Libby: [00:00:00] Our challenges are very large and it takes all of us, and it takes people who are not just considered "experts" in quotes. It's all of us. so many people already do care. It's just often we don't know how to show we care. We don't know how to plug in. And so I think creating opportunities for the millions and millions of people who care, billions across the world of people who care, is what it's all about for me. Showing people that they all have a place, everyone listening has a place to contribute in conservation. I don't care what your degree is in, I don't care how many years of experience you've had, you can contribute and we need you to contribute to build a beautiful world together.

Alexander: A career in conservation can come in all colors and shapes and sizes. Every conservationist has a story, and it rarely follows a straight path. What does it take to have a career in conservation? And what are some of the unexpected turns and wisdom picked up along the way?

Thanks for joining this episode of Wildlife Café, where we dive into the awe inspiring world of our wild planet, as well as the inspiring work to protect wildlife from so many passionate [00:01:00] people. And in this episode, we're going to dive a bit deeper to talk about something we don't always dig into a lot in conservation. The journey itself. We'll pull back the curtain on what it looks like to build a career in conservation.

I talk with Libby Khumalo, a lifelong conservation practitioner, scientist, and advocate about her journey in conservation and some of the stories, lessons, pivots, and truths that have shaped her life, her approach, and viewpoint on conservation, and why it's so important to hold onto values, community, and purpose.

Whether you're just starting out a career in conservation or many years in or simply curious about what it means to make conservation your life's work, this episode is for you.

Alexander: Hey, Libby. It's great to see you.

Libby: You too, Alexander.

Alexander: Big welcome to Wildlife Café. I am so happy to be chatting more with you, and I really want to thank you for joining and in advance for sharing more about your storied career and experiences.

Libby: I'm really happy to be here. It's an honor to be asked. Thank you.

Alexander: I always find that while everyone's conservation [00:02:00] journey is different and no two careers look the same, they're always rooted in the same common shared sense of purpose and a love for nature and the wild, and a commitment to something greater. So I would love to start there and learn more about when it was that you first realized that you had this passion for nature and wildlife, and when you kind of knew that conservation would be your life's work.

Was there a defining experience in your childhood or early career?

Libby: Yes, there was. I think it was a lot of things, but it boils down to a memory of me sitting on a moss covered basalt rock, on a bluff overlooking a valley where I grew up. In Spokane, Eastern Washington out in a rural area. I would play outside a lot, and the memory takes me back to sitting there and looking out and thinking of all the animals that I would see, like deer. And really thinking about the changes I was seeing as a child in Spokane. It was rapidly [00:03:00] developing. And I have a particular memory of a field where kids and families would fly kites and remote controlled airplanes and it got consumed by a strip mall. And I remember thinking, I want to protect this place that I'm seeing and that I'm growing up in, and all the animals that live here.

And so when I become an adult, I want to lead and making sure that children and families, all of us have wonderful places to live, and the animals have a place to live alongside with us.

Alexander: I love that so much. I would love then to know where that passion took you in this field. Did your career in life ever change course and maybe where you ended up along the way, was that different than maybe where you started or had expected that you would go or be?

Libby: Yes, I had all sorts of bumps in the road. I'd say it's been a pretty circuitous route. I started out studying biology. [00:04:00] And then I, and I would focus on conservation, and then much to my dismay, one of my first jobs was actually the opposite of what I wanted to do, which was working for a pharmaceutical company, putting together anaphylactic shock kits and like hundreds of them.10 hours a day under fluorescent lights, no windows. And at one point, I would count boxes all day for 10 hours a day as well. Um, that's not where I wanted to be. Eventually though I was employed with Washington State Parks, I found a job as a park ranger in training and loved it.

And then I decided to serve my country by joining AmeriCorps. And I also had the opportunity to learn more about another part of the country. So I'd never been to New York in my life. I got hired as an AmeriCorps member at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and I got to work with hundreds of kids, teaching [00:05:00] them about ecosystems, engaging them with nature and loved that job and made friends that I've had for over 20 years now.

And it also changed the course of my life. And so I decided when my AmeriCorps term was up, I applied to do a master's at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. And so I headed over to South Africa and lived there and had an amazing time because I got to study alongside people from all over the world, all over the African continent. With my fellow masters students, we formed an environmental society and together we pooled our resources and would go on these amazing field trips to expand our education about the environment. And, um, interacted with the conservation leaders in South Africa. It was an incredible experience and really just underscored the direction I've gone, which is to build community of support towards the causes, [00:06:00] particularly conservation and our expansion of our understanding of how to do it better.

