Joan and I started our conversation with a discussion of her background, the interests that brought her into the field of conservation, and key turning points in her professional life. For career ornithologist, I was surprised to learn that Joan got the birding bug at the late age of 19. Having always been interested in the outdoors, she began college with the idea of becoming a botanist, but flirted with a range of ecological disciplines until a chance opportunity brought her to the American Museum of Natural History’s Great Gull Island Project. Working on an island field station monitoring Common and Roseate Terns, Joan recalls “…there was no running water, no electricity, and when it rained you couldn’t disturb the birds, so you read about birds. I turned into an ornithologist in about three weeks”.
I was curious what skills helped Joan navigate the winding path from field research on a remote island to a leading role at the Mass Audubon Society, and she was quick to acknowledge that a certain amount of chance is involved in any career in conservation. “I was lucky in that I found a research station that took me in with very little experience and turned me in to who I am”, she recalls. However, she also identifies actively embracing the chances that came her way as a crucial skill. After five years with the American Museum of Natural History Joan was offered a position working with Wood Storks in Georgia by a colleague, and she seized it despite the change that a move from New England to Georgia represented for the Connecticut native. Looking back, Joan reflects that “the biggest thing that I did right was keeping my ears open, reading a lot, and saying yes to every opportunity that came my way”.
Of course, opportunity and obstacles go hand in hand, so I asked Joan to talk about some of the challenges she has come up against professionally, and how she has worked through them. Her response was immediate: “probably the one thing I’ve never been good at—and that I still pay for—is statistics. It’s a life long pursuit, and I think of it sort of like saying I pay someone to be my dentist. There’s just no sense in me learning dentistry myself, [but] that’s held me back in my career”. To compensate, Joan has played to her strengths, specifically being able to pitch her ideas and build teams that bring together the full range of skills needed to complete an ambitious project. “I’ve always been interested in the elevator speech, even before I knew it was called that” Joan remarks. “You have to be able to tell somebody what your job is, and why they should care”.
The combination of knowing her limits, and knowing and being able to advocate for her strengths has allowed Joan to identify and draw in the right collaborators for the projects she has undertaken. When she was hired by Mass Audubon to lead its Breeding Bird Atlas project, Joan was faced with the daunting task of turning 35 years of avian population data into a final product that could guide on-the-ground conservation and inspire Mass Audubon’s members. The project required formidable statistical and GIS analysis, the ability to turn hard data into a compelling story, and the artistry to package both the numbers and the story in an accessible format; a set of skills that no single person could bring to the table. As project lead, Joan’s strength as a communicator served her well. “I like every single one of those steps”, she says, “and that’s what my job is. Being able to talk to each of [the people who do them]”.
Twenty minutes in, our interview began to turn from Joan’s past experience to her thoughts on the future of conservation. I asked her where she sees the field going, a question I’ve posed to of all kinds of conservationists. Joan’s response took me by surprise. It was the first I’ve heard that focuses on the question of “who” will move this field forward, rather then “where” that forward trajectory will take it.
“The first thing I see is a near crisis, or perhaps a crisis, in the training of young conservationists” Joan says. She reflects that the nature of education in the natural sciences has shifted away from an intense focus on disciplines like ornithology or herpetology towards the broader strokes of programs in ecology proper. That trend concerns her. “We need experts who understand biology”, Joan says, adding that such expertise is essential for the kinds of practitioners capable of advancing our knowledge of conservation priorities and the kinds of communicators who can translate that knowledge for the public. “I don’t know who’s going to take my job when I leave”, she observes. “Where is the 28 year old who is totally passionate about the birds of Massachusetts, and is passionate about communicating [about them]?”
Joan’s focus on the importance of bringing smart young people into the field begged the question of what advice she would offer to aspiring conservationists. Although we were talking by phone, I could picture Joan smiling as she replied. “I am definitely a child of the 60s,” she began. “I believe in revolution. I believe in risk taking… if I were someone who was coming out now with an undergrad degree, I would attack the problems that we have. Find one, take it apart, and attack it. It may turn out to be something that you never leave for the rest of your life, it may be that you work on it for one or two years and go back to grad school. [But] don’t be afraid of deep knowledge, and don’t be afraid to suggest revolutionary change, because it’s the only way that conservation has ever lurched forward”.
The conversation turned to the kinds of challenges that today’s young conservationists face, and Joan leaped into a discussion of climate change. Joan notes that the state of Massachusetts will likely see a foot of sea level rise within the century, and that “if you’re looking for a problem, there’s a problem right there. It needs smart young people, but they can’t be afraid.” While acknowledging that taking on a challenge like climate change can ruffles some feathers, even in a deep blue state, she is adamant that young conservationists have a vital role to play in shaping our response to it. “Climate change is real, is human driven, and in the next hundred years is going to cause a tremendous upheaval in the state of Massachusetts. If you’re a conservationist, get out there and start doing whatever you can to help us plan for the future”.
This interview was conducted by Joshua Morse.