#ShutDownSTEM and Diverse Faces of Geobiology Initiative

Dear Colleagues,

#ShutDownSTEM is a grassroots movement asking scientists and academics to strike (#strike4blacklives) tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10th, and use the day to work to “eradicate anti-Black racism in academia and STEM”. The #ShutDownSTEM website has resources to help all of us understand and combat anti-Black racism in STEM and the academy. Several of our geoscientist colleagues have also penned calls to action with specific actions we can all take:

• Call for a Robust Anti-Racism Plan for The Geosciences
• A Call to Action for an Anti-Racist Science Community from Geoscientists of Color: Listen, Act, Lead

As your friendly Geobiology/Geomicrobiology division officers, we invite you to join us in using the day to help us build a web resource designed to amplify the voices, stories, and research of geobiologists of underrepresented and historically marginalized groups!

We plan to launch a rich “Diverse Faces of Geobiology” website at the end of this month and need help writing bios and collecting stories about the fabulous rainbow of humans who have helped build our field. If you would like to join this effort, please email the project coordinator, Carie Frantz, at cariefrantz@weber.edu with the subject header “Diverse Faces of Geobiology” for details.

Sincerely,
Your Geobiology & Geomicrobiology Division Leadership Team