And then from there, that took me to work for, Center for Large Landscape Conservation. And that's how I started working with tribes in the United States. And so I started by working with Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and Fort Belknap Indian Community, facilitating their climate adaptation planning. So that was really a wonderful experience. I learned a lot and that eventually is what led me to learn about work at World Wildlife Fund.

Alexander: I love it. You have done so different things. It has taken you around the world. There and back again. It seems like just different experiences and so cool to see when who you were and started out with and just all the diverse experiences and multitude of experiences you've had is just amazing.

It's probably going to be really hard to answer, but I would, I'm very curious, is there a particular experience that you're especially proud of or [00:07:00] something that really reaffirmed why you do this work?

Libby: Yes. I have had the privilege as a World Wildlife Fund employee, working with a very dedicated group of visionary Indigenous leaders here in the Northern Great Plains in co forming the Buffalo Nations Grasslands Alliance. And we say BNGA for short. BNGA has a vision of the 16 Native Nations in the Northern Great Plains uniting so that the diversity of life flourishes for current and future generations. And their motto is Grasslands for Generations. So it's really about protecting the grasslands and the people and all the wildlife and diversity of life in the Northern Great Plains. And, the purpose of BNGA is for, so that the tribes have the technical and financial resources they need to realize their vision for their traditional lands and waters.

It's been a [00:08:00] wonderful experience for so many reasons. I love bringing together groups of people who have shared values, but have a lot of different perspectives and expertises and experience. Because to me that's where some of the most creative solutions to our world's most pressing problems come from are bringing together people who are like-minded, but also have different perspectives.

Alexander: It's an incredible initiative. I'll include some more information in the description of this video too for folks to learn more about BNGA. But I kind of wanted to build on a point you were starting to touch on and some of these kind of lessons learned and things that you've seen and learned about what it takes to be successful and that over your career, across all of these different experiences, are there things that you have learned along the way that seem to be common threads across all of those about what it takes to be successful in conservation, regardless of where you're working and who you're working [00:09:00] with or what you're working on? What are some of the takeaways you've learned from your experience?

Libby: There are a lot of things that I've learned in the 18 plus years of experience. I would say one of the biggest lessons I've learned, and maybe because I've had to learn it as a highly sensitive person, is the importance of leaning into discomfort. To really listen to people and meet them where they're at, which is critical for effective conservation. 'Cause it's about building relationships. It can mean really having my views, one's views, challenged in many deep ways. So as a non-native woman working with Indigenous people, I've had to look at what I was born into on so many levels and recognizing like where I come from and what I can bring has allowed me to meet just some of the most incredible people and call them partners and to build amazing things together like BNGA. Like the Environmental Society [00:10:00] at University of Pretoria, I mentioned earlier.

I'll also tell a quick story about meeting people where they're at. Um, I think about a time when I was doing my master's research in South Africa, and again, this is a country that experienced apartheid, and I was speaking with a woman and it was very cold, it was windy, and I saw how, how, um, she was really uncomfortable by the weather and so I said, would you like to come sit in the van? I had, it was a white van that I'd rented. And she agreed and she sat in the van and she looked terrified, and it dawned on me in that moment people were disappeared in white vans under the apartheid regime, which really was not that that long ago when I was there in early two thousands. And so I thought to myself, I, I said, you know, how about I sit in the backseat and I'll put my keys up here on the dashboard? And I did [00:11:00] that. And from that moment, she was very comfortable talking with me. And so that story illustrates to me the importance of thinking about historical context when speaking with anyone and to really meet them where they're at and position myself in a way that can make them as comfortable as possible if they choose to speak to me.

I'll tell another story too about something that's really important for approaching conservation, which is to recognize that with any group, any community, people are different, especially looking or working with Indigenous communities. They're not the same. There are 16 Native Nations in the Northern Great Plains, and within each Nation, people have very different viewpoints and experiences as well. And to recognize that, and this was really brought home to me by an elder who I've really been lucky to work with over a number of years, through BNGA. And I was facilitating a meeting with her and other [00:12:00] Indigenous colleagues, and she very, very seriously expressed an opinion. That I quickly went with as I was facilitating, and she corrected me in front of the whole group and she said, don't just take my word for it. Ask who has a different opinion in this group. So she corrected me in front of the group. It was embarrassing, again, going back to discomfort, but she was right. And she gave me and all of us a gift, which is the importance of even someone with high status like an elder, it's important to recognize that there are other voices in the room and to allow those different perspectives to be shared until we can come to a healthy consensus as a group. And so I really appreciate that lesson that she taught me about conservation and working with people.

