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03: Dolphins do WHAT? Trailblazing in Marine Science ft. Dr. Tiara Moore
413 Plays6 months ago
In this special episode, I interview Dr. Tiara Moore, founder and CEO of Black in Marine Science (BIMS). We discuss the groundbreaking birth of the BIMS organization and the importance of creating equity in marine science. Dr. Moore shares her experiences as a trailblazer in the field and the challenges she has faced. We also delve into the concept of environmental DNA (eDNA) and its significance in marine science research.
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Transcript
Humorous Introduction: Eating DNA
00:00:00
Speaker
Somebody asked me. They asked me, Raven, is it okay for us to eat DNA? Now we laughing because we know what. Yeah, I mean, you eat DNA. It's okay for you to eat DNA. Actually, you would die if you didn't eat DNA.
00:00:50
Speaker
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. We lady. We lady. We lady. We outside. We lady. Let's go. We lady. What? We lady. We outside.
00:01:13
Speaker
Yay! Yay! Let's go. Yay. Come on, Bill's week. Take me back. Take me back. Take me back. It's been such a cold set. Listen. I mean, like, truly, truly, truly. Listen,
Introducing Dr. Tiara Moore and BIMS
00:01:28
Speaker
y'all, we have a very special episode today of The Science of Life with me, Dr. Raven Baxter. OK. That's me. Today we have here Dr. Tiara Moore. Aside from being a real one,
00:01:42
Speaker
a trailblazer. Okay. Okay. The way maker. Okay. Okay. Phenomenal woman. Dr. Tiara Moore is the founder and chief executive officer of black and marine science. BIMS. Okay. So if you hear BIMS
00:02:02
Speaker
BIMS. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Greenwood, South Carolina, Dr. Moore is a dynamic and exuberant leader who has dedicated her career to creating equity in marine science. Dr. Moore has a BS in biology from Winthrop University
00:02:23
Speaker
and an MS in biology with a concentration in environmental science from Hampton University. Dr. Moore earned her PhD in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, and conducted postdoctoral research at both the University of Washington and the Nature Conservancy. We're talking big dog behavior, big bullshit.
00:02:50
Speaker
Thank you. Now it gets better. In 2020, Dr. Moore created hashtag Black and Marine Science Week to celebrate the contributions of past and current black marine scientists deep in understanding of climate change and ocean literacy.
00:03:09
Speaker
and connect Black Marine scientists around the world. And when we say around the world, we mean around the whole globe. Honey, we have 32 different countries. Okay. Since then, the group has grown rapidly. Okay, that's an understatement. I would say exponentially. From a week of activities to a robust 501c3 nonprofit organization with full-time staff,
00:03:36
Speaker
Okay. A board of directors and over 350 members representing 31 countries. Yeah, that's low. Let me stop. We at 500 members now in 32 countries. Over 500 members in 32 countries. Yes. Let's go. Let me update that.
00:03:57
Speaker
Listen, Dr. Moore's research focuses on human nutrient pollution causing cascading effects like algal blooms and eutrophication and acidification, ultimately leading to poor water quality and loss of biodiversity.
00:04:14
Speaker
Dr. Moore uses environmental eDNA and community engagement methods to conduct innovative science that advances the field while also educating the communities most impacted. Dr. Moore is currently a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on over eight
00:04:37
Speaker
million dollars, United States dollars, in National Science Foundation research grants. Eight million. Okay, all right, not a million, eight million. Eight of them. Okay, the research projects focus on upstream and downstream communities to better understand the impacts of nutrient pollution through the development of an online data platform and documentary,
00:05:05
Speaker
The establishment of the BIMS Institute to increase racial equity in marine science in the formation of the BIMS tidal wave to increase travel support and professional development opportunities for scientific
Growth and Impact of BIMS
00:05:22
Speaker
conferences.
00:05:23
Speaker
You about to take 50 people to Barcelona. Let's go. We about to take 50 people to Barcelona. Dr. Moore was recently featured in Vogue Magazine for her expert opinion on the state of the ocean for World Ocean Day. She was also selected as the June Sea Hero for Scuba Diving Magazine. This is giving Vogue for Scuba.
00:05:45
Speaker
She was a 2020 recipient of the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund Award. She is also featured in both the Google Arts and Culture online platform and the California Academy of Sciences as a leading queer black woman in STEM.
00:06:02
Speaker
Most recently, Dr. Moore was awarded the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Champion Award. Y'all, ladies, ladies, gentlemen, this is Dr. Tierra Moore, and I wanted to make sure we read the whole thing so you could understand the excellence that we have here today.
00:06:25
Speaker
Thank you for coming. The whole entire thing. The whole, and we gon' get into the whole thing too. I got some questions for you. Okay, all right, let's do it. First Formos, how have you been? It's the fact that I just got off a plane. I flew from San Francisco last night.
00:06:46
Speaker
And, but honestly though, I've been great. Like, it's just been, it is a lie. I can't stand it. Like, it's not like it's a lie, but I'm doing the work that I absolutely love and like, I'm creating the work so I can't be mad. Don't I know? I mean, you know how to do it. It's not easy being the first, the trailblazer, the executor, the chief executive officer. The caller outer. The caller outer, like. The holder accountable lover. You know, it's quite a bit of work. Like, what does it feel like to trailblaze in this space?
00:07:17
Speaker
Honestly, dang, that's such a great question because I feel like for a lot of the time I'm on autopilot. I'm just like, yo, we got to be in the streets. We got to move. We got to move. And I don't really, really think about the impact until I get those like messages or like, damn, it's like, yo, Dr. Moore, I was about to leave and I saw your keynote or I saw BIMS and I saw this or I joined the movement and now I'm still here. And I'm just like,
00:07:42
Speaker
That's real rap. That's what BIMS was for me. And I remember that crucial moment where I was thinking about leaving science and then, you know, made that tweet instead and like, here we are. So it's great to be on this side, but it is also a lot of pressure.
00:07:59
Speaker
Yeah, because I don't want to let folks down, you know, like I want people to see that we are black excellence and we belong in this field and it's not that all because we made bums, we're getting a special treatment because we're black. It's like, no, actually, we are doing amazing science and we should be acknowledged, but nobody cares about doing that.
Challenges and Representation in Marine Science
00:08:16
Speaker
So we are going to, you know, and so that in itself is a lot because marine science, as y'all know, is filled with others that don't always recognize our our space and our importance.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Like, what does it... Let's actually, for the people who don't understand where BIMS was birthed from, let's talk about the birth of this movement and the climate. Now, 2020, was that the Genesis? Yeah, 2020 was the Genesis, but I will say, in 1989, I was born into America. Hello, let's take it all the way back. As a black.
00:08:54
Speaker
A capital B. With a capital B. And so I've just been experiencing, I would say racial injustices my whole life. And, you know, I did, you know, have been talking about this story more because I didn't realize how I would say triggered I was when I became a marine scientist, but it really stemmed back to a lot of my childhood. And, you know, I tell the story, I was raised with my grandmother. My parents were very young. And also my mom was incarcerated when I was younger.
