Connections and coffee, fall 2021

 "Find a peer group of women to provide professional support" suggest the authors of Ten simple rules for women principal investigators during a pandemic.  Research has shown that women generally benefit from networking and group mentoring.  Further, women's stress can be moderated by social supports.  Its also not a surprise that short breaks help individuals regroup and look at challenges through a refreshed lens.  So, take a BYO snack or meal break on First Mondays (Register for Mondays) at noon, and/or  Third Thursdays (Register for Thursdays) at 8am.  Sessions are hosted by the ESF Women's Caucus and are open to employees, students, and alumnae.

All sessions are online, with a phone in option, so that folks can participate from  on campus (main or satellite) or off.  217 Bray Hall is also reserved during each session for those without a workspace conducive to participation.

You can ask questions or share resources anytime by subscribing to:

·    ESFWomen is configured as a discussion forum, but is used most frequently to share event reminders and registration links! 

·    FamilyResources.  Child- and elder-care impact a number of students and employees regardless of gender/gender identity  By spinning off those discussions, we hope to make them more accessible to parents and other caregivers who need them (ATM or for the future), unclutter the inboxes of those who don’t, and underscore “balancing work and family” as universal workplace concerns.

REGISTRATION:

1st Mondays, noon-1pm: Register for Mondays

3rd  Thursdays, 8am-9am: Register for Thursdays

For more information about the ESF Women's Caucus, or our formal or informal mentoring programs, please visit: https://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus or contact the program coordinator, 

Heather Engelman engelman@esf.edu or 315-470-4752

Feedback needed: meeting times, program ideas, issues to share

High on the list of the recently published Ten simple rules for women principal investigators during a pandemic, authors suggest Find a peer group of women to provide professional support. This is not new advice.  We’ve long argued that women generally benefit from networking and group mentoring, that stress responses are moderated by social supports, and also that short breaks help individuals regroup and gain fresh perspectives.

I’m looking forward to re-convening monthly “coffee breaks” for peer support and to discuss ways to better recruit, retain, and advance women.  Let us know what times could work for you, and if so inclined, a little bit about you, any program ideas, and/or what you think decision makers should know about women working/studying at ESF at:  https://forms.gle/ffX1cnUgQn6gYn7q6

I anticipate being virtual for a while, so that we don’t need to pivot should numbers or space constraints worsen (at least 3 conference rooms are offline this semester); so folks at our remote campuses, working from home, or in isolation can participate; and because the nature of masking makes more difficult both hearing and enjoying that beverage.

Please note that you don’t need to wait for those monthly breaks to ask questions or share resources!

·         ESFWomen is configured as a discussion forum.  You can use it to communicate with each other  (about 100 people strong, some still on campus, some that have graduated or gone to other institutions) as well as receiving announcements like these.

·         FamilyResources is a separate list.  Child- and elder-care impact lots of folks regardless of gender/gender identity, and not all women have an interest in those resources.  By spinning off those discussions, we hope to make them more accessible to those who need them (ATM or for the future), unclutter the inboxes of those who don’t, and underscore “balancing work and family” as universal workplace concerns.

You subscribe yourself to either listserv right away by following the instructions at the links above! You may also save yourself those steps and instead check the “please add me links” while responding to the survey (https://forms.gle/ffX1cnUgQn6gYn7q6) and you'll be manually added when we look at responses.

Also save these dates:

·         Women’s Empowerment Brunch, Saturday, November 7 (for all, with Baobab Society and others)

·         CNY Girls’ Summit, Saturday, April 2 (for 5^th-10^th graders, with OELO, OIDE, YWCA and others. Will be seeking workshop leaders, group guides, and other volunteers)

·         Take our Kids to Work Day, Thursday, April 28 (for 8-11 yr olds with an adult that works or studies at ESF.  Will be seeking workshop leaders, group guides, and other volunteers)

BBFF: Creating a foundation for safer and more equitable fieldwork

Click to view recording

 Building a Better Fieldwork Future (BBFF) trainer Dr. Amanda Adams lead workshop participants through some sobering statistics (64% of field participants reported experiencing sexual harassment while in field, 22% reported physical harassment or assault, with women, racially marginalized groups, LGBTQIA+ people more likely to experience those in the field), and also shared easily implementable tools to prevent and respond to harassment and assault.

