How LGBTQ identity shapes Nat Geo Explorers

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why would a scientist brave the stench of a car full of rotting meat on a 120-degree day? What can a unique whistling language teach us about humans’ connection to the natural world? And how does LGBTQ identity shape the research of National Geographic Explorers? In this episode celebrating Pride, we hand the mic to two Explorers: Christine Wilkinson, who studies hyenas and other large carnivores and created the TikTok series “Queer is Natural,” and Rüdiger Ortiz-Álvarez, whose soundscapes from the Canary Islands encourage us to slow down and listen to the world around us. For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard. Want more? Why do some people prefer LGBTQIA+ instead of LGBT? See how society’s understanding of diverse sexual identities and gender expressions has grown more inclusive—and so has the acronym used to describe them. Before the Nazis rose to power, a German institute cemented itself as gay liberation’s epicenter. Discover the great hunt for the world's first LGBTQ archive. Although a large group of LGBTQ people celebrating their sexual orientation in public had been unthinkable just a few years before, the first Pride parades began in 1970 as marches commemorating the 1969 Stonewall uprising. See more National Geographic coverage of Pride at natgeo.com/Pride. Also explore: Learn more about spotted hyenas, which live in female-led clans of up to 80 individuals. Practice your whistling and head to La Gomera in the Canary Islands, home to the Silbo Gomero whistling language and Garajonay National Park. Find Christine Wilkinson’s “Queer is Natural” series on her TikTok, @scrappynaturalist. And follow along with Rüdiger Ortiz-Álvarez on his Instagram, @rudigerortiz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I am so over this situation, Peter. I'm unbumble to find something real. You know, like someone
0:07.5	you can count on, someone who actually cares about what you think. I just want someone
0:12.5	who's ready for that long-term kind of love. Whether you're looking for your next boyfriend,
0:18.9	girlfriend, casual date or just someone who truly getscha, it's waiting for you unbumble.
0:25.6	Hi, I'm Dominie Kildbrand. I'm a photo editor here at National Geographic, and I'm a co-lead
0:39.0	of our LGBTQ Employee Resource Group. To celebrate pride, we're doing something special
0:44.2	and overheard. We're handing the mic over to two National Geographic explorers who really
0:49.4	love nature. I'm not going to say that I hug trees, but sometimes I just like to be
0:53.7	embedded in nature. If you were going to hug trees, nobody here would judge you. I know.
0:58.6	National Geographic. I feel like there's a lot of tree huggers in the building.
1:01.5	Thanks, thanks, Nadia. Today we're meeting Rudiger or T's Alparez.
1:06.9	My pronouns are he, him. Most people call me Rudy. I'm a majologeist and I'm a doctor in
1:12.2	ecology in Beijing. And Christine Wilkinson. I am a postdoc at UC Berkeley and at the California
1:18.1	Academy of Sciences. My pronouns are she, they. And I use social ecological frameworks
1:25.5	to understand the interactions between people and wildlife and to share that science through
1:31.1	story.
1:32.1	Rudy and Christine have totally different research interests. Rudy is a microbiologist who also
1:37.1	records soundscapes in a fascinating rainforest in the Canary Islands. And Christine studies
1:42.9	large carnivores, including spotted hyenas in Kenya and coyotes in California. They're
1:48.7	each working toward a deeper understanding of how nature and humans interact. Rudy and
1:53.6	Christine are also both members of the National Geographic Queer and Allies Explorer Group.
1:58.2	We'll learn more about their research and how their identity makes them the scientists
	...

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