How to build an LGBT+ network in geoscience

Scientific networks help researchers broaden their professional connections, opening up pathways for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and peer-to-peer support. In STEM, LGBTQ+ folk are more likely to leave their career-path due to prejudices against their sexuality or gender identity, facing harassment and exclusionary behaviour not experienced by non-LGBTQ+ colleagues. Networks can help LGBTQ+ folk navigate such obstacles by nurturing a supportive and accepting environment, whilst allowing for collaboration to bring greater visibility to the challenges they face. EGU Pride began at the General Assembly in 2019 and has since expanded to include an online community. In this webinar, three members of this community, Anita Di Chiara, Marek Muchow and Mike Prior-Jones, will discuss why LGBTQ+ science networks are needed, how others can build their own networks, and what EGU Pride is all about. The webinar will last approximately 45 minutes long with time for audience Q&A at the end.

Mike Prior-Jones (Cardiff University, UK) is an electronic engineer by background whose research interests relate to the development of new instruments for collecting data from the field, particularly in glaciology. He is currently working on the Cryoegg, a wireless probe for making measurements of conditions underneath glaciers. From January 2022, Michael will be a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, working on open-source instruments for real-time data collection from glaciers and ice sheets, and the enhancement of Cryoegg to include instruments that measure snowpack, supraglacial streams, and englacial conditions. He believes strongly in the value of welcoming and inclusive communities in creating the conditions for people to thrive and do excellent work.

Marek Muchow recently finished his masters in “Ocean and Climate Physics” at the Universität Hamburg (Germany) and will soon start his doctoral studies on sea-ice mechanics at Aalto University (Finland). He is an active member of APECS (Association of Polar Early Career Scientists) Germany, and enjoys the sense of community in the field of polar research. He feels strongly that seeing EGU Pride events and participating in them benefits him through getting to know other queer people in geoscience and the value of different communities.

Anita Di Chiara (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California and Istituto di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy) is a postdoctoral researcher in paleomagnetism. She is now working in understanding the Earth’s magnetic field evolution and features using volcanic rocks from the Precambrian and the Cretaceous, and archaeological artifacts from the Holocene. She is the current Union wide Early Career Scientist Representative at EGU and passionate about EDI and LGBTQIA+ topics; in particular, she works toward improving communication, interaction, and collaboration within the ECS from the EGU community and other Unions to create a safer place to thrive as researchers and human beings.

You can view the webinar here (Youtube).

If you have any questions about the ‘How to build an LGBT+ network in geoscience’ webinar, please contact us via webinars@egu.eu.