We’re delighted to join in on the chorus of congratulations to Amber Wendler and Shaz Zamore on the publication of their book Been Outside: Adventures of Black Women, Nonbinary, and Gender Nonconforming People in Nature.

    Both “graduates” of Communicating Science, GRAD 5144, Wendler and Zamore served as editors of the collection of 22 narratives. They recruited contributors, found a publisher, edited submissions, met with narrators to support and encourage one another, and are now sharing the stories through book events and talks. 

    Aimed at lifting up stories that have been historically excluded, Been Outside makes the point that many more kinds of people enjoy the outdoors than the typical white American family pictured in ski resort brochures – and that such people have “been outside” throughout history. 

    “[A] child’s observations of nature on her walk to school and bike rides in urban settings represent outdoor recreation as much as summitting Mount Kilimanjaro does,” the editors say in their introduction. And the book contains stories that run the gamut of outdoor experiences, including both challenges and triumphs, from field research to climbing and from fishing to snowboarding.

    The editors hope this collection of essays and poetry will redefine “outside” and who may care for it; help readers to embrace expertise that exists outside of Western scientific knowledge; and center Black, Indigenous, and Latine values.

    Wendler, a Ph.D. candidate in the biological sciences at Virginia Tech, and Zamore, the STEAM outreach coordinator and instructor at the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, both have extensive experience with research, field work, and science communication and outreach – as well as with outdoors adventures. But neither expected to be announcing the publication of a book at this point in their careers, they say. 

    “Due to the climate crisis, this work is infused with a powerful sense of urgency,” they write. “Perhaps we are not creating a new world but instead are feeling our way back to a precolonized one.” 

    Sales of the book, available from Mountaineers Books and local bookstores, support Humble Hustle, a nonprofit organization in Roanoke, Virginia, that “empowers black youth and connects diverse communities by creating innovative, inclusive spaces that inspire hope and promote giving.”