WP3: Diversity and inclusion
WP leaders: Professors Melina Duarte and Abhik Ghosh
The project seeks to develop tools and content aimed at making teaching and mentoring more welcoming and inclusive for all – women and men, LGBTQIA+ individuals, visible minorities, and individuals with disabilities.
This work package builds on several visibility campaigns in international fora.
1. The 2011 popular science book career choices in chemistry research as viewed by a hypothetical female undergrad Angela. With a foreword by the renowned bioinorganic chemist Stephen Lippard and edited by project leader Abhik Ghosh, the book presents sage advice from many of chemistry's leading – and especially leading female – practitioners.
2. A biography of porphyrin legend Martin Gouterman, one of the first openly gay chemists of modern times: Ghosh, A. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 9760-9770. For a shorter account, published on LGBTSTEMDay 2020, see: Ghosh, A. ChemistryWorld 2020 (December), 36-37.
3. A Virtual Issue of Inorganic Chemistry showcasing cutting-edge research by 38 queer inorganic chemists. For the editorial, see: Ghosh, A.; Tolman, W. B. . Inorg. Chem. 2022, 61, 5435-5441. See also the closely related and nearly contemporaneous 2022 Trailblazers issue of C&E News.
Our current efforts span a wide range. One key project is aimed at creating and implementing more effective teaching methods for neurodivergent students. In a second project, we are working with the legendary blind paleontologist Geerat Vermeij to shine a light on students and scientists with even more severe disabilities.
Check out a recent interview of Abhik as a queer chemist: Ghosh, A. . Communications Chemistry 2023, 6, 208.