The American Forest Foundation’s work is based off the important biologists and botanists who laid the groundwork for healthy forest stewardship, conservation, and climate change action. June is Pride Month, which is a time of celebration for LGBTQ+ people and a time to honor the contributions they have made, including in the fields of conservation, environmentalism, and other natural sciences.  

In this blog, we feature a few of the many LGBTQ+ scientists who have made significant contributions with their work and research and connect their foundations to the conservation work we do today. 

Sir Francis Bacon

It is widely recognized that Sir Francis Bacon identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community, however he had to suppress his identity in much of his work because being LGBTQ+ was punishable by death in England and his brother-in-law was executed for being gay. Bacon’s scientific method provides the groundwork that programs like the Family Forest Carbon Program build its work upon, including our unique methodology to measure carbon capture in family forests. By recording and analyzing the growth in forests, we can create high-integrity carbon credits to combat climate change. 

Alexander Van Humboldt 

As a naturalist, explorer, and scientist, Alexander Van Humboldt (1769 – 1859) is credited with creating geography as a unique and distinct field of study. Van Humboldt took a journey throughout Latin America from 1799 – 1804, the second recorded scientific voyage to South America from Europe. As a natural researcher, he used the modern scientific method to question the world around him and better understand the landscape. He was also one of the first people to theorize the movement of continents, the way air and water move across global routes, and plate tectonics. When Charles Lyell authored Principles of Geology, he drew heavily from Van Humboldt’s early publications. 

Van Homboldt died in 1859 and posthumously, his peers recognized that he was part of the LGBTQ+ community because of relationships with army officer Reinhard von Haeften and Wilhelm Gabriel Wegener. However, Van Homboldt destroyed his personal papers and letters prior to his death, so there isn’t much information about the connections he had with his peers. His work mapping plant distribution across three continents supports modern flora stewardship, such as supporting native species, growing mature forest ecosystems and understanding the soil and growth types of various woodlands. Today, AFF uses all of these practices to build programs like our Growing Mature Forests practice.

Vita Sackville-West 

Known as the “best-selling bisexual baroness,” she wrote over 35 books, predominantly fiction. In 1913, she married British politician Harold Nicolson. They had an open marriage; during their relationship, Sackville-West had many famous lovers, such as writer Virginia Woolf. She also regularly wrote gardening articles for the Observer. Her contributions to the natural world include a passionate take on floral communication. With her award-winning poetry, she was able to write about plant life in a way that captured a reader’s attention.

How do I love you, beech-trees, in the autumn,
Your stone-grey columns a cathedral nave
Processional above the earth's brown glory!

I was a child, and I loved the knurly tangle
Of roots that coiled above a scarp like serpents,
Where I might hide my treasure with the squirrels.

Sackville-West was also able to create a series of firm principles in the field of floral stewardship. She was matter-of-fact in her gardening choices, though never being too tidy in the garden, and always had both an architectural and seasonal plan for her plants. AFF utilizes her work to support healthy and diverse plant growth to develop our tailored forest stewardship plans for foresters.

LGBTQ+ scientists have made a significant impact in the field of natural science. Our work at the American Forest Foundation and the Family Forest Carbon Program is owed, in part, to these and many others from diverse communities. We are proud to honor them and build upon the foundations they have created.