Lauren Pharr
1. Lauren Pharr is an avian ecologist, award-winning conservationist, and current PhD candidate at North Carolina State University. Below, she walks us through her journey in
conservation, revealing what her day-to-day work entails and how education plays a role in her efforts!
Growing up in the rural town of Waxhaw, North Carolina, Pharr credits her father, who is a hunter, and uncle, who was an avid backyard birder as the ones who unknowingly got her interested in wildlife and birds. Pharr would have the life-long passion of becoming a veterinarian, but would go on to attend Wingate University with a different motif. As a junior in undergrad, Pharr decided on pursuing an Environmental Biology degree after taking a course in Wildlife Biology with her research advisor Edward Mills, and would then go on to research changes in vocal harmonics of the Chinese Blue-breasted Quail. Pharr presented this research at the 2019 Association of Southeastern Biologists Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, the 2019 Southeastern Undergraduate Research Symposium at Queens University, and the 2019 Wellspring Symposium at Wingate University where she won Wingate University’s Undergraduate Research Award in Pure and Applied Sciences. Graduating with her B.S. in Environmental Biology in 2019, she would attend NCSU to pursue her M.S. degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology under her advisor Dr. Caren Cooper. Pharr’s thesis examined the impacts of urban noise and light pollution on adult avian survivorship using data from the citizen science project Neighborhood Nestwatch. Pharr was awarded research grants from the Alongside Wildlife Foundation and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, both of whom supported her urbanization work. Pharr’s research was published in 2023, titled “Using Citizen Science Data to Investigate Annual Survival Rates of Resident Birds in relation to Noise and Light Pollution.”
Education plays a huge role in Pharr's conservation efforts: As an engaged and award-winning science writer and a member of NCSU’s Leadership in Public Science Cluster, Pharr finds importance in engaging with the public and showcases her work and passions through science communication in the forms of public speaking, science writing, educational outreach and other media opportunities. She has given over 40 talks to professional societies and organizations including the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, contributed articles to BBC Wildlife, the Cincinnati Zoo, and eBird, has been a featured guest on podcasts for Three Rivers Land Trust Campfire Conversations, American Birding Association, and a segment on Ologies with Alie Ward, and has been featured in articles in Discover Magazine, National Geographic and WIRED.
Lead photo by Mike Fernandez/National Audubon Society
2. Through your research surrounding the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker species (RCW), what is the relationship between habitat health and these
birds? Specifically, how are longleaf pines critical to the species’ future?
The RCW is endemic to the longleaf pine ecosystem. It is the only species of woodpecker to excavate cavities for nesting in living, old growth pine trees, a process that can take several years. An almost complete loss of habitat has been responsible for the species’ population decline. The longleaf pine provides essential resources for RCW cavities and foraging, but this tree itself is now an endangered species. Once covering an estimated 59 to 91 million acres, today, due to logging, longleaf forests cover only 3 million acres. Though still listed as endangered, RCW populations have continued to increase thanks to successful management of the longleaf pine ecosystem through frequent prescribed burning, as well as the construction of both artificial drilled cavities and insertions of nest boxes in living pine trees by forest managers. The research-based North Carolina Climate Report projects a continued increase in temperatures, precipitation, storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, and sea level rise, much of which places the longleaf pine ecosystem at greater risk, particularly trees along the coast. As a result, 63 out of 124 known RCW populations are vulnerable to hurricanes, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with 56 of those populations having low or very low ability to withstand environmental or demographic changes.
3. What are some creative ways in which you document these birds within their natural environment? What are some of the intricacies you have observed related to their social systems?
