Randy Hartmann

he/him
Undergraduate Fellow
Team Humans

Randy completed the Shaw Institute for Field Training (SIFT) as a high schooler in 2016. Since then, he has spent time at Tyson working with a visiting researcher, but this is his first time in 7 years participating in Tyson summer programming.

Do you remember what being a SIFTer was like?

So when I started SIFT, I didn't even know that biological field work and conservation work was a thing. So that experience opened me up to these possibilities and I was like, oh my god, I want to do this. And it was also – this is kind of an odd thing – one of the first experiences I had where my gender identity was truly, like, acknowledged and accepted. I got to stay in the boys' cabin at SIFT, which was like the coolest experience for young Randy. Something that really stuck with me was just how accepting the Tyson community was. And then I kind of put that experience at the back of my mind. I knew I wanted to do something in environmental work, but didn't really know what. I went through high school, and eventually something clicked that was like, I don't wanna do anything else. I want to be outside for the rest of my life.

Randy has sustained an interest in ecological field work since his time at SIFT, and has gained field research experience near and far. This summer, however, he is working on Team Humans, with a bit of a different focus.

Do you have a favorite thing you're working on this summer?

I mean, I'm a little biased, but definitely my independent project. Currently I am trying to conduct a survey to get other trans people’s experiences in the field, because I had a negative experience in the field. I'm trying to get a collection of shared experiences from people in terms of what issues they have faced in relation to their gender identity. And then I'm going to come up with a framework for working with students that identify as trans so that mentors have a better understanding of what they should or should not be doing.

I kind of had an “aha” moment at the beginning of this summer and was like, this is something I need to do. I've also never done a project like this – I've always done more traditional [research], like lab work, field work, poster presentations about data I collected. So this is like a very different type of research, but I'm really enjoying it.

Has this kind of research experience changed how you might think about yourself as a researcher going forward?

I mean, it definitely opened up some possibilities for me. I knew I was interested in education and outreach, but I don't think I realized that I could be doing research in education and outreach. So that definitely has me thinking about potential future steps, but I'm still kind of just figuring it out.