In 2016-2017, Angela Fuller, Unit Leader, New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Dawn Childs, Information Specialist, USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units, partnered with Fairfax County, Virginia Public Schools and trained one industrious high school graduate (remotely from Virginia) on an Ecuador camera mapping project, working remotely from Virginia.
This partnership motivated leadership and staff at all levels of the organization.
In December 2022, the DEIC released a best practices guide for recruiting and retaining students from diverse backgrounds.
In 2020, the CRU Management Team received a letter signed by 15 female USGS scientists with three suggestions aimed at increasing diversity in the workforce: (1) require or encourage implicit bias training for federal staff at units, (2) raise the profile of the issue with Unit Coordinating Committees at the outset of hiring, and (3) develop a dialogue amongst CRU staff to cultivate a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness. In response to the letter, the Acting Chief established a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) to develop a dialogue to identify ways and make recommendations to the Management Team that would promote diversity in hiring and workplace inclusivity. This action also supported multiple Executive Orders (13583, 14035, 13985, 13988, 14020).
In FY22, the DEIC (Abby Powell, Amanda Rosenberger, Angela Fuller, Grace DiRenzo, Jeff Muehlbauer, Mark Henderson, Mark Scheuerell, Reynaldo Patino, Wendy Turner, and Barry Grand) accomplished several important goals. In 2021, they initiated the development of a mentoring program with CRU.
First, they designed and implemented a survey sent to all Unit scientists to determine the level of interest in a mentoring program, the desired format of mentoring relationships, and potential topics for discussion. Using the results of the survey as a guide, the DEIC then developed and facilitated a virtual workshop on attracting and retaining students from diverse backgrounds in April 2022. The workshop consisted of three breakout sessions: (1) recruiting and attracting students from diverse backgrounds, (2) retaining and mentoring students, and (3) what Headquarters can do to support these efforts by CRU scientists.
The workshop was attended by 41 CRU scientists from 26 states
DEIC also developed a proposal for a plenary entitled: “Real talk: The Relentless Day-to-Day of Undoing Our Biases” for the CRU All Hands Meeting in 2023. The DEIC worked with Dr. Mamie Parker and Dr. Maria Estrada as the invited speakers and facilitators of this plenary. During the meeting, the committee facilitated two breakout sessions: one that followed the plenary on unconscious bias and another that continued the discussion of the recommended practices for recruiting and retaining students from diverse backgrounds.
In 2024 and beyond, the DEIC is working to provide useful resources on diversity and inclusion to CRU scientists across the country, and to contribute to USGS-wide goals such as identifying initiatives to diversify our workforce.