NABS Outreach Activities

NABS Diversity Forum:
Critical Watershed Issues for Under-represented Minorities in North America

Inviting faculty, students and professionals who would like to:

1. engage in discussions about freshwater issues particularly relevant to under-represented minority communities,
2. explore how we recruit and retain under-represented minorities in our discipline, and
3. help develop mentor relationships for students from these groups. 

The morning session will feature colleagues with background and varied experiences working with under-represented groups.  The tentative program is:
Rhea Graham, Senior Water Resources Project Manager EDAW Inc.
“Planning and Marketing for Climate Change”
            Chris Swan, Dept. of Geography & Environmental Systems
University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Baltimore LTER
“Biodiversity in Urban Ecosystems: Coupled Human, Spatial and Metacommunity Processes in Riverine Ecosystems”
 Roger Haro, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse
“Natural Resources and Under-represented Minorities in the Great Lakes Region”
David Close, Director, Aboriginal Fisheries Research Unit, University of
           British Columbia
                        “Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples in Conserving Biota” 

Following lunch there will be discussions of effective recruitment that will explore
what worked and what didn’t from student and recruiter perspectives. Federally funded initiatives including NSF IGERT programs will be featured.

            “What Worked for You?”  A graduate student panel discussion
            “Report Card From Agencies” Representatives of federal agencies
            “Report Card From Academia” Panel of NABS faculty

Mentor partnerships between current and incoming graduate students will be established during this forum.  We hope to create a network that will support new members from under-represented groups during and after this annual NABS meeting. 

Faculty and students interested in participating are encouraged to contact Judy Li.
(lijunk@comcast.net).  Members of the GRC and other students may wish to contact Asako Yamamuro (yamamuro@science.oregonstate.edu).

Judy Li is a retired professor in the Department of Fisheries & Wildlife at Oregon State University.  Her research interests focus on riparian foodwebs with emphasis on the role of aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates.  Included in her teaching experience were campus and online courses on the role of diverse cultures in the development of the American West, that was also the topic of a recent book, “To Harvest, To Hunt” that she edited.  She has served NABS in various capacities, including many years with the Education & Diversity committee that is sponsoring this workshop.  She and the committee are planning this event in an effort to bring together NABS members who share an interest in both the diversity of our natural world and the diversity of our human communities.