Blog Editor Sarah Marley introduces a new series of blog posts targeting #DiversityInEcology.

One of the major goals of the British Ecological Society (BES) is to inspire, engage and recognise talent. This includes a commitment to building a community of ecologists which is as inclusive as possible.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

To achieve this, BES has undertaken a number of initiatives: launching an equality and diversity task group; running a Women in Ecology mentoring scheme; partnering with other societies to co-organise Athena SWAN best practice events; conducting outreach to low socio-economic groups; promoting mental health and wellbeing; and producing an Equality and Diversity Work Annual Report. The JAE Blog has also touched on diversity topics in the past. We have previously celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, spoken about solving the skewed sex ratio problem in science, and discussed how to solve the skewed sex ratio on science journal editorial boards (The solution: make it clear that the workload is not onerous and you can balance it by reducing the number of papers you accept to review).

Diversity is a diverse topic. Gender, ethnicity, disability and socio-economic status are some obvious broad categories. But within each of these, there are further examples of individuals demonstrating diversity through their own unique personalities, experiences, responses, and contexts. For example, the differing benefits and challenges associated with being ‘introverted’ or ‘extroverted’. How to deal with power differentials in the workplace. Solutions to the two-body problem. How to achieve the fabled work-life balance. Being a working parent.

And whilst there are a lot of challenges still to overcome, there is also a lot to celebrate about diversity. To explore this further, we are inviting guest blog posts addressing topics related to the theme of #DiversityInEcology. These might provide insight from unique perspectives, celebrate successes, or draw attention to on-going issues. We have a selection to get started with, including guest posts on women in science, abuse of power, and implicit cultural bias. But with so much diversity out there, I’m sure there are a lot more stories to share!

If you are interested in contributing or would like to suggest a topic, please contact us. And, of course, be sure to follow the blog and the #DiversityInEcology tag!

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com