00:09:18
Speaker
And so that was just an injustice there because what she did, giving it to someone else, say a young white mother with a 10-month-old child, nobody would have put her away for as long as she was. You know, it's just like just thinking about the realities of that for what it was. But we know there's disproportionate amounts of times that Black folks get locked up. So I would say that was the first major injustice in my life just as a, as a we-babe. And so just growing up in that type of environment when like,
00:09:46
Speaker
racism and stuff is rooted in where you are because, of course, now I don't have my parents. My grandmother has all these other kids that she's taking care of set us up to be in this poverty-stricken space to where there wasn't really expectations for me to do too much, but I was always just there in the midst of lurking around like, where's better? How can I get out of this? I watched a lot of TV.
00:10:10
Speaker
And I watched the Cosby Show. And that was like this beautiful black family, like, oh, I wish I had this. How do you get this, you know? Right. And so, yes, I went to school to be a pediatrician, actually, like Bill. Oh, wow. Yeah. But I realized I ain't like kids like that. I didn't want to work with them. I wasn't going to do it. It wasn't going to be for me. It do be like that. It do be like that. I was like, y'all got it. Y'all got it.
00:10:39
Speaker
But I took this random class called tropical ecology. And I tell it, it was the first time I was like, you know, on a boat in the ocean, collecting samples, there's senior scientists there. And I'm like, are y'all getting paid? Like, what is this job? What are y'all doing? What scam is this? But it was like, oh no, they're marine scientists. Like, this is what they do and all that shit. Say less. And so for me, I came into the field purely out of curiosity.
00:11:04
Speaker
I was like, whoa, people are getting paid to work at the beach, to work at a boat. Sign me up. Did they look happy? They did. That's the thing. That's the inspiring thing. When you see people happy doing their job, their whole family's with them, their wife and kids was there at a boat. Well, yeah, we just brought them along on the trip.
00:11:26
Speaker
And y'all getting paid for this? So for me it was just like, okay, now I know about this new career path. Not ever one time did I think, oh, cause I'm glad they gonna look at me like I don't belong here. But you had an interest in marine science, correct? Yeah, just from that trip. Really? No, I had never known anything. I literally, so when I signed up for this class, it's cause they were going to Costa Rica for spring break.
00:11:50
Speaker
I don't want to go to Costa Rica. I ain't never been to Costa Rica. So that was it because how they even had the trip because they wanted the courses they wanted us to sign up for those larger because it means they took out a bigger loan. They got more money. So they would list like the spring break trips.
00:12:05
Speaker
for the courses. So you had a whole slew up on the big front. There was one that was, I was actually big in between that one and Greece, but it was like an English class and I was going to have to do like some like old, olden days. And that's literally how I picked it because of the spring break trip. And it changed my whole life.
00:12:26
Speaker
So, so anyway, so that, so that's what I'm saying. So just knowing that I took this trip and was just like, hi, and they were white professors, like, you know, I didn't even think nothing of it. Right. Y'all are doing it. Okay. Let me go. And then, and then the bullshit started unfolding. Correct. And then, yeah, which is interesting because so after that, I was at Winthrop in South Carolina and I remember saying like, cause I pledged,
00:12:55
Speaker
for the streets, even though we know. We know. Anyways. We freak over here. We know. So I had pledge and I was like doing a bunch of like, you know, different events, step shows and stuff. And that's when I really saw the HBCU life. Yeah. Cause winter was a predominantly white institution or P.W.I. And so I was like, oh, black people got whole schools? Wow. Yo.
00:13:19
Speaker
This is amazing. I love that. Again, it wasn't really a thing. I've just been floating about and I didn't have a lot of guidance. I was just in the right room. I got a scholarship to Winthrop somehow because I did some after-school program. It wasn't like I picked different schools. I was just there and it wasn't until I was at Winthrop in Delta, going to all these different schools and I was like, wow, this is what's up. I was like, for grad school, I want to go to an HBCU. I try to find a grad school
00:13:49
Speaker
HBCU with the marine science program and it was like two of them. And the best one was at Hampton. So I write to Hampton and I'm like, Hey, I took this one class. Please accept me. I'm going to be the best marine scientist ever.
00:14:04
Speaker
And it was like, all right, go ahead, come on up here, but you got paid for it yourself. Wait, so you, was that for your master's degree? Yeah, that was for my master's. Wow. Yes, for my master's. Oh, you really switched it up. Yes, really. That's difficult. I don't think people understand how difficult it is to pivot, even if it's in your own field. It's a different area.
00:14:25
Speaker
was. Wow, they were good for accepting you. Good on them. Good job. They was like, you can come up here, but we not give you no money. You gotta come pay for yourself. Okay. Well, I'll take it back. Yeah, you know. You know. I'll take it back. It was like, you can take a chance on yourself, but we'll at least open the space for you, sis.
00:14:43
Speaker
They said, we'll take the money. Right. But you know, it's got another long. Hello. I went up there, but then go up there. It was funny because again, we're at Hampton HBCU, but most of the professors in the marine science department were white heaps. So I go meet my professor, white dude, real cool. And I'll tell him, I'm like, hey, I'm from South Carolina. I took this one class. I'm going to save the ocean.
00:15:06
Speaker
okay read all my papers and tell me what your research project is gonna be on and I end up looking at nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay okay and again like really cool because it was around a bunch of black students even though the professors or who they were it was still like oh yeah I can do this like this
00:15:22
Speaker
Yeah. And I think it wasn't until, even though there was like smaller racial experiences, like foolishness that occurred, it really wasn't until I was done. So I was like, oh, dang, because of who I am. I'm being treated like I don't belong here. And then I finished my PhD in 2019, started my post-doc.
00:15:41
Speaker
and then the pandemic, and then George Floyd, and then Christian Cooper, and then bills. So in that order. You were in grad school during the pandemic? No, no. So I had just finished. So I literally just graduated 2019. June went to do my postdoc July 1st of 2019. So I'm in the middle of my postdoc July and then March.
00:16:04
Speaker
So I didn't even do a full year and I just moved to Seattle, Washington. That was at the University of Washington. The only black person in the building. I was pulling Issa Rae moves like in the bathroom like, Hey sis, what's up in the building?
00:16:22
Speaker
In the building? In the whole building. In the building? The whole building. The whole building. The whole building. I remember in the other building, I was thinking to get lunch. I signed up lunch. I was like, why don't you have lunch? I'm like, okay. New post-op must be meeting some other post-ops. I get over there, it's the secretary.
00:16:49
Speaker
I said, well, why am I over here eating lunch with the secretary? Oh, because she black. Yo. Wait, hold on. Like, I'm being dead serious. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
00:17:00
Speaker
Say that again. Say it again. So I'm assigned a lunch. On your visit? No, no, no, no. I was already there, but it was just like, oh, I'm done. I'm here. And I think they kind of realized that there wasn't any other black people there. It's like a stark reality. And so they assigned you a lunch with us. Yeah, they was all, yeah, we want you to have this lunch so you can get it, you know, learn how to, you know, I guess feel more welcome.
00:17:24
Speaker
Okay. So I'm like, all right, who this lunch with? You know, I'm thinking it's about to be a professor, somebody in your field. They say, go talk to the other black person in the other building, in the other building. I had to go outside, walk across the way.
