The WeOutHere Podcast featuring Ana Silverio

:rotating_light: I’m on a podcast! :tropical_fish:

I had the honor of being a guest on The WeOutHere Podcast hosted by Alexi Grousis and Allison Jones to talk about the first time I ever went snorkeling! Check it out here on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or join their Pateron.

The WeOutHere Pod was created by Alexi and Allison to have a place to hear the stories of Black, brown, and indigenous folks in science and nature. It is at its core a storytelling podcast where its central goal is simply to normalize the presence of Black, brown, Indigenous, and other historically excluded voices in science and the outdoors. In this episode, I chat about my week at Field School where I had the opportunity to go snorkeling for the very first time. It was an unforgettable experience and I’m so thankful to have been able have it in the safe and inclusive field environment Field School creates on R/V Garvin. I also want to acknowledge Minorities in Shark Sciences whom without their work to increase accessibility to valuable opportunities for aspiring shark scientists, I would not have connected with Field School for this marine science field experience.

Reflecting on my experience on a podcast in the context of “wow I’m an actual scientist”, was a surreal feeling. #ImposterSyndrome can be a huge obstacle in outreach work for historically excluded scientists as we navigate spaces that lack representation, community and sometimes safety. I often think about the ways I can be perceived by others and the potential toxic comments I might endure if my outreach ever goes viral. This is an unfortunate dark side to science communication for those of us who are more vulnerable to these types of attacks. I also understand that I still hold privilege in that others experience this at a much higher severity than I ever will. That is why I am grateful for spaces like The WeOutHere Pod, MISS and Field School where I felt safe, supported and encouraged to be myself. I hope my story can normalize our experiences in the outdoors, in nature and in science as Black, brown and indigenous folks are heavily underrepresented in the “outdoor lifestyle” medium. Being on this podcast was an amazing experience and honestly haven’t laughed this hard in a quite some time.

Alexi and Allison, y’all were gems!! Thanks for all you do.

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