In another milestone on its path to meeting strategic goals for broader participation in the Society, GSA is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Long as Associate Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Long comes to GSA from her previous position as Director and Lead Scientist
with Appalachian Headwaters, a not-for-profit located in Lewisburg, West
Virginia. Prior to that, Long worked with the Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz,
New York, as Director for the Dept. of Conservation Science & Daniel
Smiley Research Center. Her many talents and accomplishments include
extensive public programming and community science initiatives, effective
fundraising, strategic planning, and building collaborations among diverse
stakeholders.
Long is charged with leading efforts to implement priorities identified in
GSA’s Decadal Strategic Plan and for helping to secure funding to make DEI
work sustainable within the Society.
Armed with recommendations from the GSA’s Diversity Working Group and its
Culture Task Force, Long is working closely with Council’s Diversity in the
Geosciences Committee, the staff URGE (Unlearning Racism in the
Geosciences) pod, and other parties with common aims, to ensure that GSA
policies reflect and affirm a longstanding commitment to diversity, equity,
and inclusion. “I speak for all GSA leadership when I say what a pleasure
it is to welcome Dr. Long to GSA. We are excited for her to take the lead
on our DEI and justice initiatives,” said GSA Executive Director Vicki
McConnell.
Near-term projects include:
- Overseeing revisions to awards procedures where needed to ensure
inclusivity, developing unbiased selection rubrics, devising strategies for
recruiting and training reviewers, and attracting a diverse slate of nominees for each award;
- Working with GSA programs that collect demographic data to standardize
data collection and better benchmark and
track participation over time;
- Assuming a leadership role with GSA’s GEO ASCENDS grant and helping to
support and expand the On To the Future (OTF) and Expanding Representation
in the Geosciences (ERG) programs.
Long earned her Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California Davis.
She extended her interest in community service activities after graduation
by developing collaborative science projects and field research with
diverse rural and urban community members.
At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, Long worked
with the Women’s and Diversity Center program and Student Disability Office
to increase accessibility to field and laboratory classes and improve
culture and climate in the sciences and developed new programs and courses
to attract and recruit a diverse student audience.
At the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, UCLA La Kretz Center for
California Conservation Science, Long conducted field ecology and
collections-based research across an urban-wildland interface, engaged in
donor development, public programming, education programming, and developed
community science initiatives.
She completed training through the
ADVANCEGeoPartnership
in 2020 and began to facilitate workshops on improving bystander
intervention and reducing workplace harassment, tackling implicit bias and
microaggressions in the workplace, and developing workplace codes of
conduct. She is a current co-principal investigator on an NSF-funded
planning grant to develop leadership tools for women in the field sciences.
Throughout her career, Long has been a champion for making science
accessible to marginalized and underrepresented groups and believes in
taking an intersectional approach to that work.
“I’m thrilled to be joining an organization that takes DEI work to heart,”
said Long. “GSA has already laid strong foundations for progress in this
area, and in the short time I've been here, GSA members, staff, and
partners have given me so much support.”
“Meaningful change can’t happen without support and collaboration, and
there’s no shortage of that at GSA,” said Long.