Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Newsletter
Fall 2021
What's new?
Advancing Faculty Diversity Search
The Advancing Faculty Diversity Search committee and BioSci Sections have selected multiple candidates that they are inviting to give talks. Please keep an eye out for the flyers advertising these talks and how to view them.
BioSci Mentorship Program
In collaboration with the Center for Empathy and Social Justice in Human Health, the Division of Biological Sciences mentorship program started this Fall Quarter. There are currently eight mentors and 48 undergraduate mentees. Please contact Janni Pedersen (jpedersen@ucsd.edu) for more information.
Curci Foundation Scholars
The Division of Biological Sciences welcomes its first cohort of Curci Foundation Scholars. The new program supports diversity, women and international graduate students. Please see this press release for more details.
Diversity & Inclusion Industry Panels
We are starting to brainstorm about speakers to address diversity and inclusion in life sciences fields as related to industry. Panelists will include alumni life sciences leaders. The goals are to provide students with exposure to different career options, to expand their professional networks, and to help develop their professional skills. If you have speaker suggestions or specific topics you are interested in, please contact Sarah Turner (sturner@ucsd.edu) or Melissa Hoon (mhoon@ucsd.edu).
EDI Committee
The Diversity Committee has renamed itself the EDI Committee in recognition of the importance of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the multiple EDI efforts that it engages in. The updated website with new names should be available in January.
NIH Support of Childcare
NIH will begin providing childcare cost support to full-time predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees appointed on NRSA institutional research training awards. This is anticipated for awards made beginning in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2022. The NRSA childcare costs apply to each full-time predoctoral or postdoctoral NIH-NRSA-supported institutional research training award appointment. Each trainee is eligible to receive $2,500 per budget period for childcare costs provided by a licensed childcare provider. Those interested should carefully review the Guide Notice and visit the FAQs page for more information.
Congratulations to Marie Adomako, HHMI Gilliam Fellow!
Dr. Adomako graduated with her PhD this fall from the lab of Prof. Susan Golden.
Updates on Existing Efforts
Changemaker Fellows: Anti-Racist Pedagogy
This Fall, we had an amazing class of seven Changemaker fellows with a focus on anti-racist pedagogies. The BioSci faculty fellows are Melinda Owens, Claire Meaders, Sarah Stockwell, Katie Petrie, Scott Rifkin, James Cooke, and Stanley Lo. BioSci also contributed $10,000 to support the programs being developed by these fellows, so stay tuned for exciting news in 2022.
DASL Book Club
Using the funds from the EDI Committee last year, BioSci graduate students purchased books for the DASL Book Club. These books are now housed in Pac Hall 3140 (the BioSci grad student lounge), for anybody to borrow. To join the DASL Book Club listserv, please email Jenny He (xih174@ucsd.edu) or Gina Powers (rmpowers@ucsd.edu).
What Are We Working On?
Graduate Diversity and Science Lecture Series (DASL)
DASL invites you to join them for Winter 2022. Talks will be posted in the BioSci Diversity Calendar and are also shown on the DASL website. Please contact Evan Boyle (eboyle@ucsd.edu) for more information.
What Can You Do?
Check out our updated resources in the Diversity Committee website.
We encourage faculty to seek out funds to support undergraduates working in their labs and to help undergraduates find funding. For example, NSF provides supplemental funding for undergraduates seeking research experiences on NSF funded research. Similarly, NIH RO1's provide diversity supplements.
We also have a general list of all undergraduate funding opportunities.
Check out the BioSci Diversity Calendar
There are many amazing events listed on the BioSci Diversity Calendar.
Interested in EDI? Have an Idea? Tell us what you are up to!
The Get Involved page on our Diversity Website has a webform that links directly to the Diversity Committee and is a permanent repository for all this information.
Thank you for your continued commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
James C. Nieh
Associate Dean, Division of Biological Sciences