J. Drew Lanham facts for kids
Joseph Drew Lanham is an American author, poet and wildlife biologist who in 2022 was awarded a fellowship in the MacArthur Fellows Program (commonly called a Macarthur Genius Award) for his work "combining conservation science with personal, historical, and cultural narratives of nature."
Biogrp
Raised in Edgefield, South Carolina, Lanham studied zoology and ecology at Clemson University, where he earned a PhD in 1997. Lanham received his B.A. and M.S. in zoology, and his Ph.D. in Forest Resources. He also currently holds an endowed chair as an Alumni Distinguished Professor. He was also named an alumni master teacher in 2012. He is currently a professor of wildlife science and teaches several classes and lectures on birding. He describes his work in his own words as: "’Connecting the conservation dots’ is how I envision my research mission. My past work has focused on the impacts of forest management and other human activities on songbirds, herpetofauna, small mammals and butterflies. More recently I've begun to investigate how ethnicity (especially Black Americans) relate to wildlife and other conservation issues. I'm also interested in how birders and hunters might bridge philosophical gaps to effect conservation in a more holistic way."
His research focuses on songbird ecology. He is a board member of several conservation organizations, including the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, Audubon South Carolina, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, BirdNote, and the American Birding Association, and an advisory board member for the North American Association of Environmental Education. He was most recently named a 2016 Brandwein Fellow for his work in environmental education, and he has also been a fellow of Toyota TogetherGreen and the Clemson University Institute for Parks. Lanham is a Board member of the National Audubon Society; in 2019 he was awarded its Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership, recognizing "individuals who have dedicated their entire lives to the environment". In his 20 years as faculty he teaches courses, conducts research and outreach in woodland ecology, conservation biology, forest biodiversity, wildlife policy and conservation ornithology and has mentored more than 40 students.
Lanham is a strong advocate for the African American role in natural resources conservation, intrigued with how culture and ethnic prisms can bend perceptions of nature and its care. Lanham believes that conservation must be a blending of head and heart, rigorous science and evocative art. In 2013, Lanham wrote a piece for Orion Magazine titled "9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher," drawing attention to the lack of Black birders and diversity in general among naturalists. The short piece inspired producer Ari Daniel and videographer Amanda Kowalski to create a short film with the same title for BirdNote, which quickly went viral on social media. In 2016 he wrote "Birding While Black." In 2017 he published the award-winning memoir The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. His book received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Book Prize, and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. The book was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the 11 best scholarly books of the 2010s, chosen by Anna Tsing. Lanham features in episode 7 of the 2019 TV series Birds of North America, produced by Topic and hosted by Jason Ward. In 2020, the podcast This Is Love spoke with Lanham for their episode, "Prairie Warbler." In December 2020, he received the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Award for Outstanding Science, Advocacy. In 2021, Lanham wrote an essay for the Autumn 2021 issue of Living Bird, entitled "Wildness on A Whim: Reflections On Whimbrel In The South Carolina Lowcountry." Lanham was recognized in February 2022 by the Post and Courier newspaper (Charleston, SC) as one of twelve Black Leaders in South Carolina.
One of his most important contributions to birding is the ethical foundations behind nature in the south and the inclusion of African-Americans in birding and nature sciences.
Personal life
Lanham is married to Janice Garrison Lanham, a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing at Clemson University. They have two adult children, Alexis Shepard and Colby Lanham. He and his family live in the Upstate of South Carolina, a soaring hawk's downhill glide from the southern Appalachian escarpment that the Cherokee once called the Blue Wall.
