We here at TNC in Washington are honored and excited to share with you a new partnership with Black in Marine Science (BIMS)—a premier nonprofit organization incorporated here in Washington that celebrates Black marine scientists, spreads environmental awareness, and inspires the next generation of scientific thought leaders.
This partnership is led by the vision and leadership of Dr. Tiara Moore, an environmental ecologist that, in addition to being the founder and CEO of Black in Marine Science, is also a member of our team here at TNC. Her work here is an integral part of helping us conserve and steward the lands and waters upon which all life depends. She recently transitioned into a new role as Black in Marine Science Program Lead to steward this new partnership between the two organizations—stay tuned for a two-part Q&A that dives deep into her journey, BIMS, and what’s ahead.
All this week—Black in Marine Science Week—there have been many panels, workshops, and keynotes, all of which have been free and streamed to the BIMSTV YouTube channel.
There are also plenty of ways to connect and support Black in Marine Science beyond BIMS Week! Check out their site, bims.org, @blackinmarsci on Twitter, @blackinmarinescience on Instagram, plus lots of content on their YouTube channel.
Join us in celebrating and amplifying the work of Black marine scientists by tuning into BIMS Week this week and supporting their work into the future!
Below is a conversation with Dr. Tiara Moore about Black in Marine Science, a nonprofit organization incorporated in Washington, of which she is the founder and CEO. Dr. Moore is also an employee of The Nature Conservancy in Washington, where she recently transitioned into a new role as Black in Marine Science Program Lead to change the game, change the face(s) of conservation, and steward a new partnership between the two organizations. The conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and flow.
Tell me about yourself?
I’m Dr. Tiara Moore. Originally, I’m from Greenwood, South Carolina, so I’ve got a little bit of a southern accent. People usually ask me how I got into science—I went into undergrad with a pre-med track thinking I’d be a pediatrician; but I realized it wasn’t for me and I changed what I was doing. I took this tropical ecology class, which, I only took it because they were going to Costa Rica for spring break [laughing]. So I went to Costa Rica, and we were on this boat collecting samples, doing experiments, and it was really fun. There were these senior scientists there, and that’s how I learned about marine science and how science could be a career. From there, I went on to make it my life’s work—I got my masters then my Ph.D. and did research all over the world.
Dr. Moore diving in the coral triangle near Bali, Indonesia
How did you end up at TNC?
My background is in marine ecology and marine science. I was interested in whole ecosystems and biodiversity and how things were interacting, so I started using environmental DNA, or eDNA, as a tool to understand that. With eDNA, you can take a small sample of water or soil, extract the DNA, and get a census of the ecosystem and what organisms have been there. So I had picked up this eDNA tool as part of my work while I was finishing up my Ph.D. at UCLA.
Then, I was at a conference where I was talking about eDNA and I met Phil Levin [Lead Scientist here at TNC in Washington]. He asked me if I could use this eDNA tool in a forest. I said, “Yeah, I’m sure you could…” and we talked through the methods, but then he asked me, “Well, could you do it?”
And [laughing] I mean, I was a marine scientist, we were at a marine science conference, so I was wondering, “Why are you asking me about a forest??” [laughing]. But I was a Ph.D. student, I was finishing up, I was looking for a job. He saw that eDNA was a tool, and I had the skills with it, and he was wondering if the tool could be used in a different ecosystem. So I ended up doing my post-doc in partnership with the University of Washington and TNC trying to understanding the biodiversity of the restoration efforts in the Ellsworth forest using eDNA.
Dr. Moore presenting on eDNA in 2018
What’s BIMS, how did it come into existence?
Black in Marine Science—BIMS! BIMS is a nonprofit organization that’s aimed at uplifting, celebrating, and inspiring people, and looking at how we can build up and change the face of the environmental field.
BIMS came from a lot of different things. It really started because of 2020. 2020 was… [oooohh]… 2020 was very interesting for me as a Black woman, for the whole country as living, breathing human beings. So, how do I start? I think there’s a story of how BIMS started publicly, but also the story of why I was ready to lead BIMS. There’s two different versions.