“Organizational climate is the single most important factor in determining whether sexual harassment is likely to happen in a work setting.” according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Adams continues "Degrading jokes are really the most common form of harassment reported in the field, and there's been a rise in the level of harassment." When this continues to be repeated, and the severity increases, it can have a huge impact on not just the target, but on the whole group.   "One of least harmful [types of harassment] but because it so common, can have the biggest impact."

What makes field sites such a high risk environment for harassment and assault? Factors include:

• Sites can be isolated, with limited outside communication or ways to leave
• Graduate field training is loaded with power asymmetries and dependencies on leaders.
• Long hours, close working and sleeping quarters, blurry boundaries

The BBFF Workshop aims to prevent instances of harassment and assault through positive organizational climate, early training, comprehensive and accessible community agreements and field safety plans to facilitate conversations, have a clear course of action when problems arise, and empower team members to respond.   Participants worked through 4 scenarios, determining what when wrong, brainstorming ways to intervene or respond, and also considering what steps could have been put in place earlier to prevent the incident from happening or escalating. 

Safety plans should include communication plans, how to access copies of fleet keys and maps so that team members aren't reliant on a single individual for resources, and list whom to contact in the event of an emergency. At least two people should be designated to receive reports.  Documents should be accessible, not just on someone's hard drive or back on campus. If someone is incapacitated, at least two people should accompany them.   Daily group check-ins cultivate a culture of open, honest communication so that everyone feels its safe to communicate.

Make use of a Community Agreement, a collaboratively created agreement that includes items such as task sharing, privacy, roommate assignments, alcohol and drug use, and how to change work partners or sleeping quarters. Community Agreements ensure everyone is on the same page.  It can be verbally discussed and shared on a board, or through an electronic document.  It should be accessible by everyone, and regularly revisited. Regularly checking in on the community agreement with the entire group reminds folks of its existence without calling out any specific bad behaviors, and furthers normalization of conversation so that when issues do arise, team members are more prepared to address.

Participants were also briefed on the "5 Ds" of bystander intervention:  Direct, Distract, Delegate, Document, and/or Delay. Look for more comprehensive workshops for more information and opportunities to practice.

Dr. Amanda Adams is the Conservation Research Program Manager, Bat Conservation International and Lecturer in Biology at Texas A&M University.  She is a member of the first cohort of certified BBFF trainers.  

This was a presentation of ESF's Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions (WiSE Professions) and a collaboration of the ESF Women's Caucus, ESF Choose Action Network, UC Santa Cruz, Risk & Safety Training University of California Center, and the Center to Advance Mentored, Inquiry-Based Opportunities (CAMINO)@USCS.  Earlier in this year's series, BBFF Coordinator Melissa Cronin discussed the origins and growth of this program to increase field work safety and planning, and to make programs more equitable and welcoming.   A summary of "Scenario-Based Bystander Training to Prevent Sexual Harassment and Assault in Field Settings" written by PhD student Jenna Zukswert is available at http://esfwomen.blogspot.com/2021/04/building-better-fieldwork-future.html and includes a link to a full recording. For more information about WiSE Professions, please visit https://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/speakers.htm, or contact Heather Engelman, engelman@esf.edu.  

Improving access through transit infrastructure: Conversation with Veronica O. Davis PE

As Director of Transportation and Drainage Operations for the City of Houston, Veronica O. Davis is responsible for maintaining and improving infrastructure across 671 square miles. She chatted with ESF on Earth Day about challenges in designing roadways for equitable transit through her lens as a civil engineer passionate about transportation and community development.

