Committee goals
Inclusivity: Cultivate a culture of inclusion within EPS so that all departmental citizens can thrive as members of our community. Maintain a commitment to the free exchange of ideas and tolerance for diverse points of view. Sponsor events to encourage relationship building and the development of informal mentoring networks.
Outreach: Engage with and support the New Haven community through events, talks, and collaborations with community organizations.
Communication and Accessibility: Promote awareness of events on campus and in the community that discuss inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, and anti-discrimination from many perspectives, and ensure that EPS events and opportunities are accessible.
Education: Provide opportunities for education on inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, and anti-discrimination in geoscience, through colloquia, workshops, reading group opportunities, and other events offered through EPS and through Yale University. Foster open discussion, analysis, and debate, ensuring that diverse opinions are heard.
Recruitment and retention: Explore ways to cultivate diversity (among many dimensions) in applicant pools for the EPS graduate program and other positions in the department. Cultivate a collaborative, diverse, inclusive, and supportive community of scholars in EPS as a means of retaining our outstanding talent.
Recent and ongoing committee activities
EPS townhalls and workshops: The committee sponsors occasional townhall community discussions and workshops on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
EPS departmental colloquia: The IDEA committee works with the departmental colloquium committee to identify speakers who address issues related to diversity and equity, and to ensure a diverse slate of speakers (along many dimensions) each semester.
IDEA Reading Group: The committee sponsors a reading group that is open to all EPS department members, with topics chosen by participants.
Public outreach: IDEA facilitates participation by EPS community members in various outreach efforts, much of it in consultation with the Yale University Science Outreach and Public School Partnerships offices. IDEA proposed the structure for the EPS Public Outreach/DEI Graduate Fellowships; for more information, see the Fellowships tab.
DEI and the EPS graduate program: IDEA works closely with the departmental Director of Graduate Studies on initiatives to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our graduate program. We are working to recruit and retain a student body that is diverse along many dimensions.
DEI initiatives in science at Yale: IDEA has been involved in proposing initiatives above the departmental level, including liaising with DEI groups throughout Yale, and working closely with the Dean of Diversity in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.