So, how BIMS started publicly. There was George Floyd and the racial awakening that not only occurred across the country, but also specifically in STEM. Then there was also the situation that happened with a Black birder in Central Park and the white woman that called the police. One thing that came from that was a group of Black birders on social media got together to create Black Birders Week to turn the myth around and say, “Hey, you shouldn’t call the police on Black people when they’re outside birding. Black people bird.” So a whole week was dedicated to Black people birding. From that event, from August to about October of 2020, there were all these weeks of outreach—Black in Botany, Black in Physics, Black in Neuroscience. The whole goal was similar to Black Birders Week, to say, “Here are all these STEM fields, Black people aren’t seen to be in those fields—they’re seen as predators as we saw in the George Floyd situation—but actually, no, we’re scientists, we’re botanists, we’re neuroscientists.”
All that was happening, and I was excited about it, but I wasn’t seeing a Black in marine science week. I tweeted about it and it got a huge response. People were like, “Oh, yeah, there’s Black people doing marine science?? Tell us more!” And when you tweet something, you have to become a leader for it, so I took it on and we created a whole week of outreach last year to highlight Black folks in marine science. It was an awesome, big week last year—so big, in fact, that we decided to turn it into a nonprofit.
Personally, the reason I was able to step up and lead Black in Marine Science, was because of my personal experiences as a Black woman, at the Ph.D. level, and on the science team here—I’ll be transparent. When I was in graduate school, I definitely had some racially charged experiences, but me being naive, I thought it was just something that happened in grad school, that it’s a thing that happens just to students. There were comments about, “Oh, you’re just on a diversity scholarship.” Comments like that. So that was very rough, where you’re at this place like UCLA where it’s super prestigious and people only think you’re there because of a diversity scholarship. So that was my background, where I was used to this weird kind of abuse, but I figured once I got my Ph.D., it’d be “I’m Dr. Moore, I belong here.”
Then I moved to Seattle. First of all, there weren’t any Black people in sight. In my neighborhood it was weird—we had key fobs for our building, and I had neighbors closing the door on me, even when I had my key fob out. People calling in and reporting, “Oh, there’s someone in the mail room” when it was just me getting my mail. Stuff like that.
Some experiences on the team were rough, too. I felt excluded. Things happened that weren’t understood or seen—I was the only Black woman on the team. I was encouraged to report stuff, but then nothing came of it because I was the only one reporting it. I’m a scientist, so if you’d told me from the beginning that n = 1 wasn’t going to be enough, we could’ve stopped the conversation there and never reported anything. Because it was an n of 1, it was seen as “there’s no racism here.” That was really rough, Dr. Moore and still experiencing stuff like that. At that point, I wanted to walk away.
Black in Marine Science Board of Directors. Left to right, top: Dr. Jeanette Davis, Symone Barkley, Dr. Camille Gaynus; middle: Kris Howard, Alex Troutman; bottom: Dr. Tiara Moore, Leslie Townsell
Luckily, I had met some other Black folks in marine science throughout my career. And at one point, I was talking to one of my really good friends about our experiences—they were at a prestigious school, and here I was at a prestigious nonprofit, and she was having similar stuff going on. Here we were, two Black doctors, getting into spaces that claim they want people who look like us to get into, and then we’re getting treated like we don’t belong there.
Me seeing that, seeing pure sadness in others’ eyes, and having similar experiences, it was like, “Okay, are we going to walk away, or are we going to take up space?” That’s where I was, personally, to start BIMS. I knew places could be better.
> “Here we were, two Black doctors, getting into spaces that claim they want people who look like us to get into, and then we’re getting treated like we don’t belong there. ”
— Dr. Tiara Moore
I was able to build BIMS the way I did because I’d completely disengaged—by stepping away to prioritize my wellbeing, I was able to build community and BIMS. After BIMS was built, hope came back. And there came clout with it, too. So I was feeling more fulfilled from the BIMS work.
