DEI + Outreach

DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Statement

We believe that scientific knowledge and scientific methods should be available to all people who wish to have access to them, and that the ability to pursue and practice science should not be limited to individuals from certain economic, gender, cultural, ethnic, or identity groups. In accordance with this philosophy, we strive to create a diverse, inclusive environment of scientists from a broad range of personal and professional backgrounds. We work to make our research, data, code, and educational materials publicly accessible for anyone who wants them. Finally, we take active strategies to engage historically underserved communities in science, and thereby enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.

  • • Prioritize acquiring funding to support mentees to ease the financial burden of participation in research for minoritized and marginalized students

    • Engage in practices to recruit students and work with collaborators from a broad range of intersecting backgrounds, identities, and orientations

    • Provide opportunities for students, postdoctoral scholars, and junior collaborators to meet and participate in activities to broaden and strengthen their community of peers and collaborators

    • Create an open and supportive environment where students, mentees and collaborators feel free to express opinions and share their experiences and knowledge

    • Create opportunities for students and mentees from diverse backgrounds to re-engage with their own communities on scientific topics and career mentoring

    • Use quantitative metrics to measure how mentoring efforts impact individuals from diverse backgrounds

  • Andrew co-founded the AI for the Ocean (AIO) program, an interdisciplinary training program aimed at building undergraduate peer relationships, research skills, and career foundations, centered around the theme of using AI technology to improve our ability to monitor and study the ocean. You can read more about the 2021-2022 AIO cohort here.

Outreach

Increasing accessibility of tools for monitoring ecosystem health. One major area of outreach we are involved in is increasing access to tools for monitoring and studying ecosystems, and marine ecosystems in particular. This work dovetails with the objectives of the AIO program. We will be expanding outreach efforts in this area soon through our cross-institution NSF Understanding the Rules of Life grant.

Congratulations AIO Students! 2021-2022 AI for the Ocean Cohort just had their paper on increasing access to Machine Learning methods for studying and monitoring marine ecosystems accepted for publication at Frontiers in Marine Science. This is the culmination of a long journey for students, mentors, and collaborators. The paper’s goal is to help people capitalize on imagery that can now be collected by cheap field cameras. We provide instructions and code to describing how to use machine learning tools to analyze imagery. Code is open source and can be run by anyone anywhere in the world using free cloud computing resources. Congratulations AIO team on a job well done!

Join the lab

We are always looking for dynamic new scientists, mathematicians, and engineers to join the lab. Interested graduate, postdoctoral, or undergraduate researchers should contact Andrew to inquire about possibilities.