raquel bryant to lead geological society of america pardee symposiumdr raquel bryant geology and geophysics postdoctoral research associate will lead the geological society of america pardee symposium titled the next generation of geoscience leaders: strategies for excellence in diversity and inclusionoct 2 2020dr bryant examining a piston core from the shelf area off the coast of southern california while serving as a gradaute mentor with the program stem seas in the summer of 2016 stem seas sailed from san diego california to honolulu hawaii with 10 undergraduate students from various institutions and majors all of whom were interested in ocean science they sampled the core to make smear slides and washed and sieved samples for foraminiferal analysis (photo courtesy of dr bryant)dr raquel bryant department of geology and geophysics postdoctoral research associate is co-leading the geological society of america (gsa) 2020 online connects pardee symposium: the next generation of geoscience leaders: strategies for excellence in diversity and inclusion this year the geological society of america annual meeting will be held completely online the pardee symposium will take place oct 27 from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm est and is organized into three parts: 1) a series of invited talks 2) an interactive workshop conducted through breakout rooms and 3) a live feedback panel and q&a session this symposium will provide a collaborative space where participants can work together to develop solutions that address justice equity diversity and inclusion (jedi) challenges specific to their geoscience community the goal is to empower participants to organize and lead initiatives by equipping them with a network of support an action plan and tools and strategies for overcoming obstacles the next generation of geoscience leaders pardee symposium is designed for participants to leave with a range of outcomes: 1) a community of geoscientists who are committed to broadening participation work 2) action plans to tackle a diversity/inclusion/justice/equity challenge in your geoscience community and 3) strategies for overcoming anticipated obstacles the two important concepts i hope people take away is that leadership is key to solving our field's particular challenges with broadening participation and inclusivity and that all of us have the capacity to be leaders in the different geoscience spaces we occupy bryant saidofficial poster for the pardee symposium: the next generation of geoscience leaders: strategies for excellence in diversity & inclusion the fist graphic on the flyer was designed by artist ella halpine (@pompoustrash) in 2017bryant and dr benjamin keisling from the lamont-doherty earth observatory were inspired to organize this pardee symposium after their 2019 american geophysical union (agu) session the next generation of geoscience leaders: contributions from graduate students and early-career scientists it was the first iteration on the theme "the next generation of geoscience leaders" the agu session highlighted the incredible contributions that early career scientists and students are making in an effort to improve equity and inclusivity in their geoscience communities they also used the session to build community and bring together students and researchers who may otherwise feel isolated with the upcoming pardee symposium at gsa bryant and keisling hope to build on the agu session but instead of increasing visibility and building community they are focused on cultivating resilience and developing leadership skills they identified these areas as critical professional development gaps that are not only essential for pursuing efforts to broaden participation bryant said but are also often important for retaining students with underrepresented identity markers dr bryant with dr keisling at agu 2019 in san francisco where they led the first iteration of the next generation of geoscience leaders (photo courtesy of dr bryant)dr bryant hard at work on the microscope she used to analyze her graduate school research samples (photo courtesy of dr bryant)dr bryant tagging along on a field trip with her graduate advisor mark leckie for his history of the earth class they are investigating paleozoic shales in canajoharie new york (photo courtesy of dr bryant)i am most looking forward to working with the brilliant invited speakers and the inspiring student facilitators! she said in my experience the most successful teams are made up of folks from all walks of life that are unified under shared values as one of the co-conveners one of my biggest tasks is to empower the speakers and student facilitators and ensure that this experience is also giving them a rich professional development opportunity and this is also the most rewarding part! as awesome as it will be to have lots and lots of participants for the symposium i am equally looking forward to seeing how this experience inspires and shapes the next steps of our passionate student leaders and invited speakers bryant said three geology and geophysics phd students jessica mckay danielle schimmenti and ali snell are serving as student facilitators during the pardee symposium participating as a student facilitator for the pardee symposium has been extremely validating and inspiring as a graduate student who wants to see progress on justice equity diversity and inclusion at my own academic institution schimmenti said i am very relieved to be a part of this team and to have this community of next gen geoscience leaders im really looking forward to the pardee symposium and im so glad i decided to volunteer as a student facilitator im really inspired by raquel and benjamin and grateful to them for being leaders of our community you can sign up to receive updates and more information about the pardee symposium: the next generation of geoscience leaders the early bird registration deadline for the gsa 2020 annual meeting is september 21 registration is free for students who are gsa members regardless of the early bird deadline all pardee symposium sessions are named in honor of gsa fellow and benefactor joseph thomas pardee (1871–1960) via a bequest from mary pardee kelly pardee is perhaps best known for his work on the glacial lake missoula by ali snell