FIELDWORK INSPIRING EXPANDED LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY (FIELD): OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO FIELDWORK IN PALEONTOLOGY

Field activity is integral to many subdisciplines within the geosciences and associated field disciplines where the dominant, long-standing cultures within these disciplines continue to set the norms for fieldwork expectations. Individuals who are underrepresented in STEM (e.g., people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ) often face barriers associated with field based activity that can lead to feelings of economic exclusion, anxiety about outdoor experiences, attitudes of ableism, and accessibility. These barriers are often ingrained in the culture of field training and research activities, which continues to emphasize physical ability, mental toughness, assertive behavior, and one-upmanship. The FIELD (Fieldwork Inspiring Expanded Leadership and Diversity) Institute aims to make field based experiences within the geosciences more accessible, culturally sensitive, and inclusive by equipping field leaders and mentors with the perspectives, skills, and solidarity to address both physical and cultural barriers in field settings. The FIELD Institute is led by a team of PIs from ten institutions representing paleontology, geology, field ecology, marine science, atmospheric science, and social science, with the goal of better understanding the nature of field culture, the ways field activity is exclusionary, and to develop and implement best practices to address barriers to students success in the geosciences.

Here we present some of the results from a 4-day immersive leadership development institute at the Colorado State University Mountain Campus for field course leaders in October 2018. Our goals were to: (1) engage in practical skills training such as bystander intervention and diversity leadership; (2) collaboratively develop approaches to reduce the exclusionary nature of field culture; (3) explore multidisciplinary and mixed methods to inspire a love of field activity. The venue provided a space for difficult conversations about the culture of field sciences that are a function of its leaders unquestioning socialization into it but that frequently excludes others. Activities and conversations formed the basis for a model of professional development and leadership training that can be disseminated, scaled and used by others in geoscience and similar field-based discipline