Women in conservation: Finding balance, voice, and impact

Q: You touched on the fact that part of what's kept you in WCS Canada’s space is the capacity for impact. What do you think is a conservation issue that deserves far more attention than it currently gets?

CMP: Simple – freshwater. Freshwater ties everything together. We can't live without it. It’s much easier to fundraise and get recognition and grants for charismatic and keystone species, or big headline challenges like climate change or protected areas.

But the overall health of our world and our human population is reliant on a healthy freshwater ecosystem. Lots of people just don't recognise its importance. They understand the importance of freshwater for drinking, but they don't understand how vitally tied we are to the overall ecological health of freshwater ecosystems.

In my lifetime I'm witnessing freshwater extinctions within my own region, linked to Chinook salmon. These are having overwhelmingly negative impacts on First Nation communities living along the river, as well as the fishing industry.

But despite the importance of freshwater, it's really challenging to understand the cumulative impacts of what's happening to freshwater systems. It's a wicked challenge because mitigating cumulative impacts of both upstream and point source impacts on freshwater is really complex. Ultimately, you have to conserve large portions of intact watersheds rather than trying to mitigate all the different complex stressors that are interacting at different points in the system.

Q: Environmental decision-making in today's context is increasingly difficult. Misinformation is everywhere. As a scientist, what are your reflections on influencing decision-making in an environment that’s increasingly unburdened by the need for evidence?

CMP: Advancing my career in the ENGO space has really opened my eyes. I’ve had the opportunities to work more in the political realm - meeting with ministers and policy advisors, advancing policies and land planning through working Government groups – really at the interface between policy and science. It wasn’t until I had these opportunities that I fully understood the political and social challenges that science is faced with.

Most conservation and sustainability challenges are not generally a result of a lack of science. It's more because the science conflicts with other values and competing interests - particularly with industry and especially resource extraction. I see this a lot in land use planning and decision making around which areas should be protected versus opened up for extraction. It’s really hard, especially when you deeply care about something.

The issues are also almost always much broader than just one research question. It relies on a lot of public support, who's in government, and the overall social health of the human population to help influence those decisions.

Q: International Women’s Day (IWD) is about recognising both progress and gaps. From your experience, how has the conservation space changed for women across all sectors, and where is it still falling short?

CMP: A lot of the mentors I had at university were male. There were definitely a few very strong women who were really vocal, and strong, and very committed to their work. I actually found those women quite intimidating. I never really saw myself as one of them. For example, I knew I wanted to have work-life balance and raise a family whilst having an impactful career. And for a long time, I was unsure whether that was even possible.

There were many obstacles. For example, when I was having children, I didn’t have access to maternity leave. When I was pregnant with my second child, I was going to lose my scholarship because it wouldn't allow me leave of absence for mat leave and I didn't qualify for employment insurance in Canada. As a result, I was only able to take off 7 months with her and was on a very limited income during my postdoctoral years.

Now I've been part of the movement and have been advocating with the rest of the country for NSERC and SHRC to allow for maternity leave programs and raise the standards of post-doctoral wages. As a result, I now get to see my students and colleagues welcome babies into this world with less barriers which has been a huge success for all women in science.

Q: International Women’s Day emphasises the power of mentorship and support. Have you had mentors or role models who shaped your path? What did they give you and how has it shaped your own approach to mentorship?

CMP: When I think about reciprocity, the most influential mentors in my life have been Indigenous colleagues and Indigenous friends. They remind me that relationships and reciprocity must come first. Not just with each other, but with all living things before I or we can do any good work.

Q: I’ve heard from female colleagues that say they still struggle with being heard in technical or policy spaces. Have you encountered this and how do you handle it?

CMP: I don't often think about being a woman in a historically male-dominated profession. But often we are overlooked or our voices and ideas don’t get heard if we don’t speak out, loudly, or often. This can be difficult if there isn’t a good facilitator in the room or an alternative means to add technical comments

Something that has worked for me in the past is to have an ally in the same space so you can work together and draw on each other for support or share written feedback afterwards when outspoken people are no longer present.

I'm also very conscious of trying not to take up too much space and to make space to listen to others. But you know, maybe women should make a point to take up more space, considering the lost time!

Q: What’s been one of the toughest moments in your career so far, and what did it teach you?

CMP: I am not sure if it was the toughest, but it was a very memorable moment that stuck with me and changed the way that I viewed science communication and it put me on the direction of working for an ENGO. When I was a Research Associate for a University, I had gone to the media to raise a red flag in terms of public policy where I knew my science had shown other results that could have helped to conserve a landscape. A senior manager had come to me after my communication was in the local newspaper, almost threatening me. They told me that I should get approval prior to going to any media sources as it may be a conflict of interest in where the department was receiving funding.

I remember pausing for several weeks, unsure of the course of action I wanted to take. I knew that my science mattered, and I knew it needed to be communicated. Here at WCS Canada, I’m encouraged to use my voice and raise red flags when necessary, particularly in the face of so many environmental injustices.

Q: You’ve talked about the importance of allies. How do you define leadership in a sector that's so reliant on collaboration?

CMP: This is a really good question. For me, being a leader in a collaborative space means that you inspire people, you create positive strategic thinking, and you lead by example. Good leadership is creating the space for people to decide for themselves if you’re a good leader and choose for themselves to follow you.

Q: If you could change one thing about how the conservation sector supports women, and how we help young women see themselves better in the sciences, what would it be?

CMP: I think we're getting better at this, but we can always improve. A big way we can improve is by decolonizing conservation. We have a long legacy in which Indigenous Peoples have been removed from conservation. But it's when we're working with Indigenous leaders and especially supporting Indigenous women in this space - that is how we do better. For communities and for conservation for the long run.

One example is enabling Indigenous young women to pursue positions of power. That might be through advocacy or conservation policy, in kind of similar terms to a master’s program in which they’re financially supported like graduate students pursuing Western science. And that's something that we're doing here at WCS Canada through the First Nations Women Transforming Conservation Fellowship.

Q: To finish, what advice would you give to young women who are considering a career in conservation or environmental science today?

CMP: If I was speaking to my daughter's generation I would say, make sure you follow your passions and have fun along the way. Because in conservation science, we are faced with a lot of grief. It's the little wins that keep you going.

But if I was speaking to like my niece’s generation, young women that are already at university and college, I’d say to be open to different perspectives. Conservation is a wicked challenge that is not going to be solved alone. It’s when you are grounded by different perspectives and even sometimes with industries that we possibly don't see eye to eye with, but we may have a common goal that we're working towards. Those are the spaces, you know, when you have the diverse perspectives that can really come together and solve complex challenges.

And I would also tell them to keep walking their dogs - all my “ah ha!” moments come when I’m outdoors walking the dogs!