00:17:40
Speaker
walk upstairs and go meet the other black person. Talk about feeling othered. Yo. And like outcast. Literally cast out the freaking building. That's crazy. It was wild. And it was like nothing I ever thought about before. Were they even, was the secretary even in your department?
00:17:59
Speaker
Well, she was the genius. She was the department secretary. And honestly, listen, shout out. I know she was going through it. I know she's still there. She probably still is. But she came through, let me get my laptop because they was not trying to let me order my laptop.
00:18:15
Speaker
But yeah, right. Lord. So anyway, so all these experiences thinking like you don't belong, like we had this big war, we can order stuff. And then like all of a sudden my supplies wouldn't get ordered, but everybody else's would, but they didn't know why. Well, did you write it up there? No way. Did you write it up there? Are you sure it didn't get ordered? Well, I actually checked and you had more than enough than what you asked for. So I just erased it.
00:18:41
Speaker
without even telling you. But what about planning? What about me knowing I got some shit coming up? Like, what? Just order the shit, because I wrote it on the block. So yeah, just stupid stuff. Just stupid stuff. I'm irritated. Irritated. I'm so irritated right now. What is going on? And so after, so with 2020 and we, and so anyway, so I had transitioned from UW, actually, during this time to the Nature Conservancy. And so it was interesting, because while it wasn't the same,
00:19:11
Speaker
stark, stiff whiteness. It was definitely still a predominantly white space. And now I'm the only black woman at the PhD level that any of them had ever even breathed a pint. They're like, breathe a pint. What is this? A real live, a real live black person with a PhD. And then it's just like the comments. Like, you know, I would bring up something like, oh, hey, this didn't happen or hey, something messed with this. Well, you know, I don't see color. So, um, Oh.
00:19:42
Speaker
Okay. Well, that's cool. But about what I was talking about, because I didn't even say. So it was like, almost like thrown on me. It was a weird place to live in Seattle. Yeah. Life in a racial. Right. But then making it about me like, well, Tiara's mad because she's black. What?
00:19:58
Speaker
What is going on here? And this is after, this is what year? This is in 2020. So this is in the thick of, just the thick of the- That was a hard time to be a black academic. It really was. It was hard to be black. H.R. situations. I'm having to write all these stories down of the things that are happening to me. Then they go through a whole H.R. investigation just to tell me that racism was not occurring there because nobody else had experienced it.
00:20:23
Speaker
Can I make a comment on HR? I was also the only black person in a building when I was a drug discovery scientist working in a lab. Well, I wasn't the only black person. I was the only like, I don't know. I will say the only other black people were the janitors, the security, and then it was me, the scientist. And this is an eight-story building, okay, in the middle of downtown, in the middle of the hood, actually, which is crazy. Right.
00:20:53
Speaker
Anyways, gentrification is crazy. So I reported something to HR. HR came on site, and it was a racial issue. Somebody had called me a token black person at work while I was working. And I reported it to HR anonymously, OK? Well, how anonymous could it be?
00:21:14
Speaker
Well, they were supposed to treat it anonymously. They were supposed to not address me directly. They came from Albany to Buffalo. That is across the entire state. The HR. Albany to Buffalo to pull me out of a lab to address my anonymous complaint about being called a token black person at work. And they made it so awkward.
00:21:39
Speaker
They pulled the person who called me to talk a black person in to talk to her. And now the aftermath, I'm left with a sorry person who's like, oh, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. And it's so. I'm so sorry. I'm like, what do you mean? You called me a token black person. How could you not have meant to hurt my feelings? But then also, HR, why did you come across the state and pull me out of work to make this uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable than it already was?
00:22:08
Speaker
So I don't know, HR, I... HR is trash, but they told me that it was, they couldn't prove the investigation hadn't happened to anybody else. And I was like, well, baby, I'm a scientist. If N equals one was not going to be enough, why did you make me go through all of this? Because I had told y'all first, well, you haven't formally complained, so we can't do anything. So then I formally complained and you still ain't do shit.
00:22:34
Speaker
So what was the reason? So anyway, so stuff like that, when you see a system that definitely doesn't work for you, benefit you, it was like, how do I leave and do something else? Exactly. And there was just that moment of literally, like I said, the pandemic, George Floyd, then Christian Cooper, Black Birders Week.
Origin of BIMS: From a Tweet to a Movement
00:22:51
Speaker
And I remember all these other black and STEM, I was like, black and chem, black and physics, black and neuro, black. I was like, yes, come on, black people. He's coming out. We was tired. We were right. Then I was like, well, where's black and marine science?
00:23:01
Speaker
And that right there was the tweet that is now why we are here. We're going to paste it. Yo. Overlay on the video so you can see. Definitely. Please do. It's like, hold up. We're the Black and Marine Science Weekend or something like that. I feel like it was just such a liberating moment for so many black people because. Freedom. As you said, it was like one after the other after the other. We all kind of rose up and we're like, no, actually we envision something better. A better future. We know we deserve better.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yes. I don't know what it was about George Floyd. And again, we don't get no trigger warnings in our life, so whatever. Watching that white man knee on George Floyd's neck scarred me. And I see that shit when I get tired or when I'm about to let a white person slide. Knee on your face! Remember where you had the knee on the neck? Honestly, it's almost like a... Listen, I'm telling you. George!
00:23:56
Speaker
I will not let up because it was just so disgusting. So I never watched the full eight minutes, didn't have to. I couldn't. Because it was like, wait, it goes on like this for the whole, you know, it was like visceral. And it was other people on his body, right? Yo, it was a whole thing going on. And it was like, yeah.
00:24:15
Speaker
No, y'all never gonna forget about this. I don't know you want to sleep. No, I'm here and I'm gonna be here. And I think that again is why we have been as successful as we've been, but also why I've been as serious and dedicated as I've been because that shit really fucked me up. I was like, oh, they don't even give a damn. Because it captured what many people literally, but also like figuratively experienced, just that
00:24:43
Speaker
that oppressive force. And it was just like, if y'all don't do something now, when are we gonna do something? When are you gonna do something? Because if they would just lean on his leg, cameras, people was all around. It was just like, this is what it is. This is how little we think about you about, was it $20 or a cigarette? Like, come on.
00:25:11
Speaker
Come on. But it's like, I think that's what people don't understand. And that was what I was trying to tell my colleagues when I was on my way out, when they start all, you know, not caring about racism and social justice and asking me, well, Dr. Moore, have you ever experienced racism?
00:25:25
Speaker
You mean from you yesterday? But anyway, it was just like they didn't have an understanding of like, oh, somehow my PhD was like a guard of armor. Like maybe when I'm walking down the street saying to my doctor, there's a black, let me just go shoot him. Or you know what I'm saying? That's what it is. There's no layer of protection or anything because I choose to still, you know, be in the streets. I'm not anywhere where something might not pop off. So again, just being black can be
00:25:52
Speaker
unsafe because of the limited mindsets that these people have. And again, no level of education really protects me. Now I put myself in different situations, but still, I walk around my hoodie or I'm not safe. And that's just that. And I think that was, I was hopeful that they were getting a clear understanding of, but like, whew.
00:26:10
Speaker
Now I don't really know and I'm not there no more so I can't be helped. But like so you went on to develop black marine science and I feel like it to what you just said they might not get it but the point is you get it. Correct. And we're not waiting around for other people to get it. Correct.