In order to carry out my work with RCWs, I had to go through some very intense training to learn what it takes to monitor and manage RCWs. Red-cockaded woodpeckers are a cooperative breeding species who live in family groups called “clusters.” These clusters consist of a specific territory with multiple cavity trees that the family uses to roost, nest, and forage. It took me a while to learn to navigate both on foot and by vehicle, but with the help of my compass and the handy-dandy app by Avenza, which housed high-resolution topography maps of my clusters, these tools would be my best friends throughout most of my field season. A huge part of the RCW monitoring process is climbing the glorious longleaf pine; the Sandhills Gamelands is known to have some of the best longleaf pine habitat. RCW researchers carry out many tasks, from drilling artificial cavities to collecting and banding the chicks. All involve climbing. Once I had the climbing part down, I began to learn how to “pull” RCW nestlings from the cavity, which happens around day 7 when they are ready to band. This involves a handmade device made with tubes and nylon guitar string. Once inserted in the cavity, it literally feels like fishing. You never know when you will hook an RCW nestling until you feel it at the end of the line. After slowly pulling the nestling out and having it secure, banding can begin. Each cluster has its own band combo, which consists of a specific 3 band color combo on one leg (representing that specific family group). Once the bands are secure but not constricting, the climb back up the ladder happens again, and the nestlings are placed back in the cavity. Once all the nestlings are inside, we leave them with a whisper “good luck” as we climb back down and head to the next cluster. Fledge checks allow you to determine how many nestlings successfully fledged the nest, which makes up the majority of the large RCW data set maintained by Jeff Walters. This is also where I got to practice more on my scoping skills. In order to identify the nestlings, you have to read their color band combos through a high powered spotting scope. This is how we continue to contribute to the long term survival and reproductive success data, which happens to be one of the best managed long term data sets for an endangered species.
4. Learn what threats RCW’s face, the ways Lauren is working with others to help mitigate these threats, and what key partnerships she has formed in her work that has helped scale her impact for the red-cockaded woodpecker species!
Because the process of cavity construction can take years, it is difficult for RCWs to move to a new forest, which increases their dependence on existing old-growth forest territory, even as it shrinks. In addition, longer rainy and dry seasons make it more difficult to effectively manage RCW habitats, particularly by means of prescribed burns, which keep hardwoods from replacing the longleaf pines. But, if large storms continue to knock over cavity trees and if longleaf pines then can’t replenish, the RCW population will be decimated. Additionally, over the past two years, RCW populations in the Sandhills, Fort Liberty (Formerly Ft. Bragg), and coastal Florida have been experiencing “brood loss,” or a decrease in the numbers of nestlings, which usually occurs due to a lack of natural resources. We continue to develop many hypotheses about why RCWs are experiencing brood loss, including factors related to climate change, like the timing of the arrival of certain food sources and overcrowding of RCWs in some areas. As an avian ecologist, I’m testing multiple research questions about RCWs and accessing a 40-year high-quality data set, along with additional data I will be collecting, in search of answers that will inform better outcomes for this species.
With her interests focusing on the behavioral ecology and conservation of birds, Pharr’s current research focuses on investigating the impacts of climate change on avian behavioral responses. As a 2021-’22 Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Global Change Fellow, Pharr began researching the potential impacts of climate change on brood loss in the federally endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) under the directions of Dr.’s Caren Cooper (advisor) and Christopher Moorman (co-advisor). Pharr’s RCW research has been featured on PBS’s Sci NC, and has led to many collaborations with various partners, including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Sandhills Ecological Institute. Pharr and her collaborators were recently awarded a contract with The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Department of Defense through the 2022 Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Challenge Grant to support her RCW work. Pharr has also been an award recipient for other research grants (totaling close to $70,000) for her RCW work, including recognition from the Carolina Bird Club, American Wildlife Conservation Foundation, and the Animal Behavior Society.
5. While working alongside many organizations and conservationists for the betterment of our natural world, Lauren also works towards increasing representation and inclusivity for those in conservation who come from marginalized backgrounds. Learn how she began this journey in helping others in conservation!
Becoming certified by NCSU’s Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity in 2020, Pharr participates in many DEI-related initiatives including speaking on topics related to representation in writing through diversity, promoting diversity in nature, and field safety. Pharr has many active roles at NCSU, including serving on her Graduate Student Association as well as her college’s DEI Committee. She is also a co-founder of the non-profit Field Inclusive, which seeks to support marginalized and historically underrepresented minorities who work in the natural science field. As a Black Woman in STEM and in the Wildlife Biology Field, she continues to strive for inclusivity. In February of 2024, Pharr was the recipient of an NCSU Equity for Women award in the student category. Becoming a representative and role model for minorities in STEM has continued to be one of Pharr's goals -- more minorities, and in particular People of Color, need to feel comfortable and inspired to pursue a career in Natural Resources where there are not many people who look like them.
