FEBRUARY 24, 2017--In honor of Black History Month, the OR&R Diversity Committee sponsored an event on February 21 that focused on works by Clemson Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Dr. J. Drew Lanham.

Dr. Lanham is a birder, naturalist, hunter-conservationist, as well as a self-described "rare bird" being a black man in a mostly white field. He is fascinated by how ethnicity can play a role in how we see nature and conserve our natural resources, which is the overarching theme of his book, "The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature."

Event participants discussed Dr. Lanham's book and watched his video, "Rules for the Black Birdwatcher," tackling questions related to race and access to nature, as well as how to translate science to reach "the hearts and minds of those who don't hold advanced degrees." Over 35 OR&R staff and managers from around the country, along with People's Committee guests from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Office for Coastal Management attended this month’s Diversity Committee event.

The OR&R Diversity Committee would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in this event! For further information, contact Sarah.Latshaw@noaa.gov.

We hope you will join us for our March 16 diversity event in honor of Women's History Month, which will focus on gender inequality and feature a short film, “Michael Kimmel: Why gender equality is good for everyone — men included.” The video is a funny but illustrative TED talk by Michael Kimmel, author of Angry White Men, that points to why equality in the workplace and home is good for everyone and society as a whole. A discussion will follow on the film and related material will be shared.

OR&R strives to build and maintain a diverse, high-performing workforce that includes and empowers all staff and leverages diversity to better reflect the composition of the U.S. civilian labor force, to better serve our communities, increase innovation and improve decision making in our all aspects of our work.