Dear Colleagues,
Our fields of evolution and ecology make best progress when all of the scientific community is supported by a positive, safe, and healthy work environment. To reinforce such an environment for all, the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), American Society of Naturalists (ASN) and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) have worked together to develop Safe Evolution, a centralized set of protocols for society members and meeting attendees that aim to promote a positive climate at our conferences.
https://www.evolutionmeetings.org/safe-evolution.html
The Safe Evolution efforts include the establishment of a code of conduct and procedures for the joint Evolution meetings, a confidential pipeline for reports and investigation of inappropriate behavior, training opportunities in harassment response and intervention, and community-oriented efforts to prevent incidents of harassment, discrimination, and violence-- all to maintain the high quality of scientific discourse that we have come to expect from Evolution conferences.
Improving the climate within our societies and at our meetings is an endeavor that needs the engagement and participation of all our members. If we all are aware of our policies, and have an open dialog about expectations of conduct in conference settings, we can all help to improve the collective experience at our meetings, and contribute to the advancement of our fields.
We ask that you join us in making sure the Evolution meetings are a safe and welcoming environment for all! Please distribute the Safe Evolution link widely, and feel free to send to your department chair and your colleagues and ask that they distribute to their own units, discuss with your lab members or cohorts, and distribute to graduate students, post-docs, and faculty listservs. Please advertise as widely as possible!
Thank you all for your help, and I look forward to seeing everyone at upcoming meetings.
Sharon Y Strauss
President, ASN