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Wildlife biologists be like “I know a place” and then make you work 12+ hr days for a $200 monthly stipend and “housing” (its a tent). M.S. required.
Low/unpaid positions strengthen the class divide & perpetuate exclusive access & management of natural resources/wildlife to white folx. You canNOT simultaneously advocate for DEI AND be a proponent of we-all-gotta-pay-our-dues “club”.
This system disproportionately alienates URMs from this work, where we NEED all hands & minds on deck. This isn’t just big agencies/orgs/institutions- I’m looking at YOU grad students who advertise volunteer positions for undergrads to do your dissertation field research. 
Unpaid conservation internships are bad for our society and bad for conservation. Not that we should NEED an article to point out these obvious systemic issues, @RallidaeRule wrote one in 2015: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Auriel_Fournier/publication/283791283_Volunteer_Field_Technicians_Are_Bad_for_Wildlife_Ecology/links/5a8f29e10f7e9ba42969778d/Volunteer-Field-Technicians-Are-Bad-for-Wildlife-Ecology.pdf?_sg%5B0%5D=vCL8n54hACdp9ZzfR_mwGIJEUYRU_6cZO1GQixqE8-gXz7aF-c_eXkB0hZwCVmi7H9zwmgrCh_n98GZTjPv0Nw.Ni7UaHiqP9AAsmFiLao3H86ch9hqSlPTV647vDm0Qfw3MqH_E7_FZc6hOgDO5akRdRcf1aHgGa5B2H9AIeioDg&_sg%5B1%5D=aLhgTR7gv0lWzC0u4ogZW7uXeL6ZJXdA32uVhtOS-0wjEz6ynpcoGO92qsSLqdPBq2KF6LtJzln8gCqQrX9fZ49w5NG_gjJRzGCHz6lXn9hs.Ni7UaHiqP9AAsmFiLao3H86ch9hqSlPTV647vDm0Qfw3MqH_E7_FZc6hOgDO5akRdRcf1aHgGa5B2H9AIeioDg&_iepl=a
This is one of many barriers that alienates and oppresses BIPOC in academia, outdoor spaces, natural resources, science, and wildlife management. Please read #BlackInTheIvory #blackandSTEM and the replies to this thread of why people left/couldn’t break into the field.
Finally, those who are working in the field: how are YOU contributing? How is your employer, colleague, agency contributing to these harmful and oppressive systems? Do the work in your corner. As in our intricately interconnected ecosystems, it all matters.