It was also around the time my post-doc was ending, so I was looking around at different jobs. At these places I was considering, I went to staff pages, and they were all generally white—there were very few brown faces. I kept getting discouraged. Did I want to go through all this again? Is this what the outlook looks like to be a scientist?
Then I won this award, Black Voices for Black Justice. They gave me $50,000 to do whatever I wanted to do. That’s when I made the decision to not apply for any jobs—I was gonna finish my post-doc, ride out, and see what I could do with BIMS and the money I’d just gotten. To me, in my streets, $50K is a lot. I was asked, “How long do you think that’s going to last?” and I was like, “I’d rather starve than continue like this.” That’s how transparent I had to be.
I love the relationship that’s been built since—if not for the realness in those conversations, I don’t think the partnership [between BIMS and TNC] would have come to fruition. I wanted to take a leap with BIMS and build it. I get so much joy from the BIMS organization and community. The community is there, the community wants more content and more programming for us, and I need to figure out how to do that. Applying for jobs wasn’t going to work for me. I didn’t want letters of recommendation for jobs. I do believe that Phil was the first one to suggest the BIMS and TNC partnership; basically, how could we work inside and with TNC to build some type of partnership with BIMS. It evolved a bit from what I originally thought—where there could be a grant to BIMS from TNC, but I’d still leave TNC—but it turned into more, where I’m still a TNC employee supporting BIMS. I do believe there’s a true belief in BIMS as an organization—BIMS is poppin’, we have done a lot of good work, and I think there is some true support [from TNC].
What’s your relationship to BIMS?
Dr. Moore repping Black in Marine Science
BIMS is my baby! I’m the founder and CEO. My goal is to meet the mission of BIMS—to celebrate Black marine scientists, spread environmental awareness, and inspire the next generation of scientific thought leaders. And, ultimately, change the face(s) of who people see as scientists.
Honestly, it was a heartbreak around the world the way that George Floyd was treated. What was so revealing for me is that that’s just the way that Black people are seen—as folks that don’t belong in these spaces and are seen as predators. At the end of the day, if I walk outside, it isn’t “Oh! There goes Dr. Moore. She has a Ph.D.!” No. It’s, “She’s just another Black person, let’s go kneel on her neck.” Because I go outside with my hoodie on, in my sweats and my Crocs—all of a sudden, I didn’t go to UCLA, I haven’t won all these awards, I haven’t done all this stuff.
To have experienced it first-hand, when you “earn” a seat at the table but then it’s like “Nah baby-girl, this seat ain’t for you. You thought.” It was so heartbreaking. So that’s what we really want to change. To say hey, we can be these other things, we can belong in these spaces. It’s about changing the culture of science, and especially in conservation and environmental science. I think you see more Black folks in medical fields than you do in conservation and marine science, so it’s time for all that to change.
What’s TNC’s relationship with BIMS?
It’s two-fold. It’s through me, because I am a TNC employee. But I also think it is an opportunity for TNC to support a grassroots organization—it’s an opportunity for us (TNC) to put resources into the communities we say we want to support, resources to really see people and nature thrive. I think it needs to be targeted efforts for Black communities, because we know they’ve been impacted for long, we know that practices specifically at TNC have harmed Black people. I think it’s time for us to really put our money where our mouth is, to say, “Hey, what can we do to really enrich these communities?”
If you’re a Black marine scientist, you can join as a member – with that, you get access to our BIMS community and can connect with other Black marine scientists.
Note: we thank Dr. Tiara Moore for her time, leadership, and wisdom. This was the first of a two-part Q&A with Dr. Moore about her, her work, Black in Marine Science, and more. You can read the second part here.
Below is the second part of a two-part Q&A conversation with Dr. Tiara Moore about Black in Marine Science, a nonprofit organization incorporated in Washington, of which she is the founder and CEO. Dr. Moore is also an employee of The Nature Conservancy in Washington, where she recently transitioned into a new role as Black in Marine Science Program Lead to change the game, change the face(s) of conservation, and steward a new partnership between the two organizations. You can read the first part here.
