Enhancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Coastal Sector

Restore America'S Estuaries, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

As a national non-profit, Restore America?s Estuaries (RAE) is well-positioned to bring important topics and training to the great number and variety of professionals working within the coastal science sector across the nation. Diversity, equity, and inclusion is a topic area that RAE recognizes as not receiving enough attention or resources within this sector but that is critically important for the effectiveness and sustainability of coastal science and application for management, conservation, and restoration efforts. In order to achieve success in these efforts, environmental institutions must be able to effectively communicate and engage with coastal communities and to attract new talent to the coastal workforce. Both of these endeavors will benefit from intentional actions that serve to identify and eliminate implicit bias within recruitment, retention, and promotion of new staff and in developing an inclusive work environment in which professionals from diverse backgrounds feel welcome. Among the ways that diversity in the workforce can have a positive impact on productivity and success are through competitive advantages, innovation, and new knowledge, skills, and perspectives involving the use and management of natural resources. RAE proposes to conduct a DEI workshop during its National Summit. The workshop will focus on adding a DEI lens to recruitment and hiring in the coastal sector, including tips to cast a wider net in recruitment efforts, mitigate bias in hiring, and support retention and advancement in an inclusive work environment. The workshop will help participants grapple with bias through three lenses: 1) individual bias that manifests in our personal thoughts and interactions; 2) institutional bias that pervades agency and organizational practices and policies (and in particular, recruitment and hiring), and 3) bias that impacts the entire environmental sector based on the history and legacy of conservation and environmentalist. Participants will be left with tips and tools to meaningfully engage in this work. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.