Dr. Thomas Easley also known as the ‘Hip Hop Forester’ is an educator, musician, and entrepreneur. Thomas serves as the Assistant Dean of Community Inclusion at the Yale school of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to this, Thomas was the Director of Community Diversity at NC State University, where he also earned his doctorate. On today’s show, Thomas discusses how he inspires his students to achieve, how he got into forestry, and brings up ways we as a profession can get better at inclusion and diversity.
Key Takeaways:
[:55] A message from Leadership Nature.
[1:40] A quick intro to Thomas’s background.
[3:25] How did Thomas get into forestry and natural resources?
[11:30] It took someone who shared the same identity (race, gender, religion) as Thomas to show him how to treat people outside of his ethnic/social group.
[15:15] Thomas shares his journey on how he ended up getting his Masters degree in Forest Genetics.
[21:55] Thomas credits his teaching ability to his mom, who was also a teacher.
[25:20] What did Thomas teach prior to teaching at Yale?
[33:00] What is Thomas teaching currently?
[38:05] If you try to make changes too quickly or too aggressively, you’re going to be driving people away instead of getting supporters.
[41:05] Thomas believes Yale wants him to help them get to a more diverse place.
[46:45] What advice does Thomas have for young professionals?
[50:20] You gotta look inward sometimes to see where you can improve and be better. It’s important to take initiative and not rely solely on others to lift you up.
[51:30] What does the profession need to do better to increase more diversity in the profession?
[53:30] You can not change and grow while still staying the same. As an industry, we need to be open to growing.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Tweetables:
“If you can’t teach children, then you can’t teach. I watched my mom teach young kids who were brilliant but had a lot of family problems.”
“We all have voices and we’re using our voices.”
“When you really invest in diversity, equality, and inclusion, you’re going to be speaking multiple languages at one time.”
Sam Cook joins us once again on the Leadership Nature podcast! Sam is the Executive Director of Forest Assets at North Carolina State University’s College of Natural Resources. Sam has been involved in a wide variety of aspects in natural forestry — everything from government service and research to wildlife firefighting and teaching. On today’s show, Sam discusses the types of programs a student interested in forestry can enroll in, ways to introduce more diversity into the field, and so much more!
Key Takeaways:
[:55] A message from Leadership Nature.
[1:40] A quick intro to Sam’s background.
[5:25] How did Sam get into forestry and natural resources?
[9:50] What was the transition from Tuskegee University to North Carolina State University like?
[13:25] What’s the Outward Bound program all about?
[22:10] How does Sam begin to educate families on the importance of forestry and natural resources?
[26:25] Has Sam ever experienced professional barriers due to his color?
[34:00] Sam has a new scholarship program at Tuskegee to help bring in a more diverse set of people into forestry.
[37:50] It’s always been someone else’s job to do the right thing but in today’s landscape, people are doing more than just talking about diversity.
[40:30] What advice would Sam like to give young professionals?
[43:15] There are a lot of people out there willing to help but they’re not out there looking for you to be a mentee.
[46:24] What is MANRRS.org and how does it help students of color?
Mentioned in This Episode:
S1|E12: Sam Cook — “Young leaders today have to say no and engage teams”
Dr. Chris Davidson is the Director of Corporate Sustainability for WestRock Company. He is responsible for ensuring the company is a recognized global leader in sustainability and he leads the development of strategy, policy, goals, metrics, and reporting. With over 23 years of experience, Chris offers some words of advice for young people of color who have faced racism in the past and what aspiring forestry and natural resources professionals can do to get introduced into this field early in their career!
Key Takeaways:
[:55] A message from Leadership Nature.
[1:35] A quick intro about Chris’s background.
[3:10] How did Chris get into forestry and natural resources?
[5:45] Did Chris have culture shock when he first came to the U.S. for an education?
[7:35] What kinds of jobs did Chris have while he was studying?
[10:40] What types of responsibilities does Chris have as the Director of Corporate Sustainability?
[13:10] What was Chris’s first job after school?
[16:40] Chris explains what his first leadership role was like.
[18:45] Chris offers advice for young professionals who have to prove their worth to their older coworkers.
[21:00] Good leaders continue to be lifelong learners.
[21:40] What is Chris most proud of?
[27:20] Chris credits the diverse career opportunities he’s had to his ability to just be open and say ‘yes.’
[31:10] What has Chris’s experience been like as a professional and leader of color?
[34:00] If you change yourself to fit in, that’s not going to work for so long. It’s not sustainable.
[34:45] What kind of challenges has Chris overcome?
[37:00] You are who you are and you always just have to do your best.
[40:25] What can the profession do to become more diverse?
[48:15] Don’t get discouraged when you run into hardships! It is worth it to continue.
Mentioned in This Episode:
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande
Leslie Weldon is the Deputy Chief for Natural Forest System with the USDA Forest Service. In this role, she is the executive responsible for national policy and oversight and direction for Natural Resource programs. Leslie has always wanted to get into forestry and credits her time in the girl scouts in Japan for introducing her to the outdoors. Find out more about Leslie’s thoughts on leadership and key lessons she’s learned in her career on today’s show!
Key Takeaways:
[:55] A message from Leadership Nature.
[1:35] A quick intro about Leslie’s background.
[3:35] How did Leslie get into forestry and natural resources?
[8:35] While in university, she wasn’t able to get a forest service job until a couple of summers later. Leslie shares her experience of how she was able to get into forestry.
[15:35] Leslie was apart of a program called ‘Raise to the Future’ and describes what it was like to work with other federal agencies.
[18:50] What was it like being a District Ranger?
[25:55] What leadership lessons has Leslie learned over the years?
[31:45] Our changing climate has given the natural resources industry a wide range of challenges to solve.
[33:20] What is Leslie most proud of so far?
[38:25] Leslie’s family still isn’t 100% sure what she does for a living!
[41:00] What’s it like managing different levels of leadership roles?
[45:05] Turn your challenges into opportunities.
[49:15] Take some time to pause and reflect on your life and decisions. Make ‘time’ your friend.
Mentioned in This Episode:
US Forest Service: https://www.fs.fed.us
Rise to the Future Program: https://www.fs.fed.us/biology/fish/fish.html
Conservation Service Corps Programs: http://21csc.org