Posts in: Reflections

My journey with COMPASS began 12 years ago, when I was a newish Program Officer at Wilburforce Foundation, trying to find ways for science to more effectively inform conservation. We quickly developed a rewarding partnership: I was able to support COMPASS in expanding their scope beyond the ocean realm, and COMPASS brought their deep knowledge in training, connecti...

One of the most challenging (and exciting!) aspects of communication is that our audience is never a blank canvas. Rather, getting to know them is more like trying to interpret a Jackson Pollock painting¹. Before we’ve even shared a single word, the person we’re looking to connect with already has a set of existing, entwined beliefs about the world, themselves...

At a conference featuring talks about biodiversity conservation in the face of climate change, you might not expect to have a panel talk focused around how to be personally resilient in the face of such challenges. Yet that’s exactly what COMPASS’ plenary, titled “Building Resilience Starts with Us,” at this year’s North American Congress for Conservat...

When I came across the job posting for my role at COMPASS I completed my application in one sitting, submitting my materials just a couple hours after I found the opening. I felt like I’d finally found the niche I was looking for, a space squarely in between science and solutions.  Starting at COMPASS just over two years ago, I entered the broad and wonderful...

Latino Conservation Week, an initiative of Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF), was developed to celebrate the Latino community’s commitment to conservation and engage communities in outdoor recreational activities and stewardship. This annual celebration provides us with an opportunity to take a look into the critical conservation and advocacy performed by Latino r...

The culture of science often asks us to leave ourselves behind. The focus of our training is squarely on our research, not us. We build walls between our personal lives and our professional lives, between our emotional selves and our scientific selves. On our quest to contribute to a more just, equitable, and inclusive world, within science and beyond, these walls ...