(McLean, VA) April 2024 – GeoScienceWorld is pleased to announce the launch of the GeoScienceWorld Diversity and Representation Award, a new annual scholarship program for graduate students in the geosciences. The awardee will receive $5000 USD and have their winning essay published in GSW’s OA journal, Lithosphere. The goal of this initiative is to lower barriers to participation for graduate students from historically marginalized communities (racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, and/or disabilities) in the Earth Sciences, Planetary, or Earth Science-adjacent degree programs.
Guiding Principles:
- To promote the retention of geoscientists who hold historically excluded identities so the field may benefit from the creative perspectives and contributions of these populations.
- To mitigate financial obstacles that disproportionately impact geoscientists from historically marginalized groups.
- To amplify voices from historically excluded communities within the geosciences.
Background
Because of the history of cultural hegemony within the natural sciences broadly and the geosciences in specific, individuals from communities outside the white, cisgender, heterosexual, and male dominated culture are significantly underrepresented in geosciences academia compared to population demographics. Multiple studies have demonstrated that the geosciences are one of the least diverse STEM fields. For example, studies find that only 5-10% of geosciences doctorates are earned by Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), and less than 4% of tenured or tenure-track geoscience faculty positions are held by BIPOC.
* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0519-z
https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-53-117-2020
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0116-6
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23936-w
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000514
Eligibility
The GSW Diversity and Representation Award is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who:
- Are graduate students at accredited American institutions within the United States enrolled in an Earth Sciences, Planetary, or Earth Science-adjacent degree program
- Are at least 18 years of age at the time of their submission
- Self-identify as a member of a historically excluded population in Earth, planetary, and adjacent sciences.
- Agree that if selected to receive a grant, and have a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN) or U.S. Tax Identification Number (TIN), will provide it to GSW to facilitate payment of the funds.
Employees of GeoScienceWorld and the Award Selection Panel, including companies involved in the implementation and execution of the Award, and the immediate families and those living in the same household of the foregoing, are not eligible to enter. Government officials are also not eligible to enter. Entrants may be subject to rules imposed by their institutions or employers relative to their participation in trade promotions and should check with their institutions or employers for any relevant policies.
Deadlines
- 2024 application deadline: April 30, 2024, 11:59 p.m. (EDT).
- Results reported to applicants via email in late May.
- Grant checks will be mailed by June 30, 2024.