Black Birders Week

Black Birders Week was announced on Twitter on May 29, 2020.[9][10] The initiative was prompted in part by the Central Park birdwatching incident, and following recent episodes of killings and police brutality against Black Americans such as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.[11][12][13] The week-long event was conceived and organized by members of a group of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and students known as BlackAFinSTEM collective, founded by Jason Ward.[10][14][13][15] The co-founders include Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, Sheridan Alford, Danielle Belleny, Chelsea Connor, Joseph Saunders, and Tykee James.[13][16][17][18] According to Opoku-Agyeman, the goal of the initiative is "normalizing the fact that Black people exist in the birding and natural sciences community."[1][19][12][20]

The event series—running from May 31 to June 5 and centered on the #BlackBirdersWeek hashtag on Twitter and Instagram—was endorsed and promoted by several advocacy groups, conservation organizations, and government agencies including: the National Audubon Society,[10] the American Birding Association,[21] the American Bird Conservancy,[22][23] the North American Association for Environmental Education, the National Wildlife Refuge System,[24] the US National Park Service,[1] the California Coastal Commission,[25] Outdoor Afro,[26] Orion magazine,[27] and the Ecological Society of America.[28]

The event series featured Birds of North America's host Jason Ward, wildlife biologist and author J. Drew Lanham, wildlife conservationist Corina Newsome, National Audubon Society's government affairs coordinator Tykee James, and herpetologist and science communicator Earyn McGee.[29][30][7][5]

The 2020 series was also highlighted by several science and popular media and news outlets including:

• CNN[1]
• Forbes[2]
• The Guardian[4]
• Science[5][17]
• Scientific American[29]
• National Geographic[8]
• Smithsonian magazine[16]
• Audubon magazine[10]
• Bird Watching magazine[31]
• Sierra Club[32]
• Backpacker magazine[33]
• NPR[18][34]

In response to the 2020 series, the National Wildlife Federation planned to dedicate part of their Conservation Fellowship and Intern Programs[35] to young biologists of color.[36]

• Black Birders Week on Twitter
• Black Birders Week on Instagram
• @BlackAFinSTEM BlackAFinSTEM Linktree