Photo courtesy of Deidric Davis
The moment Deidric Davis was asked if he wanted to host his own podcast, he already knew what he would call it: Black Nerds Matter.
Davis, 22, is a marine scientist who graduated from Eckerd College this year. Growing up, he was always interested in science television shows like “River Monsters” and ones on the Discovery Channel. But he rarely saw Black scientists featured on them and always thought that when he had a show one day, he would change that.
The podcast was born from a panel discussion Davis was on with environmental engineer Walter Smith, Jr. Community radio station WMNF’s station manager Randi Zimmerman was there and invited him for an on-air interview. He impressed Zimmerman, who thought he had a great voice for radio, Davis said.
Dwaine Terry, the station’s chief of technical operations, offered him a podcast. Davis knew he would focus on Black people working in STEM, especially marine science.
Terry was impressed with Davis’ proposal and his motivation and dedication to his platform.
“I thought there are probably a ton of people out there who would love to contribute to this conversation,” Terry said. “So I’m one of the people who would love to listen… and hear what people are … experiencing and where they’re traveling and what they’re seeing. His project gives me that opportunity to have that experience.”
The Diversity Project and Black in Marine Science
In the beginning, Davis had a small network of Black scientists. But thanks to an internship in French Polynesia through UCLA called The Diversity Project, he met many Black and Brown scientists.
This is perfect, he thought to himself. “I’ll never run out of people to interview,” he said.
His network expanded even more through his work with the organization Black in Marine Science, which started out as a week highlighting Black voices in the field. It’s now expanded into a nonprofit.
There are eight episodes of Black Nerds Matter and three more coming up. They’re available on wmnf.org and Spotify.
At the beginning of December, Davis will head to San Diego for BIMS Week, where he’ll attend events and swap knowledge with other scientists. He’ll also participate in a live round table discussion that will get recorded for the podcast.
He recently got a job as a protected species observer for the National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Davis considers his scientific work like research, papers, and environmentalism his “personal shine” — he wants the world to see his merit as a scientist.
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But the podcast is his form of community outreach and giving back.
“This is really to highlight other people,” he said. “I realized a lot of people I know that do this really cool, groundbreaking research never even had anyone ask them for an interview And I think that’s crazy.”
His ultimate goal is to move to San Diego for work. Since graduation, he’s moved home, to Deltona. He had to get his own recording equipment as he records remotely now.
But he’s forever grateful to the station for giving him a start.
“They gave me a platform to even try to do the stuff I’m doing,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do stuff like this and to hear people have a genuine interest makes me very happy.”
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