April 20, 2022
We had at the opportunity to meet with collaborators Antoinette Abeyta from the University of New Mexicao, Gallup and Diana Dalbotten from the University of Minnesota in person! Antoinette and Diana joined Jason and Alyssa as panelists for a conference on resilience hosted by Notre Dame’s Institute for Advanced Study. The panel focused on connections in Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) and the Geoscience Alliance to meet the needs of minority students by incorporating cultural values, knowing the barriers (particularly with broadband) to accessing educational materials, building relationships and trust with partners from diverse backgrounds, and using social networks to connect individuals to work on projects together. The panel also highlighted that while we celebrate resilience in students who have overcome adversity or trauma, we need to acknowledge the systems that create adversity for students and take time to think about our role in perpetuating or dismantling these systems in higher education. The info shared during the panel and the opportunity to connect as a group grew out of projects funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and activities in the EFI Education and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working groups.
