SYMP 21 - We Are Stronger Together: Building Community to Face Barriers for Latin American and Underrepresented Ecologists

Organizer(s)

• 

  Diogo Provete, Ecologia

  Assistant Professor
  Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul
  Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Co-organizer(s)

• OT

  Olivia Tabares

  PhD Student
  UNAM
  Ciudad de Mexico, Estado de México, Mexico
• ST

  Shersingh Tumber-Dávila

  PhD Student
  Harvard Forest
  Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
• AV

  Andrea Valcárcel-Abud

  Autoridad Nacional de Asuntos Maritimos (ANAMAR), Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
• SP

  Silvia Pineda-Munoz

  Indiana University Bloomington, United States
• KS

  Kevin Soto

  Wildlife Conservation Educator
  XX
  Loleta, California, United States

Diverse groups provide creative solutions to research problems, as people from different backgrounds and points of view give valuable input that would be lost in homogenous groups of people. Yet, Latin American and other diverse and underrepresented ecologists have to deal with barriers that others don’t. Language barriers, barriers for women-identifying ecologists, fear of safety and accessibility in the field and the outdoors, and accessibility to coding are just some of the topics we would like to address in this symposium. More specifically, we ask the following question: How can we support ecologists outside North America to showcase their research, network, collaborate, and tackle issues and inequalities faced by them?
We propose a discussion with different groups already making efforts to build communities of diverse ecologists and underrepresented communities through tackling language barriers, women-related issues, culturally-relevant teaching, outdoor activities and citizen science.
We believe this symposium will perfectly align with this year’s current topic “Ecology for all” as well as with ESA’s larger commitment to foster Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. We want to contribute to these initiatives by continuing the discussion surrounding barriers faced by ecologists outside North America, and posit solutions derived from the experiences of our speakers and the groups they represent, as well as others emerging from this symposium.

Presentations:

• 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM PDT

  Culturally relevant teaching: experiences from the Ecological Forecasting Initiative working with Latinx and Native-American students and teachers
  

  Presenting Author: Olivia Tabares – UNAM

  Co-author: Antoinette Abeyta – University of New Mexico, Gallup

  Co-author: Nievita Bueno Watts – Cal Poly Humboldt, Indian Natural Resources, Science & Engineering Program

  Co-author: Diana Dalbotten – St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Jason S. McLachlan – University of Notre Dame

  Co-author: Jody A. Peters – University of Notre Dame

  Co-author: Alyssa M. Willson – University of Notre Dame

  Co-author: Nicholas Record – Tandy Center for Ocean Forecasting

  Co-author: Cazimir Kowalski – University of Notre Dame

  Co-author: Abby Lewis – Virginia Tech

  Co-author: Dexter Howard – Virginia Tech

  Co-Author: Anna R. Sjodin – Environmental Protection Agency
• 3:50 PM – 4:10 PM PDT

  We are here: why representation in the outdoors matters
  

  Presenting Author: Sebastian Moreno, Environmental Conservation – University of Massachusetts
• 4:10 PM – 4:30 PM PDT

  Latin American Scientist Perspectives: The Complexities of Conducting Ecological and Evolutionary Research in the Region
  

  Presenting Author: Luis Santiago-Rosario – Louisiana State University

  Co-author: Ana L. Salgado – Louisiana State University

  Co-author: Diego Paredes-Burneo – Louisiana State Univeristy

  Co-author: Ixchel González-Ramírez – University of California

  Co-author: Ana P. Assis – Universidade de São Paulo

  Co-author: Lúcia Lohmann – Universidade de São Paulo

  Co-author: Winer D. Reyes-Corral – McGill University
• 4:30 PM – 4:50 PM PDT

  Gender inequalities: Barriers faced by Brazilian ecologists
  

  Presenting Author: Elvira D'Bastiani – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

  Co-author: Elvira D'Bastiani – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

  Co-author: Juliana Rosa Matias Ciccheto – Universidade Federal Do Paraná

  Co-author: Laryssa Negri Peres – Universidade Federal do Paraná

  Co-author: Ana Paula Lula Costa – Instituto Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz

  Co-author: Amanda Leão Cardoso – Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto

  Co-author: Myrna Elis Ferreira Santos – Universidade Federal de Alagoas

  Co-author: Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas – Federal University of Bahia
• 4:50 PM – 5:00 PM PDT

  Discussion