Working Groups
Academic Recruitment
Academic Recruitment Group is responsible for enhancing the recruitment of under-represented groups to our Academic Programs (JP, postdocs, undergrad programs). This group works with APO, PEP, and MIT to establish institutional relationships and pathways for access. Current initiatives focus on middle and high school outreach education, student recruitment strategies, and publishing the Through the Porthole newsletter which offers resources for undergraduate students considering applying to graduate school.
Contact: Kama Thieler and Tom Bell
Messaging
The Messaging Group is responsible for composing, designing, and communicating our message within and beyond the WHOI community. They collaborated with local community media center, FCTV, to publish a series of short interviews called “Conversation Starters”. This series highlights members of the WHO community working on DEI related initiatives (linked here). This group is also responsible for designing and launching the #humansofwhoi campaign in collaboration with the Communications Department, as well as working with the CDEIO on expanding inclusive artwork on the WHOI campus.
Contact: Elise Hugus and Veronique LaCapra
Events
Events Group is responsible for organizing the Committee's participation in events we initiate, such as Celebrating Humans of WHOI, as well as those we co-sponsor with other groups and the CDEIO, such as the Room Naming Celebration, events at the Science Stroll, and others. We also developed and maintain the WHOI Inclusive Event Guidelines.
Contact: Laura Motta and Loay Jabre
Disability Education
The Disability Education Group was formed in the fall of 2024 to increase education and awareness about equity and inclusion for people with disabilities. The group is hoping to educate themselves and the WHOI community about unintentional bias against people with disabilities and exclusionary behavior with the hope of further developing WHOI as a comfortable working environment for all.
Contact: Amy Bower and Grace Simpkins
Retired Working Groups
The CDEI recongizes that at any point in time, new working groups are needed to tackle issues and these usually grow out of community interest and engagement from both within and outside of the CDEI. In the past, we have had working groups that focused on Community Building, the URGE program, Incubator for new ideas, and Room Naming. If you have ideas for future working groups, email the co-chairs: Julie Huber & Ben Weiss.
Updates
May is Asian/Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month and CDEI is taking this occasion to highlight those who identify as Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander that have contributed to the rich history and ongoing accomplishments of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Though WHOI’s relationship began with the exploitation of the indigenous peoples of Bikini Atoll,…
The story of women at sea on WHOI ships began quietly in the early 1950’s when the wives of researchers were allowed on ships with their husbands, but not as a science equal. Early logs note the husband and wife team of Harvard biologists Barbara Lawrence and William Schevill on the R/V Caryn in Bermuda…
Today’s letter from WHOI’s President and Director, Peter de Menocal – Dear WHOI community, I am writing to you today, alarmed by the recent violence and racist attacks against Asians and Asian Americans across our nation. I am very concerned about the impact this may have or had on members of our community. Anti-Asian racism…
February is Black History Month, and for 40 years, members of the Woods Hole community have come together to remember, commemorate, and celebrate with speakers, art exhibits, films, musical groups, and other events culminating in the annual “Harambee,” a potluck feast celebrating people of every race and ethnicity. In 2021, Woods Hole Black History Month…
The UN broadcast the International Day of Girls and Women in Science Assembly on UN TV live. Watch for WHOI’s Dr. Amy Bower in the “My Fellow Blind Scientists: Writing Science in Braille” panel. Full program here.
Every year, members of the Woods Hole community come together to celebrate Black History Month. On February 4th at Noon, in commemoration of 40 years of Black History Month celebrations in Woods Hole, a panel will discuss the history of the Woods Hole Community Black History Month Planning Committee, challenges faced and where we see…
The MIT-WHOI Joint Program is a renowned program for ocean/Earth sciences, or, at least, it is among oceanographers. We would like it to be known more widely. Part of enhancing diversity in the geosciences involves getting the word out about opportunities in the field: You can enter a graduate program and not enter into debt. You don’t need…
Amanda Gorman, current United States Poet Laureate, recited her work “The Hill We Climb” at the swearing in ceremony on Inauguration Day 2021. As the nation continues to process the attack on the Capitol, she calls on us to keep up the work, investing in our nation which “isn’t broken but simply unfinished.” “The new…
Dear WHOI Community, This afternoon I watched, as many of you did as well, the deeply troubling footage of our nation’s Capitol Building under siege. Regardless of your political views, these actions are a fundamental challenge to our democracy and the rule of law. We hope and pray that calm will return to our nation’s…
“It is not now, nor has it ever been, the most vulnerable folks’ job to fix structural oppression.” Dartmouth College astrophysicist Jedidah Isler In the wake of the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Dion Johnson, and Ahmaud Arbery, people across the nation and around the globe are voicing their long-held frustration with institutions…