When COVID-19 sent students home and halted lab research, Scott Edwards, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Ornithology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, decided to fulfill his lifelong dream of cycling from the Atlantic to Pacific. Two weeks before his departure on June 6, nationwide protests broke out over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. On the same day a video of a racist encounter in Central Park involving a Black birder and white woman went viral. As a result of that incident, a group of Black birders and naturalists launched Black Birders Week, a social media campaign that elevates Black voices in birding and takes on racism in the outdoors.
Suddenly, Scott's adventure turned into a much larger mission. He created a Twitter account to participate in Black Birders Week and strapped Black Lives Matter signs to his bike. Along the way Scott has met up with fellow researchers as well as met many new people who are cheering him on in his quest. You can follow Scott on Twitter @ScottVEdwards1 and on Instagram @scottv._edwards. His journey has also been covered by Audubon, the Boston Globe and the Harvard Gazette.
Photo courtesy of James Deshler