6. You co-founded a non-profit called Field Inclusive, Inc. Your mission states that it serves to amplify and support marginalized and historically excluded biologists and field researchers. How does your non-profit help bridge the gap for many who are looking for equal opportunity and acceptance in conservation? What positive outcomes are emerging from the efforts of Field Inclusive?
Field Inclusive (FI) strives to provide tangible and actionable improvements in the natural resources by addressing social field safety issues related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. We seek to support all field biologists in the natural sciences through identifying and addressing field safety issues, developing field safety resources, and supporting marginalized researchers through financial aid and experiential learning opportunities. FI continues to provide awareness and safety resources addressing the unique issues faced by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and other underrepresented scientists in the field. We hosted webinars, virtual and in-person workshops, and participated in roundtable discussions surrounding field safety issues. We continued to develop and update free online resources. Most excitingly, we began development of our online field safety training course! We also welcomed aboard four new board members and continued with celebrations of our amazing community! We hosted our 2nd #FieldInclusiveWeek, where we highlighted the awesome careers of marginalized researchers. We were proud to be able to compensate all of our event speakers. In addition, we were able to financially support 7 marginalized students with research grants, travel awards, and fellowships to support paid learning opportunities this year (2024), and four individuals our first year (2023).
7. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in the many aspects of your work and what drives you to overcome the obstacles that you may encounter in the world of conservation?
I use to be super intimidated by it at first, but now I have become more confident explaining to people why I do what I do, especially when they initially don’t understand the purpose of studying wildlife in the first place. As a researcher and science communicator, my job is to communicate my research not only in the form of a manuscript but also communicate to the public so that they are more aware about wildlife and the factors that we as humans produce that are interfering with their survival on our planet. When I get questions from people wanting to contribute towards better practices to help wildlife, or when I get comments like “Oh, I never knew that, where can I learn more”, then I know I have done my job successfully.
From wildlife’s perspective, we need more people studying the outdoors and wildlife interactions as a whole so that we continue to better understand and therefore develop more effective conservation strategies. As a BIPOC in this field, I get many inquiries from other BIPOC’s simply asking me how I got here and where they can start. Seeing someone who looks like you in a field that lacks representation is mind-blowing to a lot of the younger BIPOC generation. I want to be one of those lights at the end of the tunnel to let other younger minorities know that it is possible for them to get exactly where I am.
My personal experience while at NC State pursuing a career in fisheries, wildlife, and conservation biology (FWCB) as a BIPOC has been very positive. My lab is very welcoming and encouraging, my advisor has been extremely helpful during my time here, and the FWCB faculty with whom I have built wonderful professional relationships have been nothing but helpful throughout my program and professional development.
8. Is there any advice that you’ve been given that you felt was valuable in helping you get where you are today? What advice would you give others who want to start a career in conservation?
Do not let where you come from, what you look like, or how you identify stop you from doing what you aspire to do. Although you may be confronted with hardships and challenges along the way, do not let that stop you from seeking help or advice. Some universities are getting better by making sure that they are incorporating safe spaces for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)’s as well as having additional resources available. By serving as a diversity, equity and inclusion graduate student representative on one of NC State’s Forestry and Environmental Resources departmental committees, I would like to be able to serve as a voice for other BIPOC’s and make sure that from the student perspective, our thoughts and concerns are being heard and incorporated.
Also, although it may be a challenge for some, I encourage you to try and seek help from others, whether it be your advisor or other faculty, regardless of their race. I have had nothing but positive experiences from everyone who I have encountered at NC State as a BIPOC, but I ask that you keep in mind that my experiences do not define every other BIPOC and their experience. It will ultimately be what you as an individual are comfortable with.
