Diversity at GSA

GSA embraces diversity found among humans collectively, and the richness of resources, perspectives, and experience, that inclusion lends to the better understanding of geoscience.

“We condemn discrimination and harassment in any form, and are actively working to promote the ideals and principles of our position statements on Diversity in the Geosciences Community and Removing Barriers to Career Progression for Women in the Geosciences. GSA's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct gives process to our vision and purpose for representing the best that our science can be.”

GSA continues to work toward our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals at the operational level. Our special committee for evaluation of GSA Fellowships is preparing its report and recommendations. The Council-implemented Diversity Working Group is also circulating their report and recommendations. Both of these will be addressed at the meeting of GSA Council at the end of April for discussion and adoption.

In Other News

Seven members of the GSA staff are participating in the 16-week NSF-funded Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) project. “Pods” at institutions all over the country are working on a curriculum focused on providing tools and resources to help geoscientists develop policies that improve accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and community.

[see video introduction]

An all-staff development workshop on diversity, equity, and inclusion is scheduled for the end of May with Dr. Nita Mosby-Tyler, of the Equity Project.

1. Review of nominations and awards recruitment, selection, and processes;
2. Review of criteria and processes for election to Fellowship;
3. Measuring DEI priorities, strategies, and action in GSA and realigning these with the Decadal Strategic Plan; and
4. Revising the GSA Diversity Position Statement to more strongly articulate GSA’s DEI priorities.

All groups are currently active, and will be reporting their recommendations on or before the Spring GSA Council meeting, 1–2 May 2021. We will continue to update the community as results become available.

Most recently, we have formed an ad hoc committee, headed by Peter Vrolijk and Doug Walker, to begin revising the process for soliciting and naming GSA Fellows. The committee reflects the Society’s diversity and draws from both GSA leadership and membership. This work is a next step resulting from our August retreat identifying four pillars for reform.

We will keep the GSA membership informed as we make progress toward these goals.

Geosciences Associated Societies Committed to Embracing and Normalizing Diversity (Geosciences ASCEND) is a 4-year program engaging a broad network of geosciences professional societies and academic institutions to promote, accelerate, and advance the geoscience disciplines toward greater representation and inclusion while celebrating our diverse identities.

Geosciences ASCEND will develop innovative programs using established methods and best practices of outreach messaging and cultural norming to expand recruitment and welcome greater participation of all people in the geosciences disciplines. Professional societies, academic institutions, and geoscience-oriented industries are invited to contact Tahlia Bear (tbear@geosociety.org) for details of Geosciences ASCEND and how they may participate with the Geosciences ASCEND network.

Our aims were to evaluate related activities in GSA’s 2019 Decadal Strategic Plan, to amplify our efforts with fresh perspectives, and to reinforce our commitment to positive change. To achieve these goals, the GSA Executive Committee and GSA staff were joined by 20 invited diversity leaders in the geosciences. Helping to guide us through the process was experienced facilitator and expert trainer Dr. Nita Mosby-Tyler of The Equity Project LLC , whose task it was to help us identify activities likely to have a measurable and lasting impact.

Priorities identified for improvement during the retreat included four target areas:

• Communication and Transparency
• Mentoring and Support
• Revising the Nominations and Awards Process
• Creating Diversity in Leadership and Meetings Participation

We are distilling the wealth of recommendations and advice from the retreat into obtainable and impactful goals to be shared soon. These goals will be integrated into our Strategic Plan, alongside existing initiatives, activities, and committees focused on DEI efforts.

We, GSA’s president and president-elect, are confident that this will be a successful approach to addressing issues of equity facing the geosciences and that actionable outcomes will position GSA to move forward in meeting its goals in the most effective way. Most importantly, we now have a clear path ahead to better weave DEI efforts into the entire GSA structure, and in so doing, better serve all of our membership. GSA hopes to lead the geosciences in furthering DEI efforts.

Our path is defined. Next steps include approving goals and metrics at the Council leadership level for action before GSA 2020 Connects Online in October. Please watch for more to come as implementation of this critical work gets underway.

Doug Walker, GSA President
Barb Dutrow, GSA President-Elect

Retreat Participants: Sarah Aarons, Nicole Aikin, Hendratta Ali, Beth Bartel, Tahlia Bear, Dick Berg, Todd Berggren, David Davis, Barbara Dutrow, Rod Ewing, Rebecca Fazzari, Nicole Gasparini, Tom Haberthier, Jeanette Hammann, Jose Hurtado, Pat Kilner, Mark Little, Susan Lofton, Chris Maples, Debbie Marcinkowski, Vicki McConnell, Claudia Mora, Allie Nagurney, Nathan Niemi, Tim Shin, Don Siegel, Wendy Smythe, Nan Stout, Christa Stratton, Marilyn Suiter, Doug Walker, Wes Ward, Lisa White, Kasey White, and Sherilyn Williams-Stroud.

GSA supports the changes and initiatives we are seeing within the geoscience community, such as the notimeforsilence petition, and we’re actively focusing on improvements within our own organization. GSA Council continues to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) because it is the right thing to do and leads to better science. They will be sharing their ideas and actions. More details and information about DEI in GSA’s Decadal Strategic Plan can be found here. Join GSA and challenge us to build a more diverse, respectful, and inclusive space for all science, and scientists, to thrive. As GSA continues to seek meaningful and robust ways to support DEI initiatives, we encourage our members to take action and offer suggestions at diversity@geosociety.org.

Donald I. Siegel, President
J. Douglas Walker, President-Elect