Geoscience Statement on Inclusivity
We aim to create and promote an atmosphere that not only protects every community member against discrimination and bias, but also encourages respect and value for varying perspectives and backgrounds.
Progress & Initiatives
Graduate student town halls and climate surveys
Town halls and anonymous climate surveys are helping us to characterize and quantify aspects of the graduate student experience and provide a basis for assessing both positive areas and areas for improvement in the department
URGE: Unlearning Racism in Geoscience
URGE is focused on deepening the community’s knowledge of the effects of racism; draw on existing literature and expert opinions; and share, discuss, and modify anti-racist policies and strategies within our community. Three new pods have formed.
Katharine Fowler-Billings Awards
More than $12,000 in Katharine Fowler-Billings awards were granted in 2021 and $27,900 in 2022. These awards have funded field gear, DEI workshops, field experiences and opportunities, graduate school application waivers, and more!
Implicit bias training
In November 2020 the entire faculty of the Geoscience department completed the ‘Breaking the Bias Habit” workshop, an introduction to the concepts of implicit or unconscious biases and assumptions about diverse groups of people.
UW–Madison Chapter of the Association for Women Geoscientists
The newly formed UW Chapter of the AWG aims to provide a safe, inclusive community to support women pursuing careers in the earth sciences and address issues that women in our field face daily.
GeoPath founded
GeoPath is a peer-to-peer mentorship initiative which seeks to invite a range of diverse students and collaborators, levelling the playing field for traditionally underrepresented groups in the earth sciences.
Get Involved!
Progress towards a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive department takes work. Want to get involved? Get started with this D&I committee resource grid and look for the latest notices on the Weeks e-mail listserv, or contact the D&I Committee: geo-divein@geology.wisc.edu
Diversity & Inclusion Resources
Center for Academic Excellence
Provides advising, tutoring programs, health and wellness events, social events, grad school preparation, and other programs for the historically underrepresented in higher ed.
PEOPLE Program
The PEOPLE Program recruits pre-college students to help them reach their goals of college attainment and degree completion, focusing on low-income and potential first-generation college students.
Creating Community
The Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement works to create a diverse, inclusive and excellent learning and work environment for the entire UW–Madison community.
Wisconsin Involvement Network
The Wisconsin Involvement Network provides a searchable database of organizations and events around campus, to help students find their community.
Multicultural Student Center
The Multicultural Student Center provides a central point of contact for student organizations and other allies on campus, and works to collaboratively strengthen inclusivity at UW–Madison.
Mental Health Resources
A range of health services, programs, people, and resources are available for student and staff mental health support, reporting, and conflict resolution.
Full Statement on Diversity & Inclusion from the Geoscience Department
The Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is committed to creating and promoting a community where diversity is not only welcomed, it is encouraged. Diversity of age, race, ethnicity, gender and expression, sexuality, physical ability, immigration status, marital status, class, religion/spirituality, political ideology, and the complex intersection of these and other dimensions is vital to an intellectual community at the forefront of scientific progress. Research, collaboration, and the ability to communicate science more broadly are all directly enhanced by interactions between a diverse student, staff, and faculty body through the confluence of unique perspectives.
We aim to create and promote an atmosphere that not only protects every community member against discrimination and bias, but also encourages respect and value for varying perspectives and backgrounds. To this end, we will take action: to include and retain students, staff, and faculty of underrepresented populations, nontraditional patterns of academic preparation, economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and first generation status; to provide resources to staff, faculty, and students to enhance awareness and address issues regarding diversity and inclusion; and to demonstrate respect for differences in the context of intellectual exchange through open dialogue. If any action by a member of our community is discriminatory or shows disrespect, the action should be brought to the attention of the Chair, department administrator, or trusted member of the faculty. These can also be reported to the Office of Compliance.
As one component of these actions, the Department has formed a committee on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) including members of the faculty, staff, and student body. Working with the Department, the committee will: 1) Continue to collect information regarding trends in diversity and departmental climate; 2) Provide a forum for identifying and addressing any systemic issues related to diversity and inclusion within the department; and 3) connect resources to individuals with concerns about diversity and inclusion within the department.