Alexander: Thank you for sharing all of those stories. There was so much in each of those that I just wanted like to dig into more and dissect. So many great like nuggets of wisdom, just challenging yourself, leaning into discomfort, facing challenges head on. Sometimes taking a back seat is the right answer to [00:13:00] go. The importance of listening to so many other viewpoints. There was so much there. But kind of on the challenge point, I want to dig into that a little bit because working in conservation is very much a passion driven field where there is that balance between idealism and hope, and the realities of overcoming challenges and obstacles to make lasting impact.

So how has your approach to conservation changed over time? What do you know now that you wish you knew earlier?

Libby: There's so many things that I wish I knew 18 years ago when I started, and I also know that we're human and I really believe in this idea of learning from failure and a growth mindset so that we're all here to learn together and experiment, ethically, like take risks ethically and wisely.

I, I think one of the things that I really wish I knew earlier was to not put so much expectations on myself to solve all problems or people's challenges that, that they're facing. That people, we [00:14:00] all have to carry our own challenges at the end of the day, and yet we can also build community with each other and provide support. And so having a better sense earlier on in my career of what that line is, which, a lot of people call boundaries, to make sure that I am not martyring myself or having burnout because I am trying to save the world. So being idealistic always, I think has that risk for many of us.

So, I think it's taken me a number of years in my career to really learn that line, and there's always a risk of being pushed into burnout because we're facing some really pressing challenges in conservation. And so just being able to have the skill of deciding what is within my area of control, what's in my area of influence, and letting the rest go and trusting that the universe will have our best interests at heart at the end of the day.

Alexander: That is a great piece of advice, [00:15:00] so that's definitely gonna be one that I'm gonna take to heart, so thank you for sharing that, and I think a lot of people as well. And actually, I'll ask again actually, if there's a best piece of advice that you have ever received or what advice you would give others, either starting out in this field or who even are well into their work now for how you can be an effective partner or leader in conservation?

Libby: There's a quote from Sam Rayburn who served in Congress decades ago, that I believe I put in my high school yearbook and has still followed me along, which is that any jack*** can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one. And I lean into that quote because it's so easy to criticize efforts.

It's so easy to say, that won't work. That won't work. Or just stop doing that. And it takes a real commitment to create something together with others. And [00:16:00] that has fueled what I do. And again, I think it's all about building relationships in conservation to be successful. Our challenges are very large and it takes all of us, and it takes people who are not just considered "experts" in quotes.

It's all of us. And I think hearing that people, so many people already do care. It's just often we don't know how to show we care. We don't know how to plug in. And so I think creating opportunities for the millions and millions of people who care, billions across the world of people who care, is what it's all about for me. Showing people that they all have a place, everyone listening has a place to contribute in conservation.

I don't care what your degree is in, I don't care how many years of experience you've had, you [00:17:00] can contribute and we need you to contribute to build a beautiful world together.

Alexander: That is so inspiring, and I'm going to build on that further and ask you what you think then makes someone a truly effective conservationist or a conservation leader?

Libby: I think there are several things. One is knowing what your core values are. There's so many distractions in our world. There's so many ways to get discouraged. Come back to your core values. Mine are love, community, and adventure, and they pair really well with conservation and seeking to build solutions with others, and that is my other key advice is lean into community. Sometimes it can feel really lonely in American society especially. We're a very individualistic culture, a majority culture. A beautiful thing about getting to work with Indigenous communities is I found they have inspired me in many ways. One of which is [00:18:00] to remind me over and over again to lean into community, or in my case, build community. Since often it's been hard to find in the place where I live, I've had to build community. Key example is I've hosted neighbor potlucks multiple times and gotten to know my neighbors that way. And I think that's a metaphor for conservation. Lean into people who have your shared values and find ways to build solutions together.

Alexander: I think that is the perfect way to wrap, lean into community, love, and adventure. That is, that's beautiful. Thank you, Libby. I could talk to you and hear your stories for hours and hours, but there were already so many pearls of wisdom in there. So I wanna thank you so much, Libby, for sharing your story and journey and for being so open with all of us.

And thank you for joining Wildlife Café.

Libby: Thank you again, Alexander. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you.