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GSA Fellowship Revisions and Update

Fellowship ad hoc Committee fellowship nominations are now more open to the entire GSA
Rufus Catchings, Joan Fryxell, Jose Hurtado, Don Siegel, membership; we think this will help ensure that fellowship contin-
Diane Smith, Peter Vrolijk (voting members) ues to reflect all aspects of the membership. Second, automatic
fellowship through Division awards has ended. While there is no
GSA fellowship is an honor granted to members who demon- evidence that members advanced to fellowship in this way are
strate a sustained record of contributions to geoscience and to undeserving, this exception to the process creates a potential
the Society. In 2020, GSA Council requested that an ad hoc avenue for bias. Third, a concerted effort is underway to improve
committee be formed to evaluate whether the fellowship pro- communication of fellowship requirements to help ensure a level
gram reflected the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion playing field. A summary of these efforts and changes are on the
embraced by the Society. We are the committee that undertook GSA website at https://www.geosociety.org/Fellowship.
this task in winter/spring of 2021. GSA Fellows will continue to reflect the membership only
We found little evidence for bias in the fellowship program, if members from all aspects of the Society participate. The
with two exceptions. Women remain underrepresented in fellow- Membership and Fellowship Committee can only grant fellow-
ship in proportion to GSA membership, but this deficit has ships to those who are nominated. We hope that we have made
shrunk over the past years. Members who identify “industry” the nomination process fairer and easier. If you have any questions
as their primary employment sector are also underrepresented about the improved fellowship program, please contact us at
in fellowship. fellowship@geosociety.org.
However, the previous fellowship nomination and evaluation
process left open avenues for bias in fellowship awards, and we
sought to reduce these potential avenues. We achieved this goal by
examining the fellowship program from the perspective of diver- CALL FOR GSA FELLOWSHIP NOMINATIONS
sity, equity, and inclusion, and by canvassing similar societies, Deadline: 1 Feb. 2022
both bigger and smaller than GSA, to compare their fellowship Nominate a deserving colleague with the honor of GSA
programs. We found instances where GSA does things better than fellowship. GSA members are elected to fellowship in recog-
other societies, and we sought to preserve those aspects, but we nition of distinguished contributions to the geosciences and
also discovered ideas used by other societies that we attempted to to the Society. See the election requirements at https://www
include in GSA’s unique culture. .geosociety.org/Fellowship. Questions? Email fellowship@
While those familiar with the fellowship program will find that geosociety.org.
many aspects remain, three big changes have occurred. First,

8 GSA Today | December 2021