Wildlife Biology Program Inclusion
The Ñý¼§Ö±²¥’s Wildlife Biology Program is rooted in interdisciplinary community, learning, and research. Today’s increasingly complex wildlife biology and conservation issues require perspectives from multiple experiences and knowledge systems. Leadership from a diversity of perspectives directly improves our ability to conserve, protect, and manage biodiversity while also enriching our human experience. We acknowledge that our Wildlife Biology Program training and community are incomplete without a diversity of perspectives among our Ñý¼§Ö±²¥, faculty, and staff. We are dedicated to empowering and celebrating diversity within our program by elevating individuals of all backgrounds.
We acknowledge that access to education, natural spaces, and hands-on experience with science are not universally available due to structural inequity in wider society. We are determined to proactively identify and remove systemic barriers that hinder people from participating and excelling in our program and in the wildlife profession. We pledge to continue learning and doing what we can to close the equity gap in the wildlife conservation field.
We commit to inclusion and fostering community within our program to ensure that Ñý¼§Ö±²¥, faculty members, and collaborators feel safe, valued, heard, and empowered. We endeavor to implement policies that foster an inclusive learning environment for people of all races, colors, religions, national origins, creeds, service in the uniformed services, veteran status, sex, gender, age, political ideas, marital or family status, pregnancy, physical or mental disabilities, genetic information, gender identities, gender expressions, sexual orientations or cultural identities to learn, teach, and conduct research. Our community is stronger when we all feel that we belong.
Finally, as we live and work in the homeland of the Séliš and Ql̓ispé people, we recognize that our wildlife have been stewarded by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial, and we seek to honor and learn from this work while also welcoming global insights towards best practices for conserving biodiversity. We ask all members of our community to join us in this mission to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.