DEI at a crossroad? The Emerge Program stands ready to embrace the moment.
January 27, 2025 @ 01:25 pm to 02:15 pm
Daniel McGarvey, Virginia Commonwealth University
106 Animal, Veterinary, and Biomedical Sciences Building
University Park
Abstract
Emerge is a 2-stage effort, funded by the National Science Foundation, to dramatically enhance diversity and inclusion within the Society for Freshwater Sciences (SFS). Stage 1 builds confidence and agency in underrepresented minorities and is scheduled to conclude in spring 2026. Key experiences for the Stage 1 Emerge Fellows include group attendance at the SFS Annual Meeting (immediately preceded by 2 days camping and paddling together on a local river), a 3-day technical workshop on R programming and the use of National Ecological Observatory Network data, another 3-day workshop on graphic design and visual science communication, and year-round, virtual group research projects. Evidence of Stage 1 success, which includes systematic reporting from an external evaluation partner and anecdotal accomplishments by individual Fellows, is rapidly accumulating. Stage 2 will be a test of the Intergroup Contact Hypothesis. Alumni of the Emerge Program will serve as leaders of a new ‘Shared Experience’ at the SFS Annual Meeting, where mixed groups of traditional and underrepresented students navigate the Meeting together. By bringing these diverse groups of young scientists together in a safe (and fun) space to acknowledge their differences while building upon a shared interest in science, Emerge will facilitate a bottom-up, expanded vision of what a freshwater scientist can and should look like.
About the Speaker
Daniel McGarvey is an Associate Professor in the Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Prior to joining VCU, he completed a B.A. in Biology and Geology at Wittenberg University (Springfield, Ohio), a M.S. in Fisheries Science at the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pennsylvania), a Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama), and an environmental modeling post-doc with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Athens, Georgia). His publications span a broad range of topics, including stream ecology, fisheries science, community and ecosystem ecology, biogeography, macroecology and ecological modeling, environmental law, and science communication. In recent years, he has become heavily engaged in practicing and teaching visual science communication, and in addressing a troubling lack of diversity within the freshwater science community.
Contact
Jon Sweetman
jfs6745@psu.edu