What’s BIMS Week?
BIMS Week is a week-long event that started last year; we just recently had the second one. The goal of BIMS Week is to represent authentic Black culture and history, and our connection to the ocean. It’s also about dispelling notions of what people think of when it comes to, “Who are scientists?” I’m definitely a scientist because I have a Ph.D. But we also have authors who are writing children’s books about science—they did the research, they went and made a rhyming book about ocean acidification! They’re scientists, as far as I’m concerned. They’ve got a connection to the ocean.
One of our keynote speakers for BIMS Week this year was the Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation in South Carolina—this is a community that has always had a connection to the water, particularly when you think about the South Atlantic slave trade and all of that. While she doesn’t have a background in marine science, her passion for talking about the water and ocean was just so beautiful to see [keynote here].
The goal of BIMS Week is not only for Black folks in the community and around the world to think about marine science and the ocean, but to also have a space that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive.
We did a BIMS members map and you can see that we’re all over, we out here!
There’s another side of inspiring allies, too—for them to see that there’s so much more when you think about Black people and marine science. It’s not about, “Oh, I wanna go be a SCUBA diver, I wanna go study dolphins and whales.” There is a HUGE, rich history that we have to think about, especially when you have to grapple with the fact that there’s millions of my ancestors at the bottom of the ocean.
I think that’s the goal of BIMS Week—to inspire. Inspire. Inspire. Inspire. And then empower—so that folks know that this exists, then they can talk about it and then go make a difference. Get voices out there. Amplify Black voices and their stories around the world.
What was your favorite part of BIMS Week?
This year, BIMS Week ended with BIMS Ball—I called it the Met Gala of Black science. Literally, it was a Ball celebrating Blackness and Black culture. We had a musician, poetry from a poet, a DJ—we got some dancing going on! We also had awards; we gave a BIMS Advocacy award to honor the Black marine scientists who have helped paved the way.
We had a lot of great stuff this year, actually—for instance, we had BIMS Cares, which was all about self-care; we had a therapist come in and do live mindfulness work, as well as talk about stress and trauma. So, yeah, we had a lot of good stuff going on throughout the whole week.
What does BIMS mean to you?
BIMS means future to me. BIMS was built out of a place of so much pain, hurt, trauma, but there was HOPE. I think that’s the beauty of BIMS and the relationship I have with BIMS. That, as beat down as I was, there was still hope. Hope in myself as a strong Black woman, but as well as hope that there could be a different day. There were white people listening, asking questions I hadn’t been asked before, and I was like, “Wow, maybe this is the moment something will change if I’m honest and transparent about me and my experiences, the things I’m going through.”
> “To go from those past experiences of being the only Black person in the room to now having BIMS, it’s just such a beautiful progression.”
— Dr. Tiara Moore
There had been a lot of times where people had said, “Oh, you’ve never experienced racism, right? You’re not that type of Black.” These were the real questions I was getting, people had never worked with a Black person as a scientist or at that level. It was really interesting. So BIMS to me means hope, that there’s a future, that there’s enough Black people in marine science for there to even be a BIMS.
I wrote an Op-Ed in 2018 that was called “The Only Black Person in the Room” and it was about my experience serving on a marine science society board of directors. I realized during that period how behind everything was. I was literally the only Black person in the room—I was in this high-level position, but I was still being mistaken as the person who should get them coffee, or to ask where the bathroom was. To go from those past experiences of being the only Black person in the room to now having BIMS, it’s just such a beautiful progression.
That’s what it means to me—to go from being the only Black person in the room to Black in Marine Science.
How has the journey been?
The journey has been. I’m so grateful that I’m a good-spirited person, but I have to be honest. My mental health definitely suffered. I went to therapy more often. There were times I shed tears. I questioned myself, if I belonged in these spaces.
