As summer starts, the Latin American and Caribbean Working Group reflects on their accomplishments
Caribbean Heritage Month, observed in the United States each June, is a time to recognize the vibrant cultures, histories and contributions of Caribbean communities. It’s a celebration of resilience, identity and legacy, but also a time to spotlight the pressing environmental and social issues faced across the Caribbean.
For the Latin American and Caribbean Working Group (LACWG) of The Wildlife Society (TWS), Caribbean Heritage Month (CHM) is not just a celebration, it’s a reaffirmation of our mission.
Founded in 2024 by a team of passionate students and professionals, the LACWG emerged from a shared need to improve visibility and support for Latin American and Caribbean scientists within The Wildlife Society. While TWS has long had members from Latin America and the Caribbean—and featured their research and stories—the LACWG was the first working group to center its mission around geographic representation and identity, recognizing that conservation challenges and cultural contexts vary greatly across the hemisphere, and that there should be a dedicated space for community, collaboration and engagement.
Since its founding, the LACWG has grown steadily, gaining support across students, international researchers and early-career professionals. We’ve organized international panels, built bilingual outreach tools and hosted cultural celebrations across TWS platforms. At the heart of our efforts is a deep commitment to equity, accessibility and cross-cultural collaboration.
Why Caribbean Heritage Month matters
The media often romanticizes the Caribbean, but beyond the beaches and resorts lies a region of remarkable ecological and cultural diversity—and urgent conservation challenges. From endemic species to unique island ecosystems, the Caribbean is a biodiversity hot spot shaped by centuries of colonization, climate change and complex sociopolitical events.
By celebrating Caribbean Heritage Month, we uplift the stories of Caribbean wildlife professionals, conservationists and researchers, many of whom have navigated underrepresentation, limited funding and systemic challenges in the scientific world.
Heritage celebrations like CHM are essential because they invite broader communities to listen, learn and celebrate cultural pride, while confronting historical and present-day inequities in conservation. They create space for Caribbean people to share their narratives on their own terms.
Caribbean voices in focus
This June, the LACWG is proud to celebrate Caribbean Heritage Month through a dynamic, multi-platform campaign. Our celebration includes:
- Two Wildlife Vocalizations articles, where Caribbean members share their personal journeys into conservation, their motivations and their hopes for the region.
- Two features in the Meet a Member Monday series, published on TWS’s Instagram, introducing the broader TWS community to the wide range of talents and disciplines Caribbean members bring to the field.
- An upcoming webinar in collaboration with the Coastal and Marine Wildlife Working Group, titled “Caribbean Coasts: Partnering with Local Communities to Conserve Tropical Coastal Wildlife.” The event will explore how community-driven conservation is shaping the protection of tropical coastal ecosystems across the Caribbean. Register Here
- Curated Caribbean content on the LACWG’s Instagram and webpage, including spotlights, cultural highlights and conservation stories from across the Caribbean. These posts aim to educate, inspire and build greater awareness of the people, places and species that define the region.
TWS member Steffani Singh, our Caribbean Engagement Chair from Jamaica, helped aid our celebrations. Singh’s leadership has played a pivotal role in ensuring the voices of Caribbean members are recognized and uplifted.
“With wildlife and the natural environment being such large parts of Caribbean culture, I’m happy to be celebrating Caribbean Heritage Month as a member of The Wildlife Society,” Singh said. “When I moved from Jamaica to British Columbia to start my master’s degree, The Wildlife Society was one of the first places where I found a sense of community in this new environment.” The first conference she attended was hosted by the BC Chapter of TWS, where she made several like-minded friends after joining the board of her university’s student chapter.
“The LACWG works to provide this sense of community to wildlife-lovers in Latin America and the Caribbean,” she continued. “In a region with dozens of scattered islands and countries that speak several different languages, finding connections with other conservationists can be challenging.”
The working group is committed to building a community for conservation enthusiasts in the Caribbean. In particular, it plays an important role in connecting early-career professionals with opportunities that are hard to come by in an underserved region, she said. “The working group’s dedication, empathy and understanding of the nuanced challenges faced by Caribbean conservationists has been a pleasure to witness.”
Singh’s background as a student of conservation biology from Jamaica gives her a deep understanding of both the scientific and cultural stakes of the region. She’s helped the LACWG connect with Caribbean students, review outreach content for cultural accuracy and lead initiatives that expand the visibility of Caribbean research.
Looking ahead
The LACWG’s Caribbean Heritage Month campaign is part of a larger commitment to year-round support for the Latin American and Caribbean conservation community. In the coming year, the working group is expanding its engagement effort with chairs for South American, international student, and minority serving-institution engagement, thus continuing to build bridges between TWS and conservationists throughout the hemisphere.
We hope that Caribbean Heritage Month reminds all wildlife professionals and students of the power of representation and the richness that diversity brings to science, conservation and community.
Follow our Caribbean Heritage Month spotlights throughout June on LACWG’s Instagram and stay connected with the LACWG as we continue to highlight the vibrant cultures and conservation efforts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
For more about our work or how to get involved, visit our webpage or reach out to us directly.
