Abstract
Research in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) plays a key role in
understanding and intervening in our current environmental and climate
crisis. Although anthropogenic stressors and climate change continue to
disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and people of colour
(BIPOC) individuals, their valuable scientific voices are shockingly
underrepresented within EEB. To underscore this problem, we present a
case study on EEB PhD graduates in the US (1994-2018), which illustrates
that BIPOC scholars are significantly underrepresented in their cohorts.
We recommend key steps that the EEB Academy should take to increase
representation of BIPOC scholars in EEB, including anti-racism education
and practice, increased funding opportunities, integration of diverse
cultural perspectives, and a community-minded shift in PhDs.
Importantly, this advice is directed at those who wield power in the
Academy (e.g., funding agencies, societies, institutions, departments,
and faculty), rather than BIPOC scholars already struggling against
inequitable frameworks in EEB.