Increasing Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in STEM
Making labs more accessible for people with disabilities
Grant from the Harvard Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging 2019-2021, Lead PI (ongoing) Nearly a quarter of Americans live with a disability, yet individuals with disabilities are a mere 7% of PhD-holders employed in science due to insufficient lab access and not being accepted by peers. To foster a higher sense of belonging in STEM for those with disabilities, our grant team is teaching PIs how to implement Universal Design (UD), the design principle that built spaces can be made accessible for everyone (e.g., adjustable height workstations, closed captioning). Our team is producing a “how to” brochure for wide distribution, holding a training and discussion for interested PIs, and implementing UD in a handful of Harvard labs as pilots. We are also creating a database of accessibility features for the undergraduate sciences labs at Harvard (~200), removing barriers students encounter when seeking lab positions. Our team hopes to open a dialogue among faculty who may not be aware of the barriers faced by students with disabilities. If labs can become more accessible, an accommodative culture can become the new norm.
Creating early access to lab research experiences
Harvard Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee Colleagues and I are creating an internship program for high school students to carry out semester-long mentored research project in labs at Harvard. The program is designed to recruit students from groups underrepresented to STEM. We are wrapping the experience with a seminar to facilitate discussions with the interns about the hard and soft skills necessary for success in science, including college applications, graduate school, and career options.
Science Communication
Written.
The personal and professional path to science.
Science Minded is a 12-piece blog I wrote for the San Diego Union Tribune that introduced students, parents and teachers to the many aspects of science through my professional and personal experiences as a marine biologist. A few examples can be found below:
Marine biologist stays dry.
How I became a marine biologist.
Careers span the waterfront.
The human side of conservation.
The Lightning of Catatumbo is a creative nonfiction piece I wrote about the social and environmental issues surrounding coral reefs on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. My story can be found here.
Marfan syndrome awareness.
I wrote a blog post and a letter to the editor in Science to bring more light to this under-diagnosed disorder. In addition to writing, I have told my story of living with Marfan syndrome to student groups to illustrate ways to overcome obstacles. I explain that my limitations were initially challenging, but my limitations supported my success by pushing me to be more creative, multidisciplinary, and collaborative.
Verbal.
Sea Talk at the Maui Ocean Center, 2018.
Harvard Museums of Science and Culture Lecture Series, 2018
Visual.
Advising student conservation films.
Pace University — Led by professor and former New York Times writer, Andrew Revkin, a group of undergraduate students from Pace University (New York) traveled to Curaçao to shoot and produce a documentary on coral reef conservation issues. I accompanied the class, provided scientific expertise, on-the-ground support, and served as a science expert in the documentary. The students’ documentary can be watched below.
A project meeting for the Pace University documentary class prior to shooting their film about conservation issues in Curaçao.
High Tech High San Marcos — I accompanied a group of high school biology teachers to Curaçao to teach them about coral reef conservation issues on the island. This trip served as one portion of a year-long coral reef conservation project I facilitated as an NSF GK-12 teaching fellow in a San Diego high school. A documentary the students created about the entire project can be watched below.
An article in a Curaçao newspaper about the High Tech High project I helped lead learning and documenting coral reef conservation issues with the island as a case study and documentary subject.
High Tech High Point Loma — I lectured on coral reef biodiversity, ecology, and threats as part of a launch to a student-driven field research project in San Diego Bay. I advised the class on collection and analysis tools for marine biodiversity using ARMS. A short documentary created by the students about the project can be watched below.