As part of ongoing work to make the EBIO department and also the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology more equitable and inclusive, we are in the midst of a long-term process to build a common understanding of the barriers and biases that are prevalent in our community and identify ways that EBIO can bring about change. Our first step in this process was to create a diversity statement (below), unique to EBIO, that lays out our vision and aspirations. A group of students, faculty and staff worked with to craft the statement, which was unanimously adopted by the faculty. Moving forward, the entire department is taking part in DEI workshops this semester and will form working groups in the fall to begin making our vision reality. These steps are only part of our continual efforts to transform our science and our department, and we are excited to be on track for big changes to come!

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The EBIO community shares in the pain and frustration over the recent horrific killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other acts of violence against Black Americans. We stand in solidarity with all who are speaking out against racial injustice. To our colleagues and students in the Black community, we are here for you. We pledge to fight racism and reaffirm our efforts to build a more inclusive community. #BlackLivesMatter 

Here are some resources and actions we can all take today:

• , a collection of resources compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein

• , a talk by Ijeoma Oluo

• , a book by Ibram X. Kendi

• , another great reading list

Statements from CU’s chancellor and professional societies:

From the Chancellor - Combating Racism Together

SACNAS

Ecological Society of America

SSE

AAAS CEO Comments on Social Unrest, Racism, and Inequality

SICB 

Botanical Society of America

Entomological Society of America

ASN

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The EBIO department will no longer require the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) as part of their graduate student admissions process starting Spring 2018. A growing number of research departments are dropping the GRE as a requirement for application to graduate school, for a number of reasons. Primarily, the GRE tends to reflect how well a student takes tests and their socioeconomic status, and is biased against non-white, non-male prospective students.  As a result, it does not predict the potential for success of prospective graduate students, and the exam itself is a significant monetary barrier to recruiting a diverse pool of students. CU’s EBIO department has joined the hundreds of institutions that have now eliminated the GRE as a requirement, which will hopefully increase inclusive and equitable recruitment in the future.

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Over the past year the Diversity and Inclusion group has been researching best practices in inclusive hiring. This has culminated in a best practices guide that covers topics such as forming an inclusive search committee, to advertising for a broad applicant pool, to guidelines for communicating with candidates and debriefing after the search process. We developed this guide because we believe it will improve the process for ensuring a fair, equitable, and open search. This is essential for building a stronger community. We are now in the process of finalizing this guide. Stay tuned for the complete guide and a checklist that cover important steps in ensuring the search and hiring process is inclusive.

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Members of EBIO take part in an exciting new effort to make teaching more inclusive.

Project Biodiversify is an online repository of teaching materials and methods aimed at increasing the diversity of biologists highlighted in lectures, humanizing biologists, and making biology classrooms inclusive to students of all backgrounds (. Members of the EBIO Department have embraced this effort by providing teaching materials and becoming visible contributing members of this important initiative (e.g., ).

Teaching materials: To facilitate easy inclusion of a diverse set of biologists into classrooms lectures worldwide, we are constructing a database of teaching slides and notes based on the research and life experiences of biologists that self-identify as part of underrepresented group(s) in biology (). We are seeking submissions! To share your research and life experiences and become a role model, please consider submitting (). Our goal is to build a repository of teaching slides based on research by biologists from all backgrounds that highlights research spanning the full introductory biology curriculum.

Teaching methods: To increase the inclusivity of biology classroom environments, we are developing a repository of teaching methods and approaches that train educators in inclusive teaching practices, thereby increasing student success, recruitment, and retention via inclusivity. Our first effort is working to inform biology educators how to approach teaching sex- and gender-related topics in biology in an inclusive and accurate manner (). We hope to build on these efforts in the future to focus on other axes of identity as well, and are always open to collaboration.

Project Biodiversify was founded by:
 
Marjorie Weber
Assistant Professor
Department of Plant Biology
Michigan State University
she/her/hers

Ash Zemenick
NSF Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Plant Biology
Michigan State University
they/them or he/him

Alex Webster
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute of Arctic Biology
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
she/her/hers
Sarah Jones
PhD Candidate
Department of Integrative Biology
Michigan State University
she/her/hers

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