Christopher Lawrence– Black Wisdom in Ecology

We’re back again to continue highlighting researchers who center Black cultures, values, and systems of knowledge in their science. This month, we are shining a light on Christopher Lawrence. They are a graduate student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University who studies Heliconius butterflies. He works extensively alongside Rutgers University’s Black Ecologies Lab. This group uses an interdisciplinary approach involving geography, history, biology, and more to advance both scholarly research and public discourse about Black Ecologies.

For example, the Black Ecologies Lab’s 2023 Zine examines the shared challenges and opportunities presented by socioeconomic inequality and the ongoing climate crisis among Black communities in Virginia, South Africa, Jamaica, Trinidad, Louisiana. Christopher especially appreciated using their knowledge of evolutionary adaptability to engage meaningfully with Black knowledge with students in the Black Ecologies Lab’s Field Schools. Feel free to contact the Board of Black Ecologies Lab directly for collaboration inquiries!

If you would like your work to be featured in this series, please complete the attached google form. Otherwise, you can contribute to our ongoing efforts supporting the well being and professional development of Black ecologists by making a donation to our section: https://ecologicalsocietyofamerica.org/blackecologists/donate/. 

Don’t forget to cite Black ecologists in your next paper!