Veronica O. Davis.  Click for video

Houston is the 4th largest city. Its physically large, but is not contiguous because of its growth through annexation.  Houston's road system and bike lane are used to channel rainwater to prevent property drainage.  Both are swept to prevent debris blocking drains.  

Houston is seeking not just infrastructure, but "really good infrastructure" through better public transit and measures "to live with water.  Houston's highest point is only 100' above sea level.  So, biking is easy, but drainage is difficult."  The city has a big goal of 25 miles/yr of "High Comfort Bike Lanes" plus 50 miles of sidewalk.  These lanes are also called "protective bike lanes", which are bide, protected from traffic by a buffer, and have dedicated travel lanes.  Her office benefits from an "enterprise fund" from a drainage fee on water bills, sales tax on Metro, rather than on the general budget.  She also notes that they benefit from dedicated crews, working to expand their capacity.  Botanists are consulted to choose plants suitable for the ebbs and flows along drainage paths.

Half of roadways are concreate, rather than asphalt, which is cooler.  The city also uses cool pavements, which are gray and permeable, which helps with both heat retention and drainage. Other ways to make biking safer include reducing instances of speeding through better designed roads.   Coupling bike lanes with better public transit also improves bikability, as it helps address "what happens if I need to go far?"

For students nearing graduation, Davis notes that there are lots of opportunities in Houston. 

Ms Davis has 20 years of experience in engineering and transportation planning.  She co-founded Nspiregreen in Washington DC, which manages Community, Multimodal Transportation, and Environmental planning and consulting.  While at Nspiregreen, she led the Vision Zero Action Plans for Washington, DC and the City of Alexandria.  She also co-founded Black Women Bike, an organization and movement that builds community and interest in biking among black women.  She was named a Champion of Change  by the White House (2012) for these accomplishments and advocacy. Davis  earned a Bachelor of Science from University of Maryland College Park and a Master of Engineering and a Master of Regional and Urban Planning, Land Use and Environmental Planning from Cornell University.

This presentation was part of ESF's Earth Week Celebration, and an installment in the College's annual WiSE Professions Speaker Series.

Personal Finance and the Impacts of COVID: Conversation with John McGraw

Mr. John McGraw, Visiting Instructor of Accounting at SUNY-ESF, met with the graduate student seminar “Perspectives on Career and Gender” last Wednesday, May 5th to facilitate a conversation about personal finance. McGraw emphasized the importance of planning and implementing personal finance goals and provided actionable tips and suggestions for students first beginning their journey into saving and investing on limited incomes. He is cautiously optimistic that the economy has began to recover after being harmed by COVID but acknowledges that recent graduates may take longer to find their first job than in the past. Students were then able to ask questions about investing and planning for retirement, topics that are rarely taught at SUNY-ESF.  Participants received a budget template, nett

Suggestions include:

• paying down credit card purchases as quickly as possible to reduce the amount of interest due "the time to pay back should not exceed the period the item is of use."
• Improving credit scores through the use of "good debt" such as student and car loans.
• Don't skip insurance
• Take advantage of matched savings
• Save as you can, and invest. Look into Mutual Funds and IRAs, which can be opened even with small amounts.

For students interested in learning more about planning their personal finances, Professor McGraw teaches Personal Finance in fall semesters covering net-worth, budgeting, goal setting, debt, insurance, taxes, saving and investing, housing costs, transportation costs and other aspects of personal financial literacy.

McGraw received his MBA from LeMoyne College in Syracuse and worked for many years as a licensed CPA for public and private accounting firms. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Child Care Solutions and the Landmark Theater within the Syracuse community. 

For more information about the Perspectives on Career and Gender seminar, please visit http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus.  For upcoming public events, please visit ESF’s College Calendar at http://www.esf.edu/calendar.   

As part of the requirements of Perspectives on Career and Gender, students take turns summarizing class discussions. The above was prepared by Gwenyth Wildrick, MPS student in the Graduate Program in Environmental Science.

