Emily Pomeranz

I teach two classes undergraduate courses at Michigan State.

Fundamentals of Fisheries and Wildlife Ecology & Management (FW101). This course is offered in both spring and fall semesters, and I teach the spring offering.

Human Dimensions of Fisheries & Wildlife (FW334). This course is offered in the fall semester only.

I am getting my lab up and running in Fall 2023 and am looking for undergraduates and graduate students who have a strong interest in the conservation social sciences applied within a wildlife conservation context.

As an academic and former conservation professional and social scientist, I believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion is not work we do in addition to our other responsibilities, DEI is the work. I believe strongly in the need for structural reforms to the ways we engage the public in natural resource decision making, and this motivates my research and teaching. Enhancing our capacity to employ participatory processes is one way to do this. Participatory processes have the potential to expose wildlife managers to new sources of knowledge, to supplement their professional training, and empower groups of people that have been traditionally excluded from wildlife decision making. Participatory processes have the power to strengthen communities, build relationships among stakeholders who normally wouldn’t communicate, and create shared goals that are best for the resource and those who depend on it. Well-designed processes are a way agencies can strive towards good governance ideals of inclusiveness and fairness, while poorly-designed processes can result in stacking the deck against traditionally-marginalized interests.

As a faculty member responsible for the mentoring of graduate students and undergraduate students, I seek to foster an inclusive and equitable culture both within the department and within my own teaching space. Creating an inclusive and equitable culture means recognizing that students are complete individuals who have lives, responsibilities, and relationships to maintain outside of their academic work. I set expectations in a manner that allows for flexibility and understanding relative to deadlines and working hours; I seek to understand students’ preferences for communication and mentor engagement and strive to meet their needs. In practice, considering DEI in the classroom means considering the authors and readings selected and ensuring diversity of authors, of ways of knowing, and of conservation contexts are included in the syllabus. Bringing DEI into the classroom means attending to representation in the images shared on presentations, the natural resource professionals I bring to guest lecture, and the kinds of case examples I share. It means creating a classroom environment where students are able to call out and call in to allow for teachable moments. To allow this kind of safe space I set clear ground rules for behavior that ensure students and myself use inclusive language, acknowledge intentions but address impact, be willing to disagree but to do so respectfully, and sharing space. I prioritize professional and personal development activities so I can continue to learn, grow, and foster inclusion and equity within my sphere of influence with students, staff, faculty, and partners.