I recently got the pleasure of meeting Dr. Young Ha Suh when she came and visited the Zuma Canyon Bird Banding Station in December. Young, a recent PhD graduate for her study in the behavioral ecology of Florida Scrub-Jays at Cornell University, was recently hired as the new ornithology collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (NHM). You can learn more about Young at her website younghasuh.com.
I emailed Young questions about her experiences as a woman of color in STEM and what her new role at the natural history museum means to her as she works to make scientific knowledge more accessible to the public. Below is the interview. Some parts have been lightly edited for flow and brevity.
Morgan: What inspired you to pursue a PhD and career in science?
Young: I was always interested in the natural world and wildlife but didn’t know I could study it as a career until I got to undergrad. I couldn’t believe that I could get paid to do fieldwork and study animals in their natural habitat. Once I got to college, I plunged into a lot of different internships and projects. After trial and error, I realized I loved working on long-term projects that had a lot of demographic data for me to study population-level trends and individual behavioral responses. I did a senior thesis on population trends in Wood Ducks across northern California and fell in love with studying variation in life history traits. After graduation, I took a gap year working as a field assistant in the Kalahari Desert [in Southern Africa], collecting data on meerkats to gain more field skills. I soon realized that I wanted to be the one asking research questions. Based on the insight I gained on what to and not to do when conducting field research, I applied for grad school and the rest is history.
What kind of inequities and disparities towards marginalized groups did you notice in college while pursuing a PhD in STEM?
For one, in my department, there were more male professors than female but there were more female than male graduate students. This could have resulted from gender-biases in attrition, but it could also signify a generational change as older folks retire and open up positions. But this gender ratio only shows part of the story; service roles (i.e., mentoring, IDEA work [Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access], administration) are often done by female faculty and graduate students, which is good in itself but takes time away from research or other metrics that are considered in hiring or tenure decisions (see articles like this, this, or this). Female graduate teaching assistants often get harsher reviews than their male counterparts which can have damaging consequences downstream. These disparities become more apparent when it comes to historically excluded demographic groups in terms of sexual identity and orientation, ethnicity, disabilities, and so forth. There were times when me or my friends experienced microaggressions and had to consult our peers to make sure we weren’t overreacting or being too “emotional” about it. So it can be hard to simply do good science when there are a lot of systematic barriers in the way! But at the same time, I met some wonderful friends and mentors who understood and also experienced these disparities, and made me feel like I still belonged in the community. And there have been many efforts to reduce this gender gap—acknowledging its existence has been the first step.
What projects did you work on before becoming the ornithology collections manager at NHM?
For my dissertation, I studied individual variation in movement of Florida Scrub-Jays at one of the longest demographic studies in North America. Florida Scrub-Jays are cooperatively breeding birds, meaning that more than the breeding pair attend to a nest and raise the young with usually the young delaying dispersal and staying at home for 1-6 years. I wanted to understand why some offspring stay for such extended periods since they don’t produce any of their own young and it would be beneficial for them to leave and start their own family. So I wanted to know: Are there certain social or environmental factors that cause some birds to adopt different strategies? When doing fieldwork, I also noticed that there were a number of instances where the young would leave their own family and help out another—what’s up with that? Despite being studied for over 50 years, Florida Scrub-Jays still seemed to have mysteries waiting to be answered. With technological advances, I was able to ask questions that were not answerable before—I deployed small locator tags to get fine-scale movement patterns of young birds to see how they utilized their landscape and possibly gain information on their “next step in life”. It was a lot of work, but I had a great time spending half my year in Florida avoiding the cold winters of upstate New York. When I was on campus, I worked as a teaching assistant for various courses from introductory ecology and evolution classes to higher level taxonomy and graduate classes. I also taught a writing class for freshmen on conservation biology which was extremely fulfilling to design and teach.
What inspired you to take up a position at a natural history museum?
Natural history museums have been one of the main reasons how I got interested in the natural world to begin with. I loved walking through hallways with high ceilings and looking at animals in glass cabinets up close because how else was I going to be that close to a wild animal? I just had no idea there was so much more beyond the taxidermy mounts on display until I got to grad school. As a late stage PhD student, I was at a crossroads on what I wanted to do next. As much as I loved research, I disliked the disconnect between academic findings and public knowledge. Sure, there are more popular science articles that make it to the non-academic reader, but those were often limited and I wanted to do projects that were more accessible to those outside of academia. I realized that I enjoyed teaching, but dreaded grading; I loved sharing my knowledge outside the classroom—whether it be with fellow grad students, my own students, or visitors to my field station. I loved fieldwork, but I was ready to settle down and own a dog (which is impossible when you’re spending half the year at a remote site).
I saw the position [at NHM] being advertised by chance and the description was everything I wanted in my next career stage: working with museum specimens, public outreach and education, community science work, and living in a diverse city. Fortunately, I had been doing specimen preparation (i.e. stuffing birds) every week at the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates and had fallen in love with specimen prep as a medium for art and science. I had also done some collection work as part of my fellowship when I started my fieldwork in Florida, so I had some experience on collection management. My decision solidified when during my in-person interview I was welcomed by a young and supportive all-women team; a stark contrast from my close-to-retirement White male committee. Even after six months of working at the museum, I still get excited when I walk into work and see dueling dinosaurs and walk by glass cabinets. It’s the best.
What is your role as the ornithology collections manager? What are some of your goals for the position?
As the collections manager, my primary job is to grow and manage the ornithology collection of over 123,000 specimens—making sure they are in good condition, maintaining a catalog of what is available, and helping others access the collection for research, education, and even art purposes. I also give tours, present at various educational programs within and outside the museum, go on field trips, design research projects, train volunteers, prepare specimens, and participate in many more opportunities! Everyday is so different, which is one of the favorite aspects of my job.
As for broader career goals, my dream is to make the museum a sort of hub for the ornithologist community in Los Angeles. Fieldwork is often limited to the privileged—those who can afford to work for free or cheap, or even have the time to do so. By being within the city, the museum has the potential to be a place where anyone interested in birds can come and learn different skills. I have been striving to make all the museum’s data available to whoever needs it. This involves updating our database and making it is available online, as well as keeping all records of all specimens that arrive at the museum.
I also really hope to establish a safe and welcoming bird banding station at the museum where I can train students and budding ornithologists on not just bird banding skills, but also analytical skills that utilize banding data. I aim to participate in as many outreach opportunities as I can and develop community science projects for the public to participate in, and hopefully break down the barrier between academia and the public. [Read this article here about a nature walk Young co-led with fellow NHM scientists.] For instance, we are currently working with the museum’s Community Science department and a non-profit called Hearts for Sights that works with visually impaired people. We have been talking about how to develop a project with data collected through birding by ear.
Any messages for minorities hoping to pursue a career in STEM?
Like many professional fields, STEM has its own challenges and struggles, but it is also incredibly rewarding and fun. I got paid to chase birds in the scrub, how cool is that? There will be tough times but always remember that you DO belong here! Find good mentors and friends who will support you by your side and don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions. You’d be surprised how many of us share similar struggles and how you’re not alone in this field. Imposter syndrome is real, so be kind to each other but especially yourself.