Women play an increasingly pivotal role in rangeland education as our profession adapts to an expanding diversity of rangeland values and stakeholder interests. Like other natural resource disciplines, rangeland ecology and management was historically dominated by men. The range managers, agency personnel, consultants, scientists, outreach specialists and educators that founded and built our profession were, with few exceptions, men. Over the last 30 years, rangeland education programs nationwide have undergone considerable evolution to be more inclusive of contemporary issues facing rangelands including a higher emphasis on resource conservation and multiple use management. This expansion of traditional rangeland education programs has been accompanied by a dramatic influx of non-traditional students and educators. The gender demographic in rangeland education has progressively become more balanced similar to patterns observed in other biological and agricultural disciplines. The objective of this paper is to discuss the history of women as rangeland educators and highlight the specific role that greater participation of women in rangeland education plays in mentoring and preparing a cohort of professionals ready to face the modern challenges of rangeland management. We will also discuss research findings from related disciplines that suggest a benefit of having greater gender balance in the rangeland profession. Finally, we will suggest strategies for retaining and sustaining women in rangeland education to advance the profession of rangeland management and ensure the relevance of our profession well into the future.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.