Race, class and gender in the workplace: a conversation with Dr. Lizette Rivera

Dr. Lizette Rivera facilitated a conversation on the topic of diverse perspectives on gender and science at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) via ZOOM on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 as part of SUNY ESF’s seminar of “Perspectives on Career and Gender”. 

                Dr. Rivera discussed a variety of topics including but not limited to cycle of socialization, "decolonizing the minds", racism and "white fragility."

In particular two videos were presented and comprehensively discussed in the session. In the first video, a woman of color was asking a white male to respect her title and he refuses. Furthermore, Dr Rivera said “that has happened to me at least five-six times at ESF.” Students then shared their personal experiences and thoughts and tied the issue to socialization. The second video was focused on “mansplaining”, or the practice when a (generally male) person  explains (often in a condescending manner) to another (usually a woman) about a subject on which the latter is more knowledgeable."  The video presented a suggested cure for the practice, much as would be presented in a pharmaceutical advertisement. Discussion continued on making the treatment widely available, as well as introducing the related phenoma “hepeating” and "bropriating" (a term used when ideas are not well received until repeated by a male voice, who is often then credited with the idea. Additionally, other examples of socialization were also discussed. The example of anti-bias training was expressed to make the points very clear for students.  Dr. Rivera also shared instances of using such training to interrupt and address a variety of statements that "are not OK."

Dr. Rivera has bachelor’s degree in Sociology, master's degree in Public Administration and doctorate degree in Community College Leadership. Her research is on research on transfer program between 2 years and 4 years school. She serves as the Director of Student Inclusion Initiatives and Special Assistant to the Chief Diversity Officer at SUNY ESF.

For more information about this and similar topics on inclusion, diversity, and equity, please visit www.esf.edu/ide. For upcoming lectures, please visit ESF’s College Calendar at http://www.esf.edu/calendar. Any questions or concerns can be addressed to Dr. Rivera at lrivera@esf.edu.  

As part of the requirements of FOR 797 Perspectives on Career and Gender, students take turns summarizing class discussions, for more information, visit: https://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/Seminar.htm.   The above was prepared by  Shayan Mirzabeigi, a PhD student in the Department of Sustainable Resources Management.  For more information about this graduate seminar, ple

Interviewing: Moving Beyond the Resume

Dr. John Turbeville, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Career Services at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, presented on Improving one’s interviewing skills on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 as part of SUNY ESF’s Perspectives of Career and Gender Spring Seminar Course. 

            Dr. Turbeville discussed interviewing statistics, common interviewing questions employers ask and how to answer them, tips for a successful interview and also highlighted on questions considered illegal during an interview. According to the statistics, 95% of employers say that they are still using resumes and cover letters as the primary medium for deciding who to interview. Dr. Turbeville stated that, employers actually google candidates to see what they learn and how what they are able to find influences negatively or positively, the perceptions of the candidate. During the seminar, we got to know most employers currently use Behavioral-based Interviewing (BBI). “BBI is a technique used in which the job candidate has the opportunity to demonstrate their potential for succeeding in the new job by providing specific examples of how they handled similar situations based on their past experience.” He emphasized the concept of “adaptability” and “creativity” is considered a great strength during interviews in this COVID-19 era. Students then shared their personal experiences with interviews.

Dr. Turbeville received his B.S. in Mathematics from SUNY Oswego, and his M.S. in Higher Education and Ph.D. in Higher Education from the Syracuse University, Maxwell School.  He serves as Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Career Services at the State University of New York- College of Environmental Science and Forestry.  He is the President of SUNY Career Development Organization and a member of The National Career Development Association.

Next in the Gender and Career seminar will be a discussion on Diverse perspectives on gender and science by Dr. Lizette Rivera, Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at SUNY ESF. For more information about the presentation, contact Diane Kuehn, Associate Professor, at dmkuehn@esf.edu or Heather Engelman, engelman@esf.edu .