00:26:27
Speaker
not waiting for a seat at the table. We built our own table and the shit is fire. You see these seats? I be carrying my own seats around. You ain't got no seat for me. Here go mine and I bought one for a friend. I love that. I'm not showing up by myself no more. I absolutely love that. And like, I want to get into BIMS week. Okay. Now, Tiara, as you have heard from her introduction, her bio has built really a budding empire of marine science.
00:26:57
Speaker
And you had your very first inaugural BIMS week. Yes, we got it. BIMS Wellness Retreat. BIMS Wellness Retreat, y'all. Wellness is an understatement. But also, maybe not because wellness doesn't look the same for everyone. I think culturally responsive conferencing really is what that was.
00:27:24
Speaker
I love that. I'll come up with this on the sponsorship back in first year. Yeah, culturally responsive conferences. Because I've never felt so welcome, so relaxed, at ease, confident, right? Because once you give that to someone, the ability for them to just shed that facade or that pressure to perform, you can really
00:27:56
Speaker
Excel. And I saw so much brilliance in that room. I saw students who in other contexts would have a lot of imposter syndrome. They were like, no, I'm a freshman. And I studied jellyfish. Right. At Tennessee State. Ain't no ocean, but we be out there, though. And I've honestly never seen so many confident, young, Black scientists
00:28:23
Speaker
And I think that the ambiance, the energy that you've cultivated for BIMS really made it possible for people to blossom. I saw people walking on day one. They ain't look the same on day seven. Correct. Like people was walking out, chest out, you know what I'm saying? Ready to take on the world. And that's how I felt. I'm not even in marine science. Yay.
00:28:50
Speaker
was out here. I was grateful to attend. I gave a branding and marketing workshop to the scientists and helping people to think about how they present themselves and talk about themselves and creating a platform for their research and their passion. But people ate, like, you fed us. Yay. You took us on a cruise. Yes. OK. We was twerking about every day. We had color themed.
00:29:17
Speaker
Daily clothing themes. We had snacks. We had speakers. We had swag bags. Like Tiara did that. And the Bliss Lounge. The Bliss... Come on now. The Bliss Lounge. Yes. Have y'all ever... It was almost as if... Imagine if Erykah Badu, okay? Imagine if Erykah Badu in like India, I read,
00:29:45
Speaker
And fuck it. I don't know. That's some rando. Tierra. Tierra's energy. Okay. Imagine if they merged and became energy.
00:29:58
Speaker
Then you turn the lights down low. Reflection of the water, you know, good smells. It smelled good in there. Tea, fresh tea, massages, soundscapes. It was like a silent disco. You had the option to put on headphones and you could either do like easy listening music or soundscapes of the ocean. You could nap in there. You could color.
00:30:26
Speaker
And we had a therapist. And you had a therapist. Tell them about the therapist. If we had a therapist, I was like, I mean, I would say the reason why we are here and the reason why I've been able to run it is because of my therapy journey. Like, because I was definitely struggling with my mental health. When you have folks consistently telling you that you aren't experiencing what you're experiencing, it really does make you start to feel like you are unaware of your surroundings, like you don't know what's going on.
00:30:52
Speaker
And so going through therapy really helped me to just get my perspective together, to get my mind right. And I know it is a huge stereotype in black families and black communities. And so I wanted to be very open about my journey, but also not open, provide a resource. Because I could have got up there and talked about therapy all day. Absolutely. But I was like, nah, we bringing a therapist and we making it free.
00:31:15
Speaker
Like if you want to sign up, it's already included in your registration. And I think just creating that space, like people say they went to therapy for the first time in their lives.
00:31:24
Speaker
at BIMS Week. It was just having that space to talk and it being destigmatized. Nobody was like, oh, you in the therapy line. Nobody cared. It was like, go talk to her. Go talk to her. It was, again, I think it's like you can have these spaces. All universities have therapy, but it's in this little cold room and it's usually one black
00:31:46
Speaker
a therapist who's over-committed because they're talking to all of them. Because listen, the black therapists don't just get the black people, they get all the black brown people. And there's some white folks who want the black person too. So it's not like, you know, so there is an over-commitment. So it wasn't, you know, they couldn't really...
00:32:04
Speaker
just actually settling and getting the help that they need. And so that's what we saw over BIMS week and having the therapists on site. We're going to have an episode talking about the stigma of mental health in the Black community. We're going to bring in a psychiatrist and a psychologist to talk about not only the stigma of going to therapy, but also the stigma of taking medication to help your brain. There is a lot going on that we've got to unpack.
00:32:33
Speaker
But yeah. I got two things to say about bills we sold. The reason why it was so important, the reason why we already planning the next one for this year is that I'm excited. Yes, honey. And it's going to be late. So two things. So there was two big conferences, the American, I'm calling them the fuck out, the American Geophysical Union, AGU. They have about 20,000 people. And then the ocean sciences meeting.
00:32:54
Speaker
They have about 5,000 people. Black and Marine Science Week was the first of its kind. We had over 200 black marine scientists pull up. There were allies there as well, but not in the majority. So at these two large scientific conferences meeting, we was at both of them.
00:33:09
Speaker
I would say at both of those, there was less than 20 Black scientists at both of those meetings. We're talking about one that had 20,000 in attendance and one that had 5,000 in attendance, and they didn't have as many Black people as BMs brought to our conference. So again, it says like, what are you doing? What are y'all really trying to reach? And then who's actually doing it?
00:33:33
Speaker
One thing I will say that I loved about your conference. I love that I didn't just meet marine scientists at your conference. I met people in the Navy. I met fishermen. I met divers. And I cannot tell you how even that diversity within our diversity really meant a lot to me because I learned a lot and they learned a lot.
00:34:01
Speaker
It was really dope, but they're also a part of the marine community. Exactly. They're integral parts of the marine community, whether they're partners or they might conduct their own research. But that's why we just have it welcome and say marine science because those all contribute to science. I think science itself needs to be broken down a little bit because it has this elitist air to it.
00:34:25
Speaker
Like, oh, you got to go get your PhD and have this white coat. It's like, no, these fishermen know more about biodiversity and can tell me more about the fish species than I know. And I got a whole PhD and I'll be looking like, hello, what kind of fish is that? Huh? What? And they be like, well, if you look at this gill, you'll be able to know. And they see it's right there. They're like, if you look at this, I'm like, oh.
00:34:43
Speaker
I was talking to Dr. Rhino Gamble, and he told me that for one of the professional societies that he belongs to, you have to have a recommendation to get in, or you have to have a degree in the field, and like... You can't even get in? Yeah, so some students who are attending these conferences, they're not members of the org, because they're not qualified, even though they're students. Oh, no, that's wild. It's kind of crazy. Yeah, no, that's wild.
00:35:11
Speaker
I mean, again, there is this air of elite, this, you know, and I think that's, for me, that's all we've always been trying to. How do we merge just realness? Because it's like, you don't need to be elite to be in this field. You just need to do the work. You need to be passionate about the work that you're doing. So we're going to hit on elitism. Trust me, we're going to get back to that. But before that, we got to talk about EDNA. OK. I know, we're pivoting. Pivoting hard. Let's talk to the elite science.
