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Wild Women: Past, Present and Future

by theolamb | March 4, 2010
We all know that once upon a time, women didn't receive equal attention for their academic and scientific contributions. So, with International Women’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d offer up a light read on three women who have made an impact on environmental conservation during the last century.

The Usual Suspects

I emailed a friend with expertise in environmental history and who also contributes to the blog, Active History. He dropped a couple of names: Rachel Carson and Elizabeth May – a past and present example of a female conservation leader. You can read more about them below. However, in the spirit of immediate action and gender equality,  I thought I’d better start with what I see as the future face of women in conservation – a face that, when it comes down to it, is really gender-neutral.

Future: Natalie Greene

My search, which I’m happy to say took me beyond Wikipedia, began with one of my favourite Facebook groups, The Nobel Women’s Initiative. A little digging led me to their campaign, 16 Days of Activism, which landed during the Copenhagen climate talks. One of the women featured was Natalie Greene, a climate change activist based in Ecuador. Reading about Natalie’s work and the challenges she faces as an activist reminded me that people all around the world face the same issues – oil spillage, threatened habitats, and mining in biodiversity-rich ecosystems. I learned that the Ecuadorian constitution is the first in the world's history to grant legal rights to nature, and to allow individuals to sue on nature's behalf in courts - no kidding.

 
Natalie's work speaks to me because it sounds a lot like what we do here on The Big Wild. She represents the face of current conservation around the world:  women and men working online and offline to protect our planet’s ecology starting with a local region and a grassroots campaign. 

Present: Elizabeth May

Elizabeth May, the current leader of Canada’s Green Party, brings a wealth of knowledge to the table after her previous stint as Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada. In the past, she’s gone on a very public hunger strike on behalf of conservation; run national campaigns based on an environmental platform and sparred with Canada’s current leaders to improve environmental policy in our country. She’s a powerhouse, no?

Past: Rachel Carson

Born in 1907, Rachel Carson may be the first name you think of when it comes to women in conservation. A scientist and writer in the United States, her ground-breaking book, Silent Spring, was an environmental game-changer. It was through her research, writing and eventual testimony before the US Science Advisory Committee that  led to the eventual creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, regulation of pesticide use and the banning of DTT.

 
These are my three wild women. Do people these days hesitate to consider whether contributions to the study of climate change, global conservation and biodiversity are made by a man or a woman? Not likely. If they do, by all means, please comment.