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JEDI: Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

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NES-LTER Diversity and Inclusion Statement

Together, individuals from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and Wellesley College cooperatively create the Northeast U.S. Shelf Long Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) team.

As a working research team, we strive to create and maintain a diverse and inclusive culture built on mutual respect and understanding. We welcome and encourage diversity in our team members. We are committed to a sustained, multi-institution effort to advance inclusive excellence and foster belonging. We seek to create pathways of opportunity beginning with primary education and leading to higher education, post graduate work, research and lifetime careers. We believe that a diverse team will give us greater understanding of the scientific questions that we are exploring in the NES-LTER project.

Diversity within the NES-LTER team means understanding, respecting, and valuing differences in age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and veteran status.

Action Plan

JEDI Action Plan for the Northeast Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research (NES LTER) project

Preamble: Any project is only as good as it’s people.

Overarching objectives:

  1. Enhance and sustain diversity within our project by taking concrete, measurable, and accountable actions to increase the representation of historically minoritized and marginalized individuals. (Recruit)
  2. Foster a sense of belonging and equity for all participants by adopting practices and principles that value all individuals regardless of affinity group, career stage, or role in the project. (Retain)
  3. Nurture and guide team members to the next stages of their education or careers through mentoring and advising approaches that value their experience and well-being and are not solely focused on science. (Promote)

The actions planned to attain these goals can be found in this ever-evolving document.

Code of Conduct

Northeast Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) project’s Code of Conduct

The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network aims to foster the exchange of scientific ideas and research strategies, establish and renew collaborations, and build a diverse community of scientists. The NES-LTER team is committed to creating a safe, productive, and inclusive environment for all, going above and beyond the rules and guidelines outlined by our institutions. This code of conduct applies to our work and interactions in team meetings, at conferences, in the lab, and particularly in the field, where long shifts and close proximity make it all the more crucial that we treat each other respectfully.

Link to our Code of Conduct

Land and Coastal Waters Acknowledgement

Native lands upon which our institutions now sit:

WHOI and UMass Dartmouth: Wampanoag Nation
URI: Narragansett Nation
Wellesley: Massachusett Nation

The NES-LTER team recognizes that the institutions with which we are affiliated sit on and the coastal waters we study border on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Massachusett Nations. We acknowledge the painful history of erasure of indigenous peoples and their culture, and honor and respect the many diverse indigenous peoples still connected to their land and surrounding waters. We also honor and respect the substantial traditional and local knowledge they have of our regional waters and marine ecosystems that we strive to understand.

This map shows the ancestral and unceded homelands and coastal waters of the Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Massachusett Nations on which our affiliate institutions now stand. (credit: Native Land Digital)

Opportunities

Team Mentorship programs

  • Cruise Mentorship: The purpose of this program is to foster a sense of belonging on the NES-LTER cruises. Going to sea can be an amazing experience but we understand that it can also be overwhelming for a first-time participant. Relatively new NES-LTER cruise participants are matched with other participants who have been on multiple NES-LTER cruises. This program is entirely an opt-in program for both the cruise participant and mentor.
  • Career Mentorship: The purpose of this program is pair students, postdocs and technicians with team members who bring a wide variety of disciplines and educational levels from our four different research institutions. The goal is to build relationships that can support career opportunities beyond the project.

Research Experience for Undergraduates

We enthusiastically embrace the participation of undergraduates from traditionally underrepresented students in the marine sciences. Some specific ways for undergraduate students to get involved in NES-LTER research are:

  • Woods Hole PEP program: a  10-week long multi-institutional program in the summer that is designed primarily for college juniors and seniors from underrepresented groups in marine and ocean sciences. The program is located in Woods Hole, MA and includes a four week course in global climate change and a ten week research project, the focus of which can be NES-LTER research.
  • URI SURFO Program: a 10 week, summer REU program designed for science, math and engineering students who have just completed their junior year. Participants will evolve from a “rookie” in oceanography  to a full-fledged member of a research team.
  • Wellesley College Science Center Fellowships (for Wellesley students only): Opportunities at Wellesley for students from traditionally underrepresented groups include the First Year Apprentice Program that matches students to research mentors their first year, the Sophomore Early Research Program that gives financial support to sophomores for conducting research in a lab during the academic year, the Clare Boothe Luce program which supports juniors with mentorship and financial research support throughout the summer and academic year, and the McNair Scholars program which supports students from low-income, first generation , and historically underrepresented groups in successfully preparing for and entering doctoral study. Additionally, Wellesley students can participate in the Wellesley Science Center Summer Research Program for a deep dive into research during the summer.
  • WHOI Summer Student Fellowship Program: a summer research program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where students do research in collaboration with a faculty sponsor, attend talks, and interact with current MIT-WHOI joint program graduate students.

Diversifying our Research Team

Prospective scientists from all backgrounds, including principal investigators, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and technical staff, are encouraged to contact project principal investigators with whom they share research interests to discuss opportunities to get involved with the project.

We particularly encourage synergistic proposals with strong potential to enhance JEDI efforts within the project from principal investigators at non-affiliated institutions, as well as applications from researchers with a strong commitment to promoting
JEDI.

WHOI:

  • Job opportunities for tenure and non-tenure track scientists, postdoctoral scholars and technical staff.
  • Graduate programs (Ph.D. only except an M.S. program for U.S. Naval Officers)

URI GSO:

UMASS Dartmouth:

Wellesley:

  • Job opportunities for tenure and non-tenure track faculty and researchers
  • Wellesley is an undergraduate institution and does not offer graduate degrees.

NOAA NEFSC: Job and career, as well as student and internship opportunities

Additional Resources

Links to Partner Pages on JEDI

LTER Network

NOAA NEFSC

University of Rhode Island (see pdf document)

UMASS Dartmouth

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Wellesley College