00:35:42
Speaker
We're going to bring it back, I promise. But you researched eDNA. Now, somebody asked me. OK. They asked me, Raven, is it OK for us to eat DNA?
00:36:05
Speaker
Now we laughing because we know what. Yeah, I mean, you eat DNA, like, yes. DNA is everywhere. It's everywhere. It's follicking around. Here's some DNA right there. It's not just in our environment. It's what living organisms consist of. Yes. In all of our, well, not all.
00:36:26
Speaker
ourselves. It's what makes us human. It's what makes living organisms live. So when you eat vegetables, you eat in DNA. When you eat in meat, you eat in DNA. It's okay for you to eat DNA. Actually, you would die if you didn't eat DNA.
00:36:45
Speaker
You wouldn't be eating food. Tell us more. Tell us what EDNA is. So EDNA, environmental. The E is for environmental. Somebody tried to tell me that it used for electric. I was like, this is not the electric slide. This is not the electric slide. Not email DNA. Not electric. Boogie, boogie, boogie. Hold on.
00:37:09
Speaker
No, it's not that. This is for environmental DNA. And so what makes it DNA is because you literally, it's the DNA that you would capture from an environmental sample. So that would be water, sediment, dirt, and even air. And so this DNA- Even air? Even air. You can scoop up, you can do a ooh.
00:37:29
Speaker
And in the bag, and then take it to the lab. And it's going to be, yeah, all the stuff that's flying around. Here's some DNA right there. Oh, shit. So, yeah. But anyway, because as you, okay, so I like to explain it like crime shows, so you know, they'll be like, I was just watching the Law & Order XVU series, they always on.
00:37:52
Speaker
Damn. They are. You know, like, okay, the cops will come in like, oh my gosh, there was a crime. Let's do sales have like a fingerprint because the criminal left that. And so they can be able to tell who was there. And that's because as we're moving around, we're literally sloshing off DNA. So there's skin cells, hair cells, and an environment that looks like a mucus that can be feces, that can be leaves, like little things. So all of that has DNA in it.
00:38:19
Speaker
Now, going back to the conversation that Dr. Ronald and I were having about dolphins. Yes. What's about these dolphins? So E-DNA in water. Yes. Yes. There's a lot of DNA in water.
00:38:39
Speaker
And so the E part of that will be the water sample. And so I scoop up some water and then I filter it and the DNA is left on my filter. I then take that to the lab and extract the DNA off the filter.
00:38:54
Speaker
So it's not like this whole thing of water I'm running through, but I have to run it through the filter and that's what captures the DNA particles. Wow, little bits. But yeah, so ask me this dolphin question so we can just go ahead. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a real live marine scientist here, Dr. Tiara Moore, and we have a very important question to ask.
00:39:16
Speaker
Okay, I'm ready. I recently learned from a sex scientist. Okay. Yeah, that dolphins masturbate. In fact, she said that most mammals... Well, go watch the episode, but it was implied that many mammals masturbate. Yeah, I know a few. Especially primates. Especially humans.
00:39:46
Speaker
You are my elite employees! Okay, so, dolphins. The question that Dr. Ron poised was, or posed, was that, okay, where does the semen go? It's in the water. And so...
00:40:09
Speaker
So that can be captured in the EDNA example. Or it could go into the video. So, okay. So let's talk about dolphins. Let's talk about dolphins because dolphins are a little freaky. So, dolphins. Tell me about these freaky ass dolphins. Dolphins in general, I would say dolphins are freaky. I mean, dolphins are who they are. They are, what do you say both? They can be heterosexual. Yes. And they can be homosexual.
00:40:36
Speaker
I learned that many animals be doing homosexuality. Yeah, exactly. They like me. They like me. So it's funny, people love the animals so much, but they hate gay people. What's up with that? They be doing gay shit. Yeah, because y'all love dolphins, having all the key chains and shit. Did y'all know dolphins were gay? Yeah. You heard it here, folks.
00:41:01
Speaker
Pride flags in diwata. Right, and they polygamists. They ain't about just one. Really? A honey in the streets. Dolphins is in the streets.
00:41:09
Speaker
Sluts! Oh my God! We are not slut-shaming. You can be in the streets. But as we've learned, everyone is... Do not say this out loud. Listen, it's too much going on over here. Anyway, so anyway, so when the dolphins, they can't find a man, they can't find a woman, they find a fish. Dead fish. Yo! Oh! Oh!
00:41:42
Speaker
Wait, wait, wait! No, no, no, no. I can't breathe. No. I can't breathe. No. I can't breathe. OK. I can't. I don't even know what you're about to say. I know it's about to be crazy. So they can find, you know, like, say a dead fish. No.
00:42:09
Speaker
I don't know, but the fans, like what's going on? Are they, is it? I've never seen this, but this is how I heard. It's like this? Yeah, it's like you can like rub up against it, like a ruby, like a little. They couldn't do it to a coral. They couldn't do it. That would probably hurt. But I have heard that they have used like eels. Like a little.
00:42:40
Speaker
But this is not my research ministry, but just in broad... We gon' find you. We gon' find the scientists who really study. Yeah. We need to get somebody on to talk about it, but yeah. Definitely dead fish or live fish that use it. Do a little body roll. Now, is the sexual organ for the dolphin inside? It's inside?
00:43:02
Speaker
Is it? Is it? Girl, hold on. We got Google right here. I'm about to get arrested for this shit. I think it's like it pops up. Oh my god. It's like under the little thingy. Our dolphin. I don't even know what to type. It's a prehensile penis. So yeah, this pops on out. So that's all I know about this.
00:43:33
Speaker
You're going to have to get a dolphin specialist. Who is it? Oh, man. Somebody else, what do we know? I met him in real life. Get somebody from BIMS. Corey Evans. OK, that's Dr. Corey Evans. Dr. Corey Evans? Corey? Corey? We are calling you Corey. I know you know somebody's dolphins. Yup. Yup. See? Dr. Corey Evans. That's what we need. You got to get where next to talk about these dolphins. Oh, yeah. I see you.
00:44:03
Speaker
Okay, so going back to literacy.
00:44:11
Speaker
The fact that somebody asked me, and it was a black person, asked me like, okay, like they were dead serious. I'm sure they were. They were like, is it okay if we eat DNA? And like, I'd never shame people. Like we laughing, but it's very important that we work to increase scientific literacy across the board, especially for marginalized populations or underserved populations, because the fact that
00:44:36
Speaker
It's 2024 and we got people who look like us asking these very, very, very basic scientific questions, means that not enough has been done to make sure that we are included in science, that we are knowledgeable about science and that we can participate in scientific conversations. And that also lends itself to the ways that we make decisions about our lives and our bodies.
Importance of Scientific Literacy
00:45:02
Speaker
Like it translates into healthcare, it translates into consumerism, things that we buy and things that we invest in, like our habits, like literacy, not just about like science overall, but like understanding the world around you is so important. And so that's kind of what motivates me to do what I do, because I don't think that, I don't think anybody should be left behind.
00:45:29
Speaker
At all. At all, you just said such a good thing. And I think, again, the reason why we have been able to slip in and slip in and make this impact is because it's not like it's not strategic, Raven.