As part of the requirements of FOR 797 Perspectives on Career and Gender, students take turns summarizing class discussions, for more information, visit: https://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/Seminar.htm.   The above was prepared by Akosua Asabere, a MS student studying Natural Resources Management in the Department of Sustainable Resource Management.

ESF Take our Kids to Work Day 2021, with asynchronous and synchronous options

ESF extended family and friends are invited to view recordings created by ESFers at the Take our Kids to Work Day playlist.  Current offerings include a Kitchen Crafting Polymer lesson (Maura Stefl, OELO); The Science of Chromatography (Sarita Perez, 2nd yr Biotechnology major); Wetlands, Closer than You Think (Dr. Sharon Moran, Environmental Studies), an Introduction to Landscape Architecture (3 part series, by Ashley Crespo, Mary Martin, Hannah Noll, Matthew Romano, Elena Juodisius); and DIY Deodorants and DIY Body Butter (Sue Fassler, Sustainable Facilities Manager).  As additional videos are added, we will share to our Facebook page. If you have content to share, please contact Heather Engelman, engelman@esf.edu.

In addition, on April 22, we are pleased to be #BoldlyMovingForward2021, at family’s choice of  9-11:30 EDT or noon-2:30 EDT, at https://www.daughtersandsonstowork.org. The morning session will begin with a live introduction by Ellen Langas and conversation with Ms. Founder Gloria Steinem. The afternoon session will be introduced live by television host Courtney Cason and feature a keynote address by teen inventor Gitanjali Rao.  Each session will then feature live overviews and closings around a cluster of recordings on “15 up-and-coming careers across STEM, Arts, Health Science, Marketing and Business...designed to help students of all ages explore careers and the pathways to achieve them.”  The full schedule and activity downloads can be accessed at daughtersandsons.org; children (through their adult) are encouraged to submit questions in advance at that site to be answered live by Steinem or Rao.

To interact in other ways, including survey responses, contest entries, and receive updates and other information, the child’s ADULT can register at no cost.   Recognizing that some may not be able to take advantage of the program in real time, selected TODASTWD content is anticipated to be available for a week following the event.

While ESF Kids Day organizers hope to resume in-person programming next year, we also anticipate continuing to partner with the TODASTW foundation so that Our Kids can explore more career opportunities, and that Kids elsewhere in the community and world can picture themselves at ESF learning to Improve our World.

 

Building a Better Fieldwork Future: Origins of a Program to Increase Safety in Science

Melissa Cronin

Despite field work being a longstanding practice in the sciences, concerns about sexual harassment and assault in field work has only entered the scientific community dialogue recently, spurred by studies showing that most field participants experience harassment as well as highly publicized cases in the media. This exposure has increased concern and communication around sexual harassment and assault in field-based science—which is second only to the U.S. military in terms of harassment prevalence—and consequently action to better respond to and prevent this phenomenon to make science safer and more inclusive. Melissa Cronin is one of three women who came together to address the latter appraoch and develop a program to prevent harassment. She recently spoke to an audience of faculty, staff, and students at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) via Zoom as part of the Women in Scientific & Environmental Professions (WiSE Professions) speaker series on March 31, 2021.

            Cronin began by addressing the unique challenges presented by field work, including limited outside communication and ways to leave, close quarters, power asymmetry, and interactions with non-group members, among others. After addressing the recently acknowledged prevalence of harassment and assault in field work, Cronin explained that an effective way to prevent these instances from occurring is to address the “organizational climate”, or the shared collective norms and values of an organization or setting. This motivation, to change organizational climate, drives the program she co-developed with Drs. Roxane Beltran and Erika Zavaleta called Building a Better Field work Future: Preventing & Managing Sexual Harassment & Assault in Field Science, or BBFF for short.

click image to view video

            BBFF is a 90-minute, highly interactive workshop that has now been conducted for over 800 participants across many institutions, including some in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria. This program provides examples of tangible policies that institutions can adopt relating to harassment prevention, intervention, and response, such a developing a code of conduct or community agreement (prevention), hosting bystander intervention training (intervention), or implementing zero-tolerance policies (response). This workshop then leads participants through four scenarios increasing in severity and encourages participants to “think out loud” and discuss solutions to these scenarios, keeping in mind that there may be no “right answer.” With an intentionally positive and empowering tone, this workshop helps participants prepare for their field season and become aware of issues and experiences they were not aware of before.

