Dear PSA members:
The Phycological Society of America strives to be supportive and inclusive of all current and future members and endeavours to address systemic racism in our field and in science. An important step is to establish a standing committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) in our society. The role of the EDI committee will be to examine how to embed the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion into our society and support PSA members who represent diverse cultures, ethnicities, nationalities, genders, sexual identities and disabilities. In addition, the EDI committee will advise the Executive Committee (EC) and Board of Trustees (BOT) on matters that relate to increasing access and support for diverse and racialized members of our society, which may include ways in which endowment funds could foster inclusivity and equity in PSA and phycology in general. We are requesting self-nominations from members who have demonstrable experience working on EDI initiatives to consider serving on the new EDI committee. We encourage all PSA members and especially graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to self-nominate. We recognize that for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and early career researchers, your experience in EDI may not be extensive and we still encourage you to self-nominate. The first goal of the EDI committee will be to draft a description of the committee’s role for the EC, which will eventually be brought to the membership for a vote and added to the PSA bylaws. Initially the terms for committee involvement will vary in order to rotate members off the committee but will eventually consist of a three-year term and a new chair will be determined by the committee each year.
If you are interested, Please send an email to the PSA Secretary, Patrick Martone (email), including a statement that demonstrates your activities, leadership, and/or training in EDI that would contribute to your role on this committee. Please also include a brief description of your reasons for serving in this role and of the qualities that you would contribute to this committee. This statement should be no longer than one page, single-spaced. The deadline for this self-nomination is July 15, 2020 and the members of the committee will be notified by September 1, 2020 followed by an announcement in the fall Phycological Newsletter.
Thank you for considering giving your time to support this important effort.
Sincerely,
The PSA Executive Committee
Dale Casamatta, President
Kirsten Müller, Past President
Eric Linton, VP/President Elect
Jeff Morris, Communications Director
Julie Koester, Treasurer
Amy Carlile, Program Director
Joe Zuccarello, International Vice- President
Maggie Amsler, Membership Director
Patrick Martone, Secretary
Sabrina Heiser, Student Representative
Morgan Vis, Chair, Board of Trustees
Steve Murray, Endowment Manager
Michael Graham, Managing Editor, Journal of Phycology