The first Diversity Assessment Report of the North American Carbon Program (NACP) has been published. Thanks to all who contributed to this effort, sharing personal experiences and insights to help inform progressive actions toward an inclusive and equitably diverse future for the NACP community of scientists.

Authors: Libby Larson,NACP Coordinator, NASAGSFC/SSAI; Susan Crow, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa; John Kim, USDA Forest Service; Jeffrey T. Morisette, US Forest Service; Erika Podest, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Gyami Shrestha, U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program Office Director, USGCRP/UCAR; Maria Tzortziou, City University of New York. On behalf of the NACP Scientific Leadership Group (SLG)

Excerpt:

In early 2021, the Scientific Leadership Group (SLG) of the NACP conducted a voluntary survey to assess the diversity, experiences, and interests of its membership with respect to equity, inclusion and accessibility. This report presents the methodology, results, and includes a discussion, acknowledgement, and proposed actions for the SLG, NACP as a community of practice, and individual NACP members as part of the larger scientific community. The survey results reflect the ways in which the NACP community is similar to and different from overall North American (specifically US, where most of the current NACP community resides) demographics across race/ethnicity and gender, LGBTQ+ and disability status. We aim to identify ways to shift the NACP community towards a better reflection of the overall US demographics, to create a more just and fair organization. We believe the quality, impact and effectiveness of science will benefit from a more supportive and inclusive research environment. But beyond the “business case” for addressing racism and discrimination, there is the moral imperative to affirm human dignity and counter current and historic injustices (Haacker et al. 2022)....There has been growing recognition ofthe historic and ongoing impacts of systemic bias, discrimination, and inequality in our society, and there is ample evidence that barriers exist for some members of our community, as well as within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines (Berhe et al. 2021, Woolston 2021, Barber et al. 2020). Many individuals, organizations, professional societies, and institutions have been confronting the ways in which they may have both benefited from and been harmed by these injustices, and various efforts have been made to redress these and prevent further discrimination and exclusion. The STEM fields are one arena where lack of diversity is pervasive (Pew Research Center, 2021) despite efforts to increase participation and inclusion. The NACP is a community drawn mainly from the earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences, for which a recent study as found that there has been “no progress on diversity in 40 years” (Bernard and Cooperdock, 2018)....

To read more, follow the links below.

Report PDF (download)

Background and report on the NACP site

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