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The BlackAFinSTEM Collective

@blackafinstem

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Showcasing Black STEM Unity and sharing our experiences. For Press: [email protected]. #BlackAFinSTEM #BlackBirdersWeek

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#ICYMI! 🗓️🐦

Our next Black Birders Quarterly Virtual Gathering is happening this month!

📅 Date: Saturday, October 24, 2026
⏰ Time: 4-5:30 PM EST
📍 Location: Visit website to RSVP

Whether you’re a lifelong birder, just getting started, or simply love the outdoors, this space is for YOU. Come connect, share stories, ask questions, and celebrate Black joy in nature with our incredible community.

Expect engaging discussions, birding tips, featured guests, and plenty of good vibes. All are welcome!

#SaveTheDate and help spread the word!

#BlackBirders #BlackInNature #BirdingWhileBlack #BlackBirdersVirtualMeetup #VirtualGathering by @blackafinstem

We want to give a huge and heartfelt Thank You to Casey Girard for creating these beautiful portraits honoring LGBTQ+ Black Birders for Pride Month🖤🐦‍⬛

Please take a moment to show love and appreciation in the comments to @_jchildress, @orithyia_blue, @thewatawoman, @iam.juliannesbitt, @ethickaldonmahogany, @thornithology, @naturalista_migrante, and @daynightjar 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Be sure to repost to help expand the reach of this fantastic network of scientists, birders, and nature enthusiasts.

#BlackBirders #PortraitSeries #PrideMonth #LGBTQIA #ThankYou by @blackafinstem

Mark Your Calendars! 🗓️🐦

Our next Black Birders Quarterly Virtual Gathering is officially scheduled!

📅 Date: Saturday, July 25th
⏰ Time: 4-5:30 PM EST
📍 Location: Visit website for more information

Whether you’re a lifelong birder, just getting started, or simply love the outdoors, this space is for YOU. Come connect, share stories, ask questions, and celebrate Black joy in nature with our incredible community.

Expect engaging discussions, birding tips, featured guests, and plenty of good vibes. All are welcome!

#SaveTheDate and help spread the word!

#BlackBirders #BlackInNature #BirdingWhileBlack #BlackBirdersVirtualMeetup #VirtualGathering by @blackafinstem

Greetings #BlackBirder community!

We’ve created a #BecauseOfBlackBirdersWeek
📝TESTIMONIALS FORM📝 to capture your reflections on this year’s event week. Whether you attended one or a few programs or engaged with us online, your perspective helps us:

🌱 Grow this movement intentionally
🦜 Center what matters MOST to Black birders
✨ Make next year even more impactful

With gratitude,
Black AF in STEM Collective ✊🏾🐦

Take less than 10 minutes to share your thoughts: LINK IN BIO

You can also share your testimonial in the COMMENTS below. Thank you for migrating and celebrating your bird joy with us 💗

artwork of Black Skimmer by @emmabrittainart by @blackafinstem

Greetings! We can't believe over a month has passed since we concluded #BlackBirdersWeek. While the week celebration of programming may be over, our engagement with this community remains as joyful and vibrant as ever.

Firstly, we want to extend a sincere thank you to our partners, sponsors, and supporters. Without your financial and logistical support, we could not have executed the programming we set out to achieve. You saw the value in our mission, and we are deeply grateful for your trust.

Secondly, we give a huge thanks to our phenomenal planning team. You managed to put together another amazing event week, navigating complexities with grace and ensuring that every detail was in place. Your creativity and dedication are the heart of this organization.

We also want to give a special thank you to our virtual guests who joined us throughout the week. Your expertise, stories, and willingness to share your time with our community enriched our programming and inspired so many. We are honored that you chose to be part of this journey with us.

Finally, and most importantly, we thank you, the Black Birder community. Your passion for birds and the natural world is a beacon of light. Your willingness to show up, share your experiences, and find sustained joy in nature reminds us why this work is so critical. We are not just birders; we are a movement.

We are far from done...stay tuned for updates on our summer events and engagement opportunities. There is definitely more to come. We have exciting programming in the works for the rest of 2026, and we cannot wait to share it with you. Keep your eyes on our channels, and let's keep making the outdoors a space of belonging for us all.

Warmly,
Black AF in STEM Collective

#ThankYou #Gratitude #Appreciation #Sponsors #Partners #Supporters #BlackInNature #BlackBirderCommunity by @blackafinstem

This is Jared C. Griffin @daynightjar
Hi! I’m Jared, a Philadelphia birder who believes you don’t have to leave the city to connect with nature. I got into birding as a teenager and rediscovered it after college, and now I spend most of my time sharing birds found right here in Philly. Birding has changed the way I see the world—every walk feels like an adventure, every neighborhood has wildlife worth noticing, and every glance at the sky might reveal something new. I love showing people that nature isn’t somewhere else—it’s already all around us.
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#BlackBirdersWeek #LGBTQIA #HappyPride #Tern #FamilyLaridae by @blackafinstem