People make you feel unwelcome in spaces so long, you doubt yourself, like, “Can I read? Do I know about eDNA? Maybe I don’t…” So that was very hard, especially for someone that’s had to be confident my whole life. As a fat Black woman, you have to have this level of confidence that you come with because you’re just generally bullied so much. So to have worked so hard to build that confidence and then have that broken down by people I didn’t know, simply because of the color of my skin—I wasn’t used to that. That was a very hard time in my journey.
> “But the JOY that I have found simply by connecting with people … THAT makes this journey so much easier, a bit lighter. ”
— Dr. Tiara Moore
But the JOY that I have found simply by connecting with people—talking with students, especially Black kids who see me and say, “Oh my gosh, I want to be a marine scientist. I never saw anyone who looks like you.”—THAT makes this journey so much easier, a bit lighter. Now I’m spending a lot more time on the upper side of things in the journey, of really choosing partnerships I want to do. But yeah, the journey has been. It’s been a whole journey for sure.
What opportunities exist for you, for BIMS?
Lots of opportunities exist, especially when I think about what the overall vision and goals are for Black in Marine Science. Right now, we’re a nonprofit that’s creating a lot of content. But what I would like to do is get to point where BIMS has the opportunity to create opportunities.
We’re getting to a point now where we’ve raised enough money to hire a BIMS fellow that can help us with some of the day-to-day things—it’s not a full-time employee, but it’s someone who’s being compensated for the work that was previously being done voluntarily. So that’s a step up.
Dr. Tiara Moore on a sample-collection mission while at UCLA.
I think the ultimate goal is to really create an institution, a BIMS institute. Where we can have a place to have education, a curriculum, even a whole school that is focused and geared to increase Black people in marine science. We think about where marine science institutions are now—Scripps, Woods Hole. They’re places where Black people don’t even exist; they have a population of about 0% Black people in the community. But you have to go there to become a marine scientist. Even at UCLA, there was more diversity outside in the community than on the campus. So why are we telling Black people that that’s where they have to go to be a marine scientist? I would love to partner with a historically Black college or university and have some type of research institution specifically for Black in marine science.
I also think we have an opportunity to, within the BIMS community, share different opportunities that they might not know about; different things at TNC and in other environmental fields. But also partnering in these places to bring more opportunities to impacted communities and students that usually wouldn’t get them.
One of the things that this [new role in TNC] has freed me up to do is pursue all the different opportunities with BIMS.
Wave a magic wand—in five years, what do you see for BIMS?
Dr. Tiara Moore in the lab.
Honestly, I hope it’s the BIMS Institute that I was talking about. I would love to build a research and outreach facility that’s dedicated to Building Inclusivity in Marine Science, and I think it could look a lot of different ways.
I realized as a scientist and a researcher, we have to focus a lot more on science communication—so that’s why I say “research and outreach”. I also still say “research” because a lot of people think that because I’m doing this diversity work now, that I’ve left science, that I can’t do science, that I won’t be doing “hard” science. I just want to say that I never wanted to not do hard science, it just wasn’t a welcoming space for me—I didn’t leave science, I was pushed away.
So how can I build that inclusive lab space that I wanted and that I know other Black marine scientists crave? That’s what I would love to build. But for now, I have some tricks up my sleeve and things in the works, don’t worry!
Also, to go back to the inclusive lab, to have that outreach aspect included in the facility because we know it’s so important. If we can do more research and include Black and impacted communities inside of our research at the same time, how awesome would that be? We could be creating content in the lab that’s easily consumable and digestible by the general public, so they automatically always know what’s going on in the lab!
Those are some of the goals and vision we have for the BIMS Institute and ultimately Black in Marine Science.
Note: we’d like to thank Dr. Tiara Moore again for her time, leadership, wisdom, and all that she shared with us. This was the second and last of a two-part Q&A with Dr. Moore about her, her work, Black in Marine Science, and more. You can read the first part here. You can also donate to BIMS here: bims.org/donate
Volunteers are mission critical to The Nature Conservancy, and we are so fortunate to have such a great group of incredible, dedicated folks.
