Call for Speakers for “Inclusion in Ecological Restoration” Webinar Series

February 2021

Dear Chapter Member,

We invite you to present a talk for our 2021 webinar series, Inclusion in Ecological Restoration. This series focuses on projects and strategies that facilitate partnerships among diverse communities.
Inherent in ecological restoration are the people planning, conducting, and benefitting from it. Historically, the environmental movement predominantly represented White and middle- to upper-class people. Issues of importance to environmental leaders often did not include those important to indigenous groups, communities of color, or people of lower socioeconomic status. While the environmental justice movement that began in the 1980s began to bring these problems to light, systemic inequity and racism still exist within the movement today. One way to help reduce this inequity is to give voice to the diverse objectives and perspectives with stakes in restoration projects. By forming partnerships across cultures and providing platforms to uplift underrepresented voices, restoration projects can serve all stakeholders, play a role in reducing racial injustice, and achieve long-term success through unified engagement.
We invite speakers who can highlight stories of community engagement and share lessons of how to form diverse partnerships in the context of restoration. We are looking for speakers of any background from across the NW region; speakers from historically underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. We hope that these webinars can highlight less-told stories and provide useful “take home messages” for our practitioners.
We aim to offer about one webinar per month. Three webinars, occurring February, March, and May 2021, have already been planned. We invite speakers for June and beyond. Each webinar includes a 5- minute introduction by SER-NW, a maximum 45-minute talk by our presenter, and a Q&A session of at least 10 minutes. We are happy to discuss alternative structures or multiple speakers per webinar if you wish. Registration for the webinar will be free and open to members and non-members.
Speaker Guidelines:
● Presentations should be 25-45 minutes, and may incorporate visual elements such as photos, a
PowerPoint presentation, or pre-recorded video.
● Presentations should be relatable to a broad audience.
● Presentations should include clear “take home messages.” Consider focusing these messages on
how practitioners can improve inclusivity in their projects.
● Speakers should be prepared to answer questions during an interactive Q & A after their
presentation. In addition to any questions attendees may have, we plan to develop two or three questions about diversity and inclusion to ask speakers in this Q & A. We will provide those questions to you ahead of time.
● Speakers should be sensitive to the variety of backgrounds of attendees, but we encourage them not to shy away from difficult topics. We are all learning.
To respond, please send us an email at sernw@ser.org with the following information:
● Your contact information, including an email and phone number.
● Short description (up to 200 words) of your proposed presentation and how it relates to inclusion
in ecological restoration.
● Brief explanation (up to 50 words) of your qualifications for speaking about ecological restoration,
community engagement, or cross-cultural communication (for example, your academic or professional experience, or SER certification).
Thank you for your interest in sharing your experiences with others! We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
The SER-NW Chapter Board