Description:
Born in 1948, Wayne R. Ferren, Jr. grew up in Camden, New Jersey. He went to the Rutgers Camden College of Arts and Sciences from 1966 to 1970 and majored in geology. He worked in the herbarium and was influenced by faculty member Ralph E. Good. In the interview, he discusses the anti-war movement, draft lottery, national student strike and campus shutdown in 1970. He helped to organize the first Earth Day at Rutgers-Camden. Ferren traces his experiences in applying for conscientious objector (CO) status and the process of consulting with the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, being denied by the draft board, and ultimately receiving CO status during an appeal. During his two years of alternative service, he worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. He received his master's degree in biology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. He spent twenty-six years at the University of California-Santa Barbara, first as the curator of the herbarium and then as the Executive Director of the Museum of Systematics and Ecology (MSE) and Director of Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve and Assistant Director of the UCSB Natural Reserve System. Since 2004, he has worked as an environmental consultant. He has been active in environmental justice and conscientious objector organizations. Ferren is the author of Conscientious Objector: A Journey of Peace, Justice, Culture, and Environment. His website can be found at https://www.waynerferrenjr.com/