In 2021, one volunteer’s contributions toward our mission rose above the rest. We are proud to announce that the 2021 Volunteer of the Year award goes to Jenna Rovegno for her work as a Lands Team Volunteer!
Jenna was nominated by Isaac Hansen, TNC Conservation Transaction Specialist
Jenna has volunteered for The Nature Conservatory since 2009 and contributed 500-plus hours! She shared that the reason she joined TNC was because her values aligned with TNC’s mission to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.
Jenna has been putting energy into a massive project updating the management plans for preserves across Washington. Management plans paint a picture of how our stewardship work touches down on the lands we currently own and describe the unique characteristics of each place. A well-crafted management plan can be useful for stewardship practitioners, decision makers, local partners, neighboring landowners, and many more. As the TNC team prepares to update these plans, Jenna paves the way by utilizing her expertise in technical copy editing to carry over the content from existing management plans into the new template. Jenna has already worked through the plans for 13 preserves all over the state (each plan being 30+ pages of varied, technical content) – a massive gift of time and effort that is streamlining the update process significantly.
In all of this, Jenna has demonstrated an attention to detail, drive for results, and can-do attitude that is outstanding. She has been volunteering for TNC for many years…and this year is no exception, with Jenna putting in 120 hours during 2021. We are truly grateful for Jenna’s excellent work, and look forward to continuing on this important project.
Honorable Mentions
Competition is stiff for the volunteer of the year at The Nature Conservancy’s Washington chapter. With hundreds of active volunteers every year, it’s always a tough decision to pick only one volunteer. As an honorable mention, we would also like to acknowledge “super volunteer” Leah Zarin. Leah is a long-time volunteer for the Transactions Team, and her dedication as a volunteer was especially appreciated on a project researching tax strategies for TNC preserves.
Thank you, Jenna, Leah, and all of the volunteers who help us achieve our mission every day!
Upper Alliance Road, which begins at the #5 mine across from the Cle Elum High School, and parts of Ridge Road along Cle Elum Ridge are closed to snowmobiling and other recreational activities for the winter season. During this time, The Nature Conservancy, which manages the adjacent privately-owned land on Cle Elum Ridge, is conducting commercial tree thinning as part of ongoing forest conservation and wildfire prevention practices.
Thinning is an essential part of ongoing conservation efforts in the Cle Elum region for creating healthier, more fire-resilient forests. Winter conditions are ideal for this operation since the frozen ground and snow reduce soil compaction that heavy machinery could otherwise cause. Additionally, the dormant trees store essential nutrients in root systems during the winter months, which remain in the forest to support future growth.
“This thinning is an essential step towards protecting the towns of Ronald, Roslyn, and Cle Elum from the threat of catastrophic fire. We’re grateful for the support of our recreation communities as we complete this work, and we hope it will pay off for years to come,” explained Katie Pofahl, Community Relations Manager with The Nature Conservancy.
The decision to close parts of Alliance and Ridge roads was made in close collaboration with the Kittitas County Snowmobile Grooming Council and Washington State Parks, with the safety of community members as a primary concern. Logging trucks will be working throughout the winter and can create dangerous conditions for recreationists. Recreational use of these roads will resume once logging operations are complete.
“The Kittitas County Snowmobile Grooming Council wishes to remind all that we have worked hard to establish a positive working relationship with The Nature Conservancy. Winter recreation is the only time motorized travel is allowed,” said Bob Seelye, Chairman of the Snowmobile Council. “Hopefully, all will respect the temporary logging closure. In addition, a gentle reminder that over the snow vehicles are NOT allowed on the Roslyn Nordic Ski trails, and there is a 25 MPH Speed limit on the Coal Mines trail. Have a safe winter recreation season.”
Washington State Parks has updated the map of available snowmobile trails, which can be seen here and reflects these changes. Please consult the maps, pay attention to posted signs, and check in with your local groomers and land managers if you have questions.
“We appreciate the community’s understanding and cooperation as we balance the health of our forests and recreational activities on these working forest lands,” said Pofahl.
