In 2024, the Audubon Great Plains Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) team started a book club program that has flourished into an exciting learning opportunity for Audubon staff and our greater community. The idea for the program materialized when multiple members of the EDIB team demonstrated interest in reading the same books around themes of conservation, identity, culture, and – of course – birds.

Authors Thomas Gannon and Ferin Davis Anderson joined our meetings for discussion, providing further insight into the inspiration for their novels. Gannon recited excerpts from his novel and shared experiences about his favorite local birding locations. Ferin Davis Anderson detailed the difference between prescribed fire and cultural fire, explaining how cultural fire centers around indigenous community and involves people of all ages, while prescribed fire organizes those who participate in a more hierarchical structure and serves a sole purpose of burning acres.

Book club participants are not required to read our selections. Everyone can engage in thoughtful discussion to listen and learn from one another. All are welcome to join. Our next book, “Birding for a Better World: A Guide to Finding Joy in Nature” by Sydney Golden Anderson and Molly Adams, explores the connection between equity, environmental justice, and birding. As we all know, birding is for everybody and can help us better understand connections to the planet and our society.

THE EDIB BOOK CLUB HAS FEATURED THE FOLLOWING:

Birdgirl, by Mya-Rose Craig
Birding While Indian: A Mixed-Blood Memoir by Thomas C. Gannon
Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire by Ferin Davis Anderson with Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Fresh Banana Leaves by Jessica Hernandez

Join the Club!
Email brady.karg@audubon.org for more information about the Audubon Great Plains EDIB Book Club.