REDUCING HARM IN GEOSCIENCES

Why is it that members with marginalized identity markers who envision themselves as future geoscientists are pushed out or leave? Literature and discourse about the lack diversity of in geoscience, generally speaks to the need to recruit more people with marginalized identities. While substantive recruitment now is a necessary tool, it often fails to acknowledge how marginalized people who are already here, are filtered out at every career stage. This is an example of what I call "harm" - the disparate outcomes that determines who gets to be a geoscientist. Unless we pay attention to the structural features of geoscience that limit participation, and how the individual choices we make in these spaces create those oppressive structures, we will continue to reproduce this harm. Here I present a framework for harm reduction that all individuals can use, regardless of their positionality, to take effective actions towards JEDI in geoscience. This talk will critically examine and situate harm in geoscience, in order to make sense of our own experiences in a meaningful and productive way that reduces harm.