This is Melanie Del Pozo Peña @naturalista_migrante
I took an avian ecology class at school and went from not knowing what a cardinal was to leading bird walks for two bird clubs in Richmond (Black Avian Enthusiasts and for the RVA Feminist Bird Club). During my time in the field as an environmental scientist, I was always the minority and often the only black person, even in large organizations. It made me feel like I didn’t belong and I often had to speak up and educate others about why I was the minority. I knew it was about access and exposure because when spaces are created with POC in mind, we show up. In my bird walks, I prioritize experiences for people of color. It brings me so much joy to bring folks together in large numbers. They come in all excited, attentive and feel comfortable outdoors.
This is my third-year birding, so I am still new to all the diversity of the avian world. Gulls are very intimidating for me to ID. On a trip to Delaware with DC Bird Alliance and In Color Birding, Jason L Hall (@thebirdingbeardsman) pointed to as many gulls as possible. The only one that stuck with me was Black Backed Gull. They were distinct from the rest with their large size and bold black back. They gave me a boost in confidence and made me believe I could break the gull identification code someday.
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#BlackBirdersWeek #LGBTQIA #HappyPride #Tern #FamilyLaridae by @blackafinstem

Hiya! I'm Taylor @thornithology and frostedtaylo . I started birding when I took Ornithology during my undergrad tenure. Before that, I knew absolutely nothing about birds, and actually disliked most things about them. Everyone else in my class seemed to be birding experts, and I was the one who didn't know that the bird that made that sound over there was, in fact, NOT a Bald Eagle, but a Red-Tailed Hawk. 🥴

I often (and openly) worried that this class would have its intellectual (and GPA-ical) challenges. With my ADHD diagnosis, traditional classroom structures can be a difficulty for me, and most learning styles don't allow my brain to really grasp the information the way others do. But, I didn't know that back then, because I only got diagnosed a few years ago.

The beginnings of my Ornithology course had its challenges, as I applied the rules of what I believed what studying *should* look like to how I studied. What happened after I did that? I failed our first exam! Miserably. Luckily, my professor had a course policy that allowed us to repeat failed exams until we passed. So, I retook it, but I changed my studying technique to what I felt like could fit my brain better. What happened after I did *that*? I got a B+! When we went on our weekly field trip after that, I identified a bird that no one else could figure out, and my professor congratulated my for all of my improvement and hard work. That filled my heart so much that I felt like I could burst. From that exact moment on, I was changed. I was a birder.
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continued in comments
#BlackBirdersWeek #LGBTQIA #HappyPride #Tern #FamilyLaridae by @blackafinstem

In joyous celebration of #Juneteenth and the #FlywaysAndFreedom theme of #BlackBirdersWeek, we celebrate the journeys that bring us home, whether by wing or by will. Just like how birds navigate vast distances along ancient flyways, our ancestors and communities have traveled routes of resilience, survival, hope, and joy.

Migration is not just about movement; it's about the promise of a place to rest, grow, and flourish. For Black birders and nature lovers, every trail walked, every bird sighted, and every sky watched is a joyful act of settlement...a reclaiming of belonging in spaces where we were once denied.

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom has never simply been declared. It has been delayed, fought for, and carried forward by generations. This year, as we focus on migration, we recall the many ways Black people have moved across land, history, and possibility in the enduring pursuit of freedom. Juneteenth is a celebration. It is also a call to continue the work of liberation.

We also remember those who never reached their destination, those whose migrations were cut short by chains and cruelty. Their longing for freedom still echoes in our flight.

Today, we honor their memory not with sorrow alone, but with the bright, unshakable joy of being here, fully present...fully free...fully home. We wander with wonder, we settle with gratitude, and we celebrate every horizon we now have the freedom to explore.

Because when birds find their place, they sing. And when we find ours, we do too. The flyways are open. The skies welcome us. And our joy, once settled, takes root and rises. by @blackafinstem

This is Joshua Stone @ethickaldonmahogany
I started with photography and an accidental shot of a bird that I thought ended up looking really cool. So I started to like the challenge of trying to get a good bird photo. Now, in addition to the camera, I’ve got some binoculars and the Merlin app 😂. SEAGULLS (I still plan to spoof The Crow as “The Gull”). When I was younger, hearing a Seagull meant I was at the beach which has always been a really healing place for me (anywhere near a body of water honestly). I just love their personalities and their call is one of my all time favorites. I’ll always associate them with some of my favorite memories.
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#BlackBirdersWeek #LGBTQIA #HappyPride #Tern #FamilyLaridae by @blackafinstem

This is Julian Nesbitt @iam.juliannesbitt
Growing up, I always loved wildlife including birds, thanks to watching a ton of Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic. When the pandemic hit, I was secluded to my parents' backyard. It was there I finally paid attention to the different birds that came through there, from the juncos and mockingbirds to the towhees and waxwings. I have been all over the world and got to see some iconic megafauna. But being with the birds during this time showed me that you don't need to travel far to be connected to the natural world and see some incredible animal behavior. You just have to take a few steps outside.

Arctic terns perfectly capture what makes birds and nature so special. Beautiful, inspiring, almost magical. I strive to be like that in my own life.

#BlackBirdersWeek #LGBTQIA #HappyPride #Tern #FamilyLaridae by @blackafinstem

My name is Aloe Lee @thewatawoman. I am a coastal ecologist researching and documenting native plant species on Gulf coast barrier islands. I use acoustic ecology practices to learn a coastal plant community. My work focuses directly on how sound-producing species interact with a landscape undergoing restoration, and how these sounds can be used in habitat monitoring.

I've decided to highlight the Inca Tern! This species is the definition of MAJESTIC! The incredibly iconic "moustache" and rich, reddish color of the bill and legs make this species stand out. This bird is a lifer for me: A remarkable symbol of South America and the Inca Empire.

#BlackBirdersWeek #LGBTQIA #HappyPride #Tern #FamilyLaridae by @blackafinstem