Building a Culture of Respect and Inclusivity at the Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystem Long Term Ecological Research Program

Abstract:

An organizational culture built around collective respect is key to sustainability and success of any research program. However, multi-institution programs can run into problems where culture is not consistent across sites, and the processes for reporting and responding to inequity, misconduct or harassment can be unclear. The Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystem Long Term Ecological Research program (BLE-LTER), which began in 2017, spans 7 institutions from throughout the US and Canada. Researchers from all these locations travel together to remote northern Alaska field sites to collaborate on a wide range of projects related land/sea interactions and the ecology, biogeochemistry and physics of lagoons on the Beaufort Sea coast. Early on, project leadership recognized the importance of mutual respect, developing a program-specific Code of Conduct and Sexual Misconduct Policy that emphasized our culture of respect, inclusion, accountability, and transparency. Here, we will review how these policies and plans evolved, lessons learned, and the collaborative process that ultimately led to the creation of a BLE LTER oversight committee. Our joint efforts to produce a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan is unique in that it addressed issues directly related to our BLE-LTER team and our interaction with Iñupiaq communities on the north slope of Alaska. Key to all these efforts was ensuring all voices at all levels were heard and there was consensus regarding the final documents. We hope to encourage discussion and feedback on how we can continue to improve communication and mutual trust which are critical to developing dialogue in promoting a shared culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sciences.