IDEA News

May 25, 2023 - The EPS Department hosted its second of a series of STEM outreach events for New Haven area middle school students and parents.  More information can be found here and here.

May 10, 2023 – The Department is delighted to award our inaugural EPS-IDEA Prize to Dr. Jennifer Kasbohm for her sustained contributions to our reading group discussions, organizing the WEPSY (Womxn at EPS at Yale) working group activities including numerous events and symposia, and contributing fundamentally to our recently adopted Field Code of Conduct. 

April 18, 2023 – The Department hosted the 4th annual Women in EPS Day, showcasing the amazing work done by scientists who identify as women and gender minorities.  The keynote speaker was Professor Rachel Bernard from Amherst College.

March 15, 2023 - WEPSY (Womxn in EPS at Yale) hosted a discussion of Ranganathan et al. 2021 (for reference, see the press release accompanying the paper).

February 17, 2023 – The International Community-First Generation students (IC-FG) working group met to discuss a paper by Han et al. (2015) on why international students in the U.S. choose to stay or leave the country after graduation.

February 9, 2023 – The International Community-First Generation students (IC-FG) working group met via zoom to discuss the recent NSF Waterman Lecture by Daniel Larremore on faculty demographics and hiring.

January, 2023 - The IDEA committee selected Isabella Chiaravalloti as the EPS Public Outreach/DEI Graduate Fellow for the Spring 2023 semester.  Isabella, who is a descendant of the Tangirnaq Native Village, will be writing articles for the Koniag Education Foundation’s website and newsletter, as well as offering advice to interested KEF scholars, to work on increasing Native presence in academia. She will also identify and propose solutions for issues inhibiting Native recruitment and retention in Yale’s EPS Department. 

November, 2022 - The IDEA Committee created an anonymous online “comment box” where anyone in EPS can make suggestions for IDEA to consider.  The link is here

October 27, 2022 – The International Community-First Generation students (IC-FG) working group met to discuss challenges and obstacles faced by international students and scholars who could be separated from their overseas families for years at a time.

August 23, 2022 – Yale EPS sponsored an all-day Wilderness First Aid training session to promote field skills accessible to every member of the department regardless of background or financial ability.

May 13, 2022 - The IDEA committee and the Disability, Mental Health, and Chronic Illness (DiMhCi) Working Group held a town hall meeting to present and discuss the results from the recent departmental wellness survey that was designed and run by the DiMhCi group.

February 23, 2022 - Yale EPS hosted Prof. Christine Williams of the University of Texas at Austin, for a departmental colloquium talk titled “Gaslighted: How the Oil and Gas Industry Shortchanges Women Scientists.” 

Jan 26, 2022 - The EPS field code of conduct was approved in the department faculty meeting. 

Jan 21, 2022 - The IDEA committee announced Kelsey Jenkins as the EPS Public Outreach/DEI Graduate Fellow. Kelsey will work with Peabody Museum scientists and educators on ensuring the new displays are inclusive in their scope and presentation. 

September, 22, 2021 - Yale EPS hosted Eleanour Snow, US Geological Survey, for a colloquium talk titled, “Education, Outreach, Mentoring, Diversity: A Path Through Academia to Public Service.”

June 9, 2021 - The IDEA committee has announced Roxanne Armfield as the inaugural EPS Public Outreach/DEI Graduate Fellow. Roxanne will hold her fellowship during the Fall 2021 semester. Her project will produce a series of interactive online articles, published weekly, highlighting specimens from the Peabody collections through the stories and emotional connections of those who work with them. The IDEA committee was highly impressed with Roxanne’s project proposal and we are excited to see this important work go forward this fall.  The IDEA committee will put out another call for proposals in the Fall 2021 semester for graduate students who are interested in applying for a fellowship for the Spring 2022 semester. Please reach out to the IDEA committee with questions and more information about potential projects. 

March 23, 2021 – IDEA and EPS announce a new initiative offering semester-long Public Outreach/DEI Fellowships for students in our graduate program. The fellowship program will enable Fellows to allocate a substantial fraction of their work time to projects that are centered on public outreach and/or diversity, equity, and inclusion. Application details can be found on the Public Outreach/DEI Fellowships tab.

January 28, 2021 – A group of 16 graduate students, faculty, and postdoctoral/research scientists in EPS are participating in the URGE (Unlearning Racism in Geosciences) program this semester.

October 26, 2020 – Yale FAS Science and Engineering sponsored an event titled “Toward Inclusion,” featuring a panel and moderated breakout discussions. The event was co-sponsored by the FAS Senate Diversity Committee and the Women’s Faculty Forum.

October 22, 2020 – A group of EPS faculty, students, and researchers met with representatives from the Yale Office of Public School Partnerships and from Yale’s Pathways to Science program to discuss ways that EPS can engage more fully in public outreach activities. Stay tuned for future announcements as this aspect of IDEA-sponsored activities takes shape!

October 20, 2020 – Along with the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, the Wright Laboratory, and Yale Astronomy, EPS sponsored a special seminar by Dr. Kuheli Dutt of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory/Columbia University. The talk was titled “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Addressing Systemic Racism in STEM.”

September 30, 2020 – The office of the Yale FAS Dean of Science and Engineering is sponsoring a free viewing of “Picture a Scientist,” which tells the stories and experiences of challenges faced by three women in science.

September 9, 2020 – Dr. Larry Gladney, who is Professor of Physics and Phyllis A. Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the FAS, gave a colloquium talk to the EPS community.  His slides can be found here with many links inside

June 30, 2020 – IDEA sponsored a departmental townhall to discuss the ongoing widespread protests and the history and legacy of racial discrimination in the U.S. and to highlight departmental DEI initiatives.