The Art of Observation: Meet our Community Engagement & Outreach Specialist!
We’re delighted to welcome Frances Cabrera Ngo to the Sageland Collaborative team as our Community Engagement & Outreach Specialist! In her role, Frances will build partnerships and facilitate outreach opportunities to engage communities across Utah in our science-based conservation work.
Frances and Tofka, a Milky Eagle Owl from Tracy Aviary.
Frances comes to our team with a background seeped in the care and conservation of wildlife, having previously spent four years working with our partners at the Tracy Aviary as their Conservation Outreach Biologist. Through these collaborative efforts, we’ve had the joy of working with Frances in many capacities — from designing project logos and stickers to bringing engaging events to life. We cannot wait to see how Frances continues to inspire in this role.
Get to know Frances in our interview below!
Can you tell us what you love about Sageland and the community?
In 2022, Frances designed the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey logo that is featured on our project stickers.
I’ve always been astounded by the wide range of projects that the Sageland team takes on, everything from shorebirds to beavers to herps! Their combo of data-driven research coupled with their strong connection to volunteers via community science is so admirable! (Also their social media is top-tier ecological meme quality!!!)
What are you most excited for in this role?
It’s been awesome to work with Sageland previously on bird-related projects and I’m so excited to delve into building new partnerships that reflect the diversity of voices and communities that exist in conservation! So if you’re reading this and you’re curious about what future community collaboration could look like, please reach out to me!
What is your "conservation origin story" - do you have experiences in nature or with people that have been particularly meaningful to your path?
Outdoor adventuring for work and fun is a big part of adult Frances' life!
I grew up in Southern California with my family hopping between cities like Alhambra, Chino, and Riverside. I was a kid who LOVED animals, memorizing armfuls of mammal encyclopedias from the library and telling everyone who’d listen, “That’s actually a male House Sparrow because…”. Most of my childhood was not filled with “outdoorsy” experiences per se; however, there was always a fascination for understanding the creatures and landscapes that I saw in books or documentaries. I thought I was destined to become a veterinarian (the only career I’d heard of for animal people) until the day I first volunteered at the Los Angeles Zoo. After meeting guest lecturers who used words like “oviparous” and “zygodactyl”, who talked about studying tigers or birds or amphibians as a job – tiny Frances was a changed person! I knew where I wanted to be: in the field of zoology, ecology, wildlife conservation.
Any notable conservation experiences you'd like to share?
Some of my favorite experiences along my journey have included: exploring Washington state with my undergrad cohort of Doris Duke Conservation Scholars, working in natural history collections, doing fieldwork in Kenya & Ecuador (my spark bird was the Golden-winged Manakin), and spending a year and a half in the Sonoran Desert working with the National Park Service!
What are some successes you've seen in your previous work?
Leading bachata at the Baile for Great Salt Lake.
Poster illustrated by Frances featuring Western Grebes.
One of the biggest successes I LOVEEEE to talk about is the Baile for Great Salt Lake! When I first moved to Utah, I had a lil sticky note above my desk labeled “future/dream events”. The biggest one that seemed out of reach was a vague “birds & bachata”. But after 3 years of building partnerships across the city and amazing support from the Plumas Colectiva and Tracy Aviary, we hosted a huge event in 2023 that brought together conservation and community-based organizations! In particular, we were intentional about highlighting connections between Black, Indigenous, & People of Color and the Great Salt Lake. It had amazing turnout and sparked great conversation between attendees and organizations that don’t usually share spaces together. And of course, there was SO MUCH JOY on the dance floor cuando fuimos perreando to the beats of Young Miko, KAROL G, y Prince Royce!
Why is community central to science-based conservation?
You cannot enact conservation without people. Who are the communities that are going to be most impacted by our conservation decisions and recommendations? Who has been historically barred from accessing nature or having a say in managing the ecosystems they’re part of? I think a lot of scientists go into this field for the love and curiosity of the natural world but that passion isn’t exclusive to formal scientists. Western science is just one way or process of understanding the world. And it will take strong community ties to expand the perspectives we have about how humans relate to nature and enact equitable science-based conservation for the multitude of different species and communities we’re all part of.
What value do you see artists and other creatives bringing to conservation work?
Artists have always been inspired by the nature around us and I’m no exception! One thing I often say is that being an artist makes you stop and really, really notice. The sloping intricacies of vanes on a feather, the gradation of browns found on a jackrabbit’s back. Art is a way of observing, just as science is. Art is also a powerful tool for communicating all the wonder we find in the field or as a way to represent the stories hidden within data and numbers. Artists and creatives are amazing at making work that invites others to wonder and ask questions and feel these connections.
What has been your experience as a scientific illustrator?
I’ve been scribbling ever since I was a child but got more “serious” in undergrad while doing fieldwork for the first time and wanted to create visual records of the amazing creatures I studied and places I was experiencing! I also began working at the University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates where I illustrated manuals for specimen preparation and co-organized sci-art exhibitions. And from there, I just kept incorporating my science into my art! More of Frances’ portfolio can be found at tinyzoologist.com
What else would you like people to know about you?
Frances’ fieldwork playlist will always include bachata or cumbia and she WILL ask you to dance. She’s also a poet, painter, spicy food enthusiast, and collector of dead things. Her favorite holidays include: Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Valentine’s/Palentine’s Day. She will immediately pull off the road if she spots a good bird while road tripping.
Welcome to the team, Frances! We are delighted to have your passion and talents amplifying the conservation of wildlife and landscapes in the West.
Interview by Sierra Hastings
Photos shared by Frances Ngo