00:45:44
Speaker
They don't want us to be in this space or to be educated. I just 100% believe that. I take that from the types of research that I was doing and then also in the areas that I was doing. When you think about climate change and the impacts that we're seeing with sea level rise, nutrient pollution, acidification, all of those different things,
00:46:04
Speaker
here we're preparing for it or it's going to happen, whereas there's communities that are already experiencing these things that need resources now. We're preparing for 2030 and they're already dealing with these situations. Being able to go to those places and provide resources or educate those communities or be able to do things there
00:46:27
Speaker
is the reason why we still around because they are left out. It's like these are folks that are left out of the conversation that are dealing with sea level rise now. Their houses are flooding, their shoreline is already eroded. That's something that needs to be answered now and those communities tend to be black. Now I can go over there and take my resources versus working in these pristine conditions, preparing for some shit that may or may not happen.
00:46:51
Speaker
So I think there is these huge gaps, but it ultimately starts with that literacy piece. And that's what a lot of our work is like grounded in. How do we just tell people, hey, this is happening because of something. Not like y'all are doing something wrong, but this is actually because of climate change. And this is how we can help. And this is how you can actually be involved, you know, from literally from teaching kids just how to swim. Yeah. All the way up to doing scientific research is what we're doing. Amazing.
00:47:21
Speaker
Now, as you were talking, I thought about, okay, what percentage of the earth is ocean? 71. Okay. Yeah, that's what they say. Somebody gonna say I'm wrong, but it's 71. So I do feel as though it's very important to be
00:47:37
Speaker
marine literate.
00:47:55
Speaker
the economy right there. That's why they made a scene about this damn bridge that just popped down. They're like, yeah, we're going to have a good rest in peace. Just got shook. But there was like, but when you looked at the real story, it was like, this is a big deal. Oh, traffic. They were like, we're going to lose 15 million dollars a day.
00:48:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's, that's kind of what got me was like the not the conversations of the loss of life, but they were really very heavily focused on the loss of concern. Like, wait, hold on, let's dig into this. Yeah, we're just making $15 million a day.
00:48:30
Speaker
In Baltimore? What? That's what I was saying. I was like, I just came from Baltimore. It looked kind of great to you over there. Because it looked like somebody's making $15 million a day. Yeah. So what is really going on? It should look like Wakanda over there, to be honest, with y'all DEI maker. So when you look and think about that, Raven is strategically in the areas that were working in Hampton Roads, Norfolk has a huge port. We went to a black stem.
00:48:59
Speaker
Black STEM school, they call this a STEM school, predominantly black kids there. Of course BIMS had to pull up and do a look. Matter of fact, we did it during BIMS week. And I was like, well, do y'all have a marine curriculum? Like where? They was like, I don't know. In the poor community? Nope. What? So again, to have a black STEM school and not have a maritime educational unit when the poor is right there is strategic.
00:49:25
Speaker
They feel like we can just clean the boat, but not understand how to run and operate the boat and cross the national waters. So it's, again, it's huge. It's like, you know what I mean? I want y'all over here dog. You get too close. This is where the money resides. This is where the money resides. And they tell themselves, like I said, once they start to flow, it's like, but I already knew that. But again, to see a number put on it, like in Baltimore, I was like, oh, they trying it, baby. Wow. Oh my gosh.
00:49:54
Speaker
Is there entrepreneurship focus at all in BIMS? If you wanted to do business in marine science, what does that even look like? There's so many possibilities. Honestly, that's something I feel like we're growing towards because I feel like, for me, a lot more people are just learning as I'm learning, to be honest, because I didn't even know all of this. You know, I want to be a little scientist. Oh, pipette, this is cute.
00:50:19
Speaker
But like, no, the maritime industry is running the world along with the gas and fuel, but them the same people, because how you think the gas and fuel getting over here? On them boats, on them cargo ships, you know? So they running all that. They mining the shit, pulling it up, putting it on a boat, bringing it over here, and we just lurking. Y'all know nothing about what's going on.
00:50:55
Speaker
I'm about to slip out of this whole situation. But no, again, so when you start seeing stuff like that, and that's when they get scared. And I think that's when it's like, oh shit, they can read. Oh no. Oh no. When we first got our first NSF, our National Science Foundation, y'all can read after we got it. So they send you a whole email. Oh, you're awarded. We want to award you.
00:51:11
Speaker
Which is insane, cause y'all brought us over here on Boats.
00:51:23
Speaker
We want it. Then we got to see if you have the capabilities to manage the grant. So they put you through this whole process. There was once where I wanted to cry like, daw, maybe we don't need to scream. Maybe I can't read. Maybe I don't know how to do it. As it was just like, just little weird stuff. They want to know my blood type of shit.
00:51:45
Speaker
Not literally. But it was like all these like deep, you know, it's just like stuff and it was like pages and pages and pages and pages, all this stuff we had to submit. These are the barriers that we're talking about because if I didn't have the fortitude, I'd have been like, man, fuck this great. I don't even want that bad, you know? So it's just like barriers in place.
00:52:07
Speaker
So, like, what does a day in the life of Teara Moore look like? What does it really look like to be at the helm of this entire theme? Because that's, I mean, I know you have a team. Yes, and my team is great. Your team is amazing. Yes. Your team is amazing. But like, even managing a team is work. So like, what? I wake up, have coffee with my fiance. I know.
00:52:36
Speaker
No, no, honestly, Andrea's the bass.
00:52:39
Speaker
What? Y'all just got engaged. And we did. Yes. Hold on, let me see that. Yeah, look, and Israel's going. Oh, ew. Ooh. Real nasty. You just be sparkly this year. Mad big, mad sparkly. I know that's right. That's a rock. She knew I deserved. You deserve, yes. Absolutely. Yes. So I start, as you saw at BIMS Week, I don't start anything before 10.
00:53:08
Speaker
And that's just the practice that I have, and it exudes throughout everything that I do. I don't start, I don't have no meetings, my schedule is blocked. Don't bother me before taking, and that's what every time's on my mind. It really was real messed up when I was in California last week. I know. That was like, damn.
00:53:28
Speaker
It was like, hey, Dr. Moore, it's one o'clock. Are you ready for a meeting? It's one o'clock for y'all. It's 10 over here. Cause I'm doing the same thing. Cause it's not like my day. It's not like, am I able to stop early? No, because then, and when I was over there, I was out till 12 daytime. It wasn't like I went to sleep any earlier. So that mean that was three y'all's time. So that mean I still need my time to get situated.
00:53:55
Speaker
But anyway, so a day when I started to, but that's work. So I have my more, I do get up. Like I'm not waking up at 10. Yeah. Sometimes I wake up dumb times. Yeah. Yes. At like four. And I just be up lurking and thinking like, I have like a lot of thoughts in my head. But then then I'll actually go back to sleep after that and then wake up at like nine.
00:54:19
Speaker
Um, but anyway, so you have coffee time with my boo in the morning and I go really a lot of the times I'm in meetings. I would say for the majority of my time, I am in meetings. Now the composition of those meetings has changed dramatically. Now I'm in largely team meetings and partner meetings. I used to take.
00:54:39
Speaker
when we first started a lot. Oh, can I pick your brain? Oh, help us light people. Do better. Even though you're going to spend an hour and we're not going to have any money to do anything after this. So I don't take any more of those calls at all. No. Picking my brain? No. Sound like you want me to pick some cotton? Oh, yeah. Valid. There you go.
