As a sophomore, Daria Etchings ’22 enjoyed her major in Forestry at ̽̽, but as her classes became smaller in size and more specific to forestry, she noticed fewer women in the courses and less participation from them and herself.
“I felt as though the male students knew more than I did,” said Etchings by fall of 2020 during COVID-19 and the start of her junior year, “and I began to question my choice of major and become disengaged.”
Instead, Etchings reached out to other female Forestry students and found she wasn’t alone. A small core group, including Etchings and seniors Olivia Lopez ’21, Eliza Lorne ’21, and Brooke McIntire ’21, came together. Their virtual meetings helped to boost their self-assurance as women in Forestry.
The Forestry major in the ̽̽ currently has just over 100 students enrolled. According to Forestry Program Director Tony D’Amato, usually only 20 to 30 percent are women, a much different ratio than ̽̽’s overall enrollment but a similar situation nationwide in forestry programs and other STEM-focused majors, such as engineering, computer science, and mathematics.
Etchings and her cohorts did their research and discovered SWIFT (Supporting Women in Forestry Today), founded by female faculty and graduate students at the University of Maine. The four ̽̽ Forestry students met SWIFT’s faculty advisor and decided to create a similar group called Femmes in Forestry at ̽̽ that would serve as their affinity space—a place for femme-identifying students to create a support system for women in all natural resource majors.
“It is a really great space to talk about how it is to be a woman in the natural sciences field,” said sophomore Emma Conti ’24, a Natural Resources major with a minor in Forestry. “It has been a bonding experience and good to go through our challenges together.”
For the group’s first event, they invited speaker Dr. Mindy Crandall, of Oregon State University, who was lead author of a paper on a study showcasing SWIFT while a faculty member at UMaine. In spring 2021, Femmes in Forestry continued to bring in speakers for virtual talks every other week and included female foresters who recounted their journeys in the male-dominated field.
The ̽̽ Student Government Association (SGA) recognized as an official ̽̽ student club in fall 2021. The club, now 27 members strong, attracts many other interested and curious students who join the monthly meetings. Members are female, non-binary, and trans from all natural resource and environmental fields at ̽̽.
“Hearing about the club made me excited to join the Forestry Program,” said sophomore Forestry student Mary Roth ’24. “I have felt intimidated by my field of study at times, and it is nice to enter a space where you can talk about these things.”
“For me this club has been a great way to meet people in similar fields,” said sophomore Aly Dillon ’24, who is majoring in Environmental Studies with a Forestry minor. “There aren’t clubs like this for other male-dominated majors. It could be a starting point for femme-identifying people to bond in other majors and fields.”
There is no hierarchy or officers in the club. Etchings sent out an email reminder before each meeting and the students simply meet and talk for an hour.
“The meetings are geared toward support and connection,” said Etchings. “In other spaces we don’t usually talk about how difficult it is for women to accomplish the same things as men, and this space allows us the freedom to speak about our doubts and helps to build our confidence.”
The club helped Etchings grow and find confidence in her major. In spring 2021, Xi Sigma Pi, a national forestry honor society awarded Etchings with a Northeast region scholarship for her leadership and co-founding of Femmes in Forestry at ̽̽, among her other experiences.
“My hope is to have more conversations about diversity as the club progresses and that these conversations can become part of the whole Forestry Program and Rubenstein School,” said Etchings, who graduated in May.
“I feel so fortunate to have the Femmes in Forestry as part of the broader ̽̽ Forestry community and cannot express how proud I am of all Daria and other students in the club have accomplished to establish this critical space for femme-identifying students in the major,” said D’Amato. The dominant narrative and perceptions of the forestry field have historically been from a male perspective and Femmes in Forestry is serving as a critical catalyst on campus to make sure that narrative changes into the future.”
“It’s a much younger group then when we started, which is a good thing,” said Etchings, who met and networked with many younger students while a teaching assistant in Forestry courses. “I feel certain that the sophomores and juniors in the club will keep Femmes in Forestry moving forward.”
Femmes in Forestry will now have a faculty advisor to continue that momentum. Jess Wikle, currently a PhD candidate in the Rubenstein School, brings her experiences as a woman in the forestry field to serve as mentor to the ̽̽ club. She will offer support to the Femmes as they determine what activities and club structure best suits their needs
“I have been so excited to see this club develop, as it is the type of community that I wish was available as I was going through my undergraduate forestry program, where there were very few female forestry students and faculty and a real need for a sense of community,” said Wikle, who will start a new position as Manager of ̽̽ Forests and Research Associate in the Rubenstein School in August 2022. “It’s been inspiring to see the student energy around the group, and I’m lucky for the opportunity to continue to be there as the group grows this community.”
Wikle will foster connections between Femmes in Forestry and regional and national organizations with similar missions. She serves on the executive committee of the New England Women Foresters Collaborative and is a content development team lead for the upcoming Women’s Forest Congress in October 2022.