            The popularity of BBFF has grown considerably, and assessments indicate that the highly rated workshop is increasing participants’ knowledge and confidence in these issues. BBFF has become so popular and in high demand that they have implemented a new “Train the Trainers Facilitator Program”, which trainers other individuals, who so far have come from a wide range of disciplines and career stages, to host these BBFF workshops elsewhere. Cronin and her colleagues have also made resources widely available and hope to contribute to a more inclusive cultural shift that values prevention of these issues.

            Melissa Cronin is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz, where she studies mapping and mitigating marine fisheries bycatch as a member of the Conservation Action Lab. Prior to her graduate studies, Cronin worked as an environmental journalist covering climate, politics, and wildlife crime, with stories appearing in The New York Times and Popular Science, among other outlets.

            BBFF is coming to SUNY ESF on April 15^th from 7:00-8:30 pm, for those who are interested in experiencing this interactive workshop. This workshop, the next installment in the WiSE Professions speaker series, will be led by Dr. Amanda Adams, Conservation Research Program Manager, Bat Conservation International and Lecturer, Biology, Texas A&M University. Space is still available; sign up at bit.ly/WiSEProfessions.

Perspectives on Career and Gender/WiSE Professions

As part of the course requirements for FOR797 Perspectives on Career and Gender, students share  responsibility of reporting on speakers, both in class and in the campus-wide Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions Speaker Series.  The preceding was prepared byJenna Zukswert, graduate research assistant and PhD student, SUNY-ESF Department of Sustainable Forest Resources.

Today! Building a Better Training Program for Field-Based Studies

WiSE Professions will feature Building a Better Fieldwork Future, in two independent but related sessions.   “Fieldwork is an essential component of training and research in many scientific disciplines. However, the imbalanced power structure of academia coupled with the remote and informal nature of field sites heightens risks of sexual harassment and assault during fieldwork, especially for women and other at-risk groups. Limited existing research suggests that incidents are widespread and insufficiently addressed by protocols developed for office and classroom settings.” 

Scenario-Based Bystander Training to Prevent Sexual Harassment and Assault in Field Settings. On March 31, 3:45-4:45 pm EST in conjunction with the Perspectives on Career and Gender graduate seminar, Melissa Cronin, University of California, Santa Cruz, will discuss the development, evolution and assessment of the 90-minute  workshop she, Roxanne Beltran and Erika Zavaleta  developed with support of the Thoreau Foundation and Center to Advance Mentored, Inquiry-based Opportunities (CAMINO).  The program has expanded to include 28 trainers at 8 other institutions.  

Workshop:  Building a Better Fieldwork Future: Preventing & Managing Sexual Harassment & Assault in the Field Science. On April 15, 7-8:30 pm EST (some seats still available),  certified trainer Dr. Amanda Adams, Conservation Research Program Manager, Bat Conservation International and Lecturer, Biology, Texas A&M University, will introduce “the unique risks posed by fieldwork and offer a suite of evidence-based tools to prevent, intervene in, and respond to sexual harassment and assault. A series of practical intervention scenarios, the workshop guides participants on how to be an active and engaged bystander, report incidents, and plan field settings to minimize risk. Armed with these tools, participants can play a role in ensuring that field settings are safer, more equitable, and more welcoming for the next generation of field scientists.“ 

 Full abstracts and Registration links for both are available at:  bit.ly/WiSEProfessions