00:55:04
Speaker
Harriet Tubman said we're not doing that anymore. Yeah, we're not. It's why I don't. Okay, we're done. But no, it is like you just got to start calling shit out for what it is and then it's easier to say no. Yeah. You feel like pink cotton at AT? No. Okay, then are you gonna take that meeting? No.
00:55:22
Speaker
Because you don't amount to anything, and it would be different if they would. I don't mind. I feel like we created our ally membership because we do have some good supporters who truly want to help, but that's not everybody. A lot of folks just want to check the box, say, oh, I talked to Dr. Morris, she did it. And then that was it.
00:55:43
Speaker
So anyway, so that's why EBM means all day. It's not as bad because I'm like talking to my COO, talking to my CFO, talking to my CSO, talking to my program director, talking to my director of development, talking to them, you know? So those are good meetings I would rather have. C-suite? You know, exactly. Got a whole C-suite. I know that's right.
00:55:59
Speaker
And then, so it just depends. So I have weeks where it's mostly like meetings and then there's weeks where I'm traveling and I'm in the streets. Like I just came from a whole series. I was on the West Coast. I was in San Diego. Then I went up to Santa Cruz and I was in San Francisco and Oakland. So just having a bunch of series like in person meetings.
00:56:19
Speaker
Yes. Then there's the weeks where we have our programs. We are about to do our bills tied away. Yes. Tell them about Tidal Wave. Bills Tidal Wave, I'm very excited. It is our conference travel grant program. I had the idea because you don't see black folks at the conference, how can we bring a whole wave?
00:56:37
Speaker
of them. And I'm not talking about two or three, I'm talking about 50. Hey, it's 50. Bring them out. Right. So the cohort itself is like 41. And then we have the BIMS team that's going with us. So it's like 50 total. And his whole goal was like getting brain this whole cohort, whole tidal wave of scientists to the conference. And so when I'm doing a program, you know, I'm just immersing the program because we have
00:56:58
Speaker
It's going to be the conference, but we have different activities set up so they don't have to deal with the BS of a conference structure. You know, really making it because bringing a whole bunch of black people doesn't mean that they're not going to get treated, you know? So we basically kind of hopefully fumble proof that, put up some different barriers. We worked very heavily with the conference organizers. This is actually the United Nations Ocean Decade meeting that we're going to. So it was a very high level meeting. We only had a thousand spots. So they tried to play me when I came up with my feet. And I was like,
00:57:28
Speaker
Are y'all going to have any more black people outside of us? No. Okay, then. Okay. Let me get my spots, then. Let me get my spots. Well, it's like you have to fight tooth and nail for everything. But anyway, so we got those spots. And so, yeah, we were about to be in Barcelona for a week. Yes. Okay. Barcelona. Barcelona. And we had a little Spanish class, Spanish culture class. Oh, yes. That's a whole lot.
00:57:56
Speaker
Thank you. Soy de los Estados Unidos. Shout out to all of our Spanish-speaking listeners. You know this is a bilingual podcast. Oh, come on. I'll have a real deal. Wait, wait, wait. So I asked the lady, I was like, how you say marine science is lit. Yes. CNCS Del Mar es Fuego. Okay, okay, okay. CNCS Del Mar es Fuego. Somebody else tell me if you translate that right.
00:58:18
Speaker
It's like fire. Yeah, whatever. It's not important. But congratulations. Very happy for you and all of your success. Okay. But before we wrap up, is there anything that we didn't talk about?
00:58:43
Speaker
that you want to talk about? Oh, man. I hate this question, because I talk about everything. Like, what else you want me to talk about? Being cute, my Crocs. Yo, did you get these Crocs though? Hold on. What the hell is that? Those are Crocs. Yes. Crocs then released these sneakers on y'all. And y'all know I had a couple. Because Crocs is my favorite. Those look like easy. Exactly. Can you see? Can we see her shoes? Can you see her shoe with the camera? I think so. Crocs. Those are fire. They got them in pink.
00:59:26
Speaker
This is the prototype y'all let me know if y'all buy this
00:59:34
Speaker
Cause we taking over. I think that's what I really wanted to focus on. And what you were talking about is that empire. Like when I made that tweet, I knew it was going to be something different. Did I expect this? Hell no. But now that we hear, it's like, Oh shit, let's ride this wave.
00:59:51
Speaker
For real, because there is such a space for it. And I think just the beauty of being Black is that we always add our flair to it. Me saying marine science for the streets is like, oh shit, all right, we're wrong with it. So it does give us that potential. Me putting out a tracksuit, people would want to be involved with this. And it just takes, again, that weird eliteness out
01:00:13
Speaker
of being a marine scientist, like, yo, T is just regular from the streets, because that's to give me honoring how I grew up and never forgetting that, you know? So that's it. That's me. I'll be looking out for our drip. And like I do, I think it's important for us to talk about elitism and science and really how
01:00:34
Speaker
It doesn't just impact people in science, like scientists. It impacts everything, the whole world. What is the importance of, to you, what is the importance of breaking down elitism? Because people die.
01:00:53
Speaker
Ooh, I don't know how else to say like, that's how people die when you have people who don't give a fuck about the humanity of others, then you see them you're you're I don't know your sales being used in in in in in
01:01:08
Speaker
and experiments. You know, you see levees being broken in your community being flooded and not others. You see your reefs being bleached and you not being able to fish in the ocean that you always fished from. You know, that is what happens when you have elitists, when you have people who don't understand what's happening all around them. And that's why it's important. Damn. Y'all, she ate that.
01:01:39
Speaker
It's real. That is it. Like, it's real. It's like, again, it's cool. I can be in as funny as I try. Like, this shit is real. And that's why I do take it seriously. Because again, I tell this story when I went to Belize and I saw folks really shoveling, like scooping up saying to build back up the island. Like, that's real. Like, that's erosion. That's sea level rise. The sea is rising. And they trying to get out of their house. And you got to scoop up saying like,
01:02:05
Speaker
It's nothing to say about it. You're not going to fight me about that. Black people don't matter. We don't need to support them. Yes, we do. That's where all our resources should be going. I've seen tires being put as a barrier on the beach so they can build back up, seeing tires. When we got all this little AI people running around doing bullshit and they got tires, where's the resources? That's true. You know what I'm saying? That's all the little police robot dogs running around. We got people putting tires just so they don't drown.
01:02:37
Speaker
You know, where is the uproar? Where is the outrage? Do you think it's because these coastal communities are largely communities of color? Definitely!
01:02:47
Speaker
definitely and it doesn't matter we see it now in the island nations is that coral um ocean acidification has occurred because of um climate change water is getting so warmed literally causing the zooxanthellae the you know the allergy that living them to the it's too hot in this bitch we got to go so that's how you get coral bleaching because the water gets so hot that they just can't even stay there anymore
01:03:11
Speaker
in their in their um in the corals and so that's how they get that white color so the corals are still alive they've just lost their there is ozone thali but anyway so this has been happening but now because tourism is down in some of these hotels because these corals are raggedy now all of a sudden they've got money to care about these reefs that have already you know damaged economies are already caused problems
01:03:37
Speaker
in these coastal communities. But now, oh, I'm realizing people aren't wanting to come to my hotel anymore because the race is ready. Oh, let me care or let me go by apply for environmental justice grant because this is a developing country.
