Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium, 12–16 January 2020, Boston, Massachusetts
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium, sponsored by the American Meteorological Society, will be part of the 100th AMS Annual Meeting to be held 12–16 January 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts.
AMS advances atmospheric and related sciences, technologies, applications, and services for the benefit of society. We work with our members to contribute to a positive future for all people, for nature, and for the Earth – a future that offers everyone the opportunity to thrive. In order to achieve this goal, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) must be a thread into who we are, how we work, who we work with, and which challenges we tackle.
The first Symposium on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will host a number of exciting activities during the Annual meeting, including a Presidential Town Hall entitled "Confronting Bullying, Discrimination, and Harassment in the Geosciences"; a bystander training workshop entitled "Work climate: Responding to Sexual Harassment" led by the ADVANCEGeo team; and a number of joint sessions will take place with this Symposium that highlights efforts that value diversity and support inclusion, which strengthens the entire weather, water, and climate community.
Tuesday’s Presidential Town Hall will feature a panel of individuals from AMS leadership and experts from outside of the Society, to have a facilitated discussion of scientific ethics and conduct, including topics such as harassment, discrimination, bullying, and bias. By having an open conversation with members of the Society, we hope to bring forth increased awareness of these issues, and specific actions that can reduce or eliminate the problem. Ultimately, this will promote a more inclusive, equitable, vibrant, and diverse AMS, and will help to improve the professional climate and culture of the society.
Meredith Hastings, Associate Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University and Erika Marin-Spiotta, Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison will lead the Wednesday Workshop that is scheduled from 1:30-4:00 p.m. The focus will be on how harassment and bullying endanger the professional and personal well-being of individuals and their communities, creating hostile climates that contribute to the persistent underrepresentation of people of color and white women in STEM disciplines. This interactive workshop will 1) identify factors that contribute to hostile and exclusionary behaviors in scientific research environments, including field environments; 2) provide community bystander intervention strategies; and 3) share resources available to protect our community and for leadership to promote cultural change at different levels. We also discuss recent initiatives by professional societies and U.S. research funding agencies to address harassment and bullying. This workshop was developed by the ADVANCEGeo Partnership team, with funding from the U. S. National Science Foundation ADVANCE program to transform workplace climate through bystander intervention and research ethics training. This 150-minute session will consist of: 1) 40-minute presentation of information, 2) 30-minute training of bystander intervention strategies, 3) 60-minute discussion of real world scenarios and active practice of bystander intervention, and 5) 20-minute discussion and final debriefing.
If you would like to participate in the Workshop on Work Climate: Responding to Sexual Harassment, please be sure to sign up via the google form, https://forms.gle/81CXxQZ14evRBj6T6 by 16 December 2019.
Joint sessions are being planned with the Tropical Meteorology and Tropical Cyclones One-Day Symposium and the 29th Conference on Education.
For information on inclusivity at the 100th Annual Meeting, visit: https://annual.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/2020/your-annual/safe-and-inclusive-meetings/.
A complete schedule of events organized by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium can be found here.
For additional information, please contact Melissa Burt, [email protected]