To celebrate Pride Month 2025, we are excited to share a series of blogs and podcasts highlighting useful articles and resources for LGBTQIA+ ecologists and researchers. In each post, the authors behind these resources explain what they are, how they came to produce them, and why they are important.
The authors
Nathan Alexander (he/him)
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan-Alexander
Bluesky: [email protected]
Jaime Coon (they/them, she/her)
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jaime-Coon
Instagram: @drherbaceous
Together, we led a group of others to write a triptych of papers on LGBTQ+ inclusion in science, including inclusion during ecological fieldwork, inclusion and competency within wildlife science, and considerations for collecting LGBTQ+ demographic data in the biological sciences. These articles draw on a diversity of lived experiences and disciplinary expertise that ranged from applied ecology to counseling psychology. We had initially set out to write a single manuscript, however, we soon realized we had more to say than would fit in a single article. We decided to partition our foci across multiple aspects of ecological research and fieldwork, hoping to provide insights valuable to those both within and outside of the LGBTQ+ community.
The articles in summary
In brevity, our first manuscript, “Best practices for LGBTQ+ inclusion during fieldwork: considering cis/heteronormativity and structural barriers” in Journal of Applied Ecology, discusses structural, supervisorial, and individual actions that can increase LGBTQ+ inclusion in the field, ranging from safety from physical harm to maintaining mental health. For example, institutions can ensure insurance coverage or chosen name policies for fieldworkers, supervisors can co-develop safety plans with the field team, and individuals can prioritize safety and research locations prior to agreeing to fieldwork. Fieldwork often disconnects researchers from established support networks, known resources, and can increase risks related to hostile environments or being isolated from community. It is thus critically important for institutions to mitigate that risk as well as have strategies for supervisors to increase safety for their LGBTQ+ mentees. We also suggest individual resilience strategies for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers, such as bringing a symbolic item representing your identity, connecting with local communities, and connecting with LGBTQ+ professional groups.
Our second manuscript, “Increasing LGBTQ+ inclusion and competency in wildlife sciences: intersections of sociocultural, structural, and historic barriers to inclusion” in The Wildlife Society Bulletin, encompasses a holistic look at the field of wildlife ecology within the United States. Although discussions of LGBTQ+ inclusion are increasing within professional societies and (generally if not lately) within institutions, there is still a historical legacy of discrimination, oppression, and exclusion that impacts our field. Whether it’s direct persecution, such as when LGBTQ+ individuals were sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust, legal battles for rights such as decriminalization of homosexual and trans identities, government failure to address the AIDS epidemic, or misuse of science to support anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs or policies, these ongoing legacies have affected our profession deeply. Importantly, the experience of LGBTQ+ people intersect with other identities, and we need to not only celebrate, but understand the unique experiences and barriers that specific identities face.
Our final and third manuscript, “Disparities, concerns, and recommendations for LGBTQ+ data collection” in BioScience, discusses the need to collect data on LGBTQ+ identities within the biological sciences, but also acknowledges the risk that LGBTQ+ data collection can pose. We cannot know or address the barriers faced by LGBTQ+ people, including researchers, scientists, and fieldworkers, without appropriate data collection. Yet there are risks, including outing oneself or there may be risks for future persecution if hostile governments or institutions may have access to this data. We need better data collection methods and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, but we also need to ensure safety and acknowledge risks of those whose data we are collecting.
Creation and collaboration
When writing these three articles, we gathered expertise across identities and fields. We reached out to those in our networks that we knew, incorporating people from Psychology, Education, Policy, Organization, and Leadership, undergraduates, and across the United States. We were very intentional about wanting to shift the discussion of LGBTQ+ inclusion from individual actions that increase acceptance toward structural barriers or survival needs, and position this conversation within the broader context of society, history, and institutions. We also wanted to make resources for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers and scientists, not just about them.
However, this quickly meant that we had to make multiple manuscripts and be incredibly selective of what we included. In particular, LGBTQ+ history is a nuanced, rich, and expansive heritage. Trying to distill the fight for equal rights, the experiences of disowned people who formed mutual aid organizations to protect youth, the mixture of joy and anger in protest was, and still is, daunting. Furthermore, you have histories of people from different racial, gender, and class backgrounds who introduced unique and important advancements of LGBTQ+ rights, strongly rooting the LGBTQ+ community.
Despite long conversations on what to emphasize, the research gave a deep appreciation of the history of the community. And in the response to our articles, we saw the reflection of the humanity that has brought our community where we are today. In our fieldwork manuscript, what we thought was a relatively insignificant suggestion to “bring something with you that connects you to the community” became a piece that deeply resonated across early career and undergraduate LGBTQ+ fieldworkers. It’s the connection to our community that gives us strength, support, and resolve. It’s the connection to our community that allows us to be in charge of our stories and connects us to those who came and fought before us.
Finding home and the future
It is this focus on community where we find ourselves at the nexus in this time of trans and homophobia, with persecution of other minoritized people, and, in the United States, an attempt by the government to collapse our scientific foundations. The continued work of LGBTQ+ people across disciplines is needed, and we must also work within our communities as well. The skills and connections we have professionally may meet the very gaps present in our local communities across sectors such as city government, local coalitions, or mutual aidt. We have the capacity and strength to carry on the wondrous legacy that’s been given to us as LGBTQ+ people, and we must continue working towards the safety, protection, success, and joy of our global and local communities.
Check out more blog posts in our Pride series here. If you would like to contribute a post yourself, please do feel free to get in touch with [email protected].