01:03:53
Speaker
So Tiara like dead ass. Do you foresee BIMS really becoming a force there like to definitely disturb that fuckery? Yeah. And that's what we already doing. And that's why it's like it is scary to be in this seat because
01:04:10
Speaker
We are grant-dependent, you know? And so that's why I'm actually trying to shift to our own user base. You know, we got that dollar campaign right now. I said, I want to ask a million people for a dollar. Do the pitch. Ride the wave. All of the games. I'm serious. But no, we do. Literally, we have a dollar campaign right now called Ride the Wave of Change.
01:04:31
Speaker
And
Fundraising Campaign: A Dollar from a Million
01:04:32
Speaker
the whole reasons for the dollar, I said I want to ask a million people for a dollar versus writing another million dollar grant that I have to perform to because I would rather have those million people know about the movement, be a part of the movement, and then really have that social capital
01:04:48
Speaker
behind what we are really trying to do. And then it also just makes philanthropy more accessible. A lot of people feel like, oh, if I can't donate a million dollars, I can't donate a dollar. It's like, no, we just need a dollar. We just trying to show you that you can give something. And then it just takes that stereotype, like, oh, black people poor, we can't support ourselves.
01:05:07
Speaker
No, we can. We're actually doing some really great things and this is important. And that's when we started our membership. But even our membership is very free because if people can't pay the $12 a month, then we have a scholarship program. So all you got to do is just apply. Nobody has been turned away.
01:05:24
Speaker
Nobody. So as soon as you apply, you're accepted. So we really just, again, giving folks the opportunity to put into the pot. But we know if you don't have it, we got you because that's more important. The fact that you reached out, the fact that we know you. So yeah, so definitely if you been hearing what I'm talking about, want to ride the wave, definitely look up BIMS.org, Black and Marine Science.
01:05:45
Speaker
hit us with a dollar and that will really, again, start to build us up so we don't have to be dependent on these huge white dollars, honestly, that are government and that really can't get us to do what we want to do. I would say that's the difference because we do have allied support, not saying that, but we can't do everything that we want with like an NSF grant or like some of these different grants. That brings me to like going back to disturbing elitism and also promoting scientific literacy and inclusion in science.
01:06:14
Speaker
Is it out of pocket for me to say that I feel like every Black person, if they can, should join a Black-led professional organization? For sure. I think it's just where it sits in the community. Even if it's not their field. I mean, everybody should join BIMS because we're great.
01:06:34
Speaker
I agree. So I do agree. Like for all of the reasons that we talked about in this episode, but like, yeah, like this, y'all want to get behind Tierra. Okay. You want to get behind Bims because this is, she's dead ass. Okay. It's a serious movement. They're making waves. No pun intended, but like,
01:06:56
Speaker
It's the ripples from what BIMS is doing is felt beyond the marine science community. And it's important for everyone to support this and get behind it so that you can do what you need to do and so that we can all benefit. Because I do feel like when black people win, everybody wins.
01:07:16
Speaker
Exactly. You know, I'm glad you said it because again, speaking to my allies, you know, we did have a few allies at BIMS week and one of them came up to me and she literally looked me dead in my face. She was like, I'm sorry, you don't get to feel how I feel when you're at our meetings.
01:07:30
Speaker
And what she was really, I was like, at first I was like, what? Don't get pricked. What you mean by that? But then when she was like, I'm sorry, you don't get to feel how I'm feeling right now, because how she was like this only, you know, person and there wasn't that many of them, but she didn't feel excluded. She felt actually more welcome and taken care of, because she was by herself. So people was checking on her, like, Hey, you all right? Pulling her in, bringing her to the table. And I'm like, interesting.
01:08:00
Speaker
Wow, will you look at that? But it's like, again, did I create that? But this is like, we're not assholes. And I think that's what the thing, people be like, oh, what does bills do differently? We not assholes. I would never see someone isolated by themselves and say, hey, go get me a coffee, or hey, you know where the bathroom is, or just not talk to them at all and just leave them there. And those have been my experiences at scientific conferences. I was on the board of directors, I remember, and somebody tried to hand me their plate.
01:08:27
Speaker
to take. I'm not the plate. I'm just the whole batch.
01:08:34
Speaker
So, you know? But again, that's just an asshole move. Like, why would you do that? Why are you not even looking at the face of the person? All you see is a brown, okay, they take my plate. You know? And so that's just something I would never do. So, yeah, ally, you weren't treated bad, because I would just never treat a person bad. That's just not who I am. And so that's what I'm saying. Well, how has it been different? Like, I don't really know, because, like, I'm just not you. Like, I would never do that, you know? So I think that's what really gets me up, like, be doing this whole, it's like,
01:09:04
Speaker
I just treat people like, you know, they humans. And that's all. But that was a key takeaway when she came up to me and I was like, exactly. Like you feel good. Like you don't feel left out. You don't feel like anything, but here's a predominantly black space, but you're still welcome with people looking out for you. And we don't get to have that. So I'm glad she said it and she realized it, but it was like, wow, exactly.
01:09:30
Speaker
Thank you. Y'all, listen, this has been an amazing conversation. I'm so glad that we could catch you on your trip, like making moves in the streets, literally. Tiara, where can we find you and then tell us where we can find BIMS? Yes. So for me directly, I am at Curly, C-U-R-L-Y underscore scientist.
01:09:54
Speaker
S-C-I-E-N-T-I-S-T. How are you still a scientist? Curly underscore scientist. S-C-I-E-N-T-I-S-T. We gonna put it on the screen. Yes, please do. I be doing too much case. But no, so that's me on Twitter, Instagram.
01:10:11
Speaker
What's the other one? TikTok. And then... LinkedIn? LinkedIn? Oh, it's just Dr. Tiara Moore. Okay. Okay. Facebook. Facebook. Don't go on Facebook. Don't go on Facebook. It's quiet. It's
Social Media Dynamics and Engagement
01:10:24
Speaker
quiet over there. Well, because now Instagram reposts everything. So it's just the same thing. Exactly. But then I don't interact over there.
01:10:31
Speaker
Anyway. It's a different crowd. It is. Well, my grandma's still over there, so she be coming in. Yo, my grandma is my new one. Shout out to my grandma. Shout out to my grandma, because she be out here. She be always coming in on my story. It's my post. And then for you, Black and Marine Science. So on Instagram, it's Black and Marine Science. TikTok, Black and Marine Science. And Twitter is BlackandMarSci. Facebook is just Black and Marine Science. LinkedIn, Black and Marine Science. And then our website is
01:11:01
Speaker
Black and Marine Science.org or BIMS.org. Amazing. Yes.
Closing and Reflection: Themes of Life Sciences
01:11:07
Speaker
Y'all, I hope that you enjoy this episode of the Science of Life with Dr. Raven Baxter, where we explore the life sciences, the society that we do life in, and the life of the people who do the science.
01:11:24
Speaker
Yeah. Very much happy that y'all rode with me on this and we will see you for the next episode. Bye.