Building bridges: communicating between ecologists and faith communities

“You can't do both – be a scientist and follow a religious calling. You have to choose.” My undergraduate advisor's words shocked me and catalyzed a bridge-building career path; decades later, I am doing both, as a Marianist Sister and a climate-change ecologist. As director of the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) and a scholar for faith and environment at the University of Dayton's Hanley Sustainability Institute (UD–HSI), I am engaged in dialogues, outreach, and public policy on science and justice issues. – LJ I've always been interested in science, faith, and communication. I am an aquatic ecologist and involved with the Massachusetts-based Faith Science Alliance for Climate Leadership (https://faithsciencealliance.org). I served as lead author on a National Association of Evangelicals report to American evangelicals about the nexus of poverty and climate change (Boorse et al. 2011). Together, my and LJ's work represents a growing trend among scientists to bridge gaps between science and faith communities. – DB Faith communities have become increasingly active in environmental care over the past 30 years, and scientists are more explicitly communicating with religious organizations about global ecosystem changes. Religious groups provide avenues for the 80% of adults worldwide who identify with a religion to educate themselves and organize to address societal needs. Prominent international scientists recognized this fact in 1990 by writing an open letter to religious communities (Sagan et al. 1990) that sparked the formation of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE; www.nrpe.org). This collaboration between US Evangelical, Jewish, mainline Protestant, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic communities identified the common tenets of these major traditions as a unified platform for dialogue and public policy. Their values include caring for the Earth, protecting species, living simply and sustainably, and providing for the disadvantaged and future generations. Other major world religions including Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have increasingly articulated environmental care as an essential value. Hitzhusen and Tucker (2013) summarized the growing potential of religion to achieve Earth stewardship. Pope Francis’ encyclical called all people to converse – regardless of personal belief or affiliation – to achieve an integral ecology (Francis 2015). Since then, bridge-building vocational opportunities for ecologists have surged. Science partners can help faith communities in the preservation of sacred sites and in the focal areas of biodiversity conservation, water, food, pollution remediation, and climate change. The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale (FORE) is one of the best sources for projects and resources, including job and student opportunities (http://fore.yale.edu/job-openings). Increasingly, university partnerships are creating jobs, such as ecologists studying the interaction of Ethiopian Orthodox communities and forest preservation (Cardelús et al. 2012), and engaging in citizen science. University staff implement sustainability on campus and link with urban faith-sponsored organizations (eg UD–HSI and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education [AASHE; https://www.aashe.org]). Most employment at the ecology–faith interface is found outside of academia. Religiously affiliated organizations (eg schools, nature centers, camps, retreat centers, farms, urban gardens, monasteries, retirement homes, development aid agencies) sometimes hire scientists, often as land managers or educators. A national interfaith FaithLands initiative links land stewardship and faith values (https://agrariantrust.org/faithlands;), and many land-based nonprofits such as MEEC (https://meec.center; Figure 1) integrate ecological restoration, spirituality, and justice. Opportunities abound for science–faith educators at private K–12 educational institutions, since approximately 78% of the 33,000 such institutions in the US are religiously affiliated (US Department of Education 2019). Scientific consulting is another option for ecologists to work for faith organizations by developing curricula, land management or sustainability plans, and policy. Examples of ecology–faith bridge-building jobs are found in the following organizations. The World Wildlife Fund's “Sacred Earth: Faiths for Conservation” program promotes biodiversity protection (https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/sacred-earth-faiths-for-conservation). Decades ago, scientists worked with The United Church of Christ to study racial minorities’ proximity to toxic waste sites, beginning the environmental justice (EJ) field (https://www.ucc.org/environmental-ministries_toxic-waste-20). Today, EJ still provides many science–faith opportunities (Jablonski and Poling 2003). Government scientists work with faith communities in official outreach capacities. Thirteen US government agencies have Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships: USAID (www.usaid.gov/faith-and-opportunity-initiatives/contact-us) and the US Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov/partnerships) are two. The US Fish and Wildlife Service Native American Program (https://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican) incorporates Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and indigenous values into wildlife protection. Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) partner with houses of worship to write and implement stewardship guides (https://bit.ly/2NKQekg). Some state agencies also have faith-community outreach programs. Positions in organizations and government agencies where staff interact with faith-based groups on ecological issues are best found by searching either the organization specifically or government job sites. Professional societies like the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) sometimes have positions dedicated to communication between their members and religious communities; the AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) initiative is one example. Internationally, the Faith for Earth initiative of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) strategically connects faith communities with environmental professionals to enhance local sustainable development and increase the success of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building bridges requires collaboration, communication, and organizational skills; knowledge of the science as well as of the religious group's culture; and a non-confrontational, respectful style. Cultural literacy is beneficial if you are working within a faith tradition that you do not practice. Try to build strong relationships with people within the faith tradition who can help you craft messages that convey science in the framework of the faith community worldview (eg illustrating the importance of the EPA's revised mercury limit by focusing on threats to the unborn). In addition to possessing subject-matter expertise in ecology, you will also need to know how to find credible information, as well as vouch for and explain (often misunderstood) scientific concepts. Organizational management skills (budgeting, fundraising, managing staff and volunteers, strategic planning, and networking) are beneficial to many interdisciplinary careers. You will benefit from training in public policy, interviewing, and effective use of social media. AAAS (Nisbet 2018) and the Society for Conservation Biology (Schaefer 2018) produced guides for scientists describing best practices for ecology–faith interactions; both may prove helpful for an ecologist interested in working with religious communities. Because the ecology–faith interface is an emerging field, career steps are not predictable. Preparing to apply your scientific training might involve gaining skills in science communication, mediation, education, policy, or general public outreach, supplemented with experiences that increase your religious literacy, such as taking courses in world religions or volunteering with a faith–environment initiative (www.volunteermatch.org). Many faith-based organizations use AmeriCorps (https://www.nationalservice.gov) to fill environmental jobs, and often make permanent hires from their own short-term workers. Salaries in the non-profit sector and government, where most science–faith jobs exist, are often lower than in industry, although benefits, flexibility, and job satisfaction may be higher. Job and internship postings in this field may use religious terms and unfamiliar keywords. In your searches, include these keywords: creation care, Earth justice, environment, stewardship, and sustainability. Full-time ecology–faith bridge-building jobs may be found in a variety of places: (1) umbrella organizations such as FORE (http://fore.yale.edu/job-openings), AASHE (https://bulletin.aashe.org/posts/job), and social impact job sites (eg www.idealist.org; www.indeed.com) or ecology career sites; (2) general ecology job sites that have many links to internships (for instance, https://www.bu.edu/cecb/resources/career-resources); (3) major nonprofit (including NGOs) and governmental or scientific organizations that partner with, provide outreach to, and educate religious or community groups (eg AAAS, Union of Concerned Scientists [www.ucsusa.org], and UNEP); (4) interfaith organizations and ecumenical councils (umbrella networks within Christianity); and (5) local/regional religious and spiritual organizations involved in justice, social action, retreats, or implementing the SDGs, including those with large land holdings. Decades ago, some ecologists were more skeptical of the value of collaborating with faith communities. As opportunities multiply, ecologists can provide the reliable information needed to guide community sustainability efforts. We suggest that educators support students’ participation in special interdisciplinary sessions at meetings; promote volunteer work; and encourage community-based, interdisciplinary, or applied dimensions in their scientific research. As Pope Francis said, science has never been so clearly needed to guide human actions to safeguard the future of the planet (Francis 2016). Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.