This Session. Programming took place on Friday, April 25th, 2025 at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens. The Queer Ecologies session explored diversity of gender, sexuality, and community in the living world to strengthen our own work & lives. This session was led by Kati Henderson who is the University Partnerships and Community Engagement Program Coordinator for the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. We welcomed 50 members of the DEEP community to participate in a land acknowledgment of the NC Botanical Gardens, a guided discussion on queer ecologies, and hands-on learning with plant species in the gardens, deepening connections between ecological understanding and personal identity.

Goals:

  1. To define “Queer Ecologies” and how this framework challenges traditional notions of nature, gender, and sexuality.
  2. To understand the role of biological and cultural diversity in building inclusive and resilient communities.
  3. To identify ways to incorporate principles of queer ecology into their own environmental or community-based work.