship.
Credit: Cape Fear Bird Observatory