海角大神

As individuals and communities across the nation take a hard look at anti-Black racism and its lasting impacts, professionals and institutions in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are . On June 10, they held nationwide听 that called for reflecting on complicity in anti-Black racism and developing action plans to address it.

Woods Hole, a听marine and coastal science hub on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, joined the , with roughly 300 locals and scientists marching past the village鈥檚 marine and coastal science laboratories and demanding racial equity in their community and field. Woods Hole hosts six prestigious institutions: the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States Geological Survey (USGS), Sea Education Association, and Woods Hole Research Center.

Formal efforts to diversify Woods Hole鈥檚 science community have been ongoing for more than a decade. Local advocates hope the current groundswell will open the door to deeper conversations and accelerate progress.

鈥淚t鈥檚 often uncomfortable to discuss race. The current surge has helped people dive in and overcome their inertia,鈥� says Gwyneth Packard, a senior engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and co-chair of its ,听who听identifies as biracial. 鈥淧eople are starting to have conversations they wouldn鈥檛 have had even a few weeks ago.鈥�

She says Woods Hole鈥檚 scientists must continuously apply the same rigor and strategies they use in their scientific research to promote diversity and inclusion, and in turn enhance scientific advancement.

鈥淰isible at all times鈥�

Out of the six Woods Hole institutions, four provided听staff demographic data upon request. The largest, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told the Monitor 88% of its employees identify as white.听

Similarly, a spokeswoman for the Marine Biological Laboratory said听85% of its year-round听workforce is white.听Sea Education Association President Peg Brandon said while no up-to-date diversity data on employees is available, most are white. Out of 200 students from the past year鈥檚 semester-at-sea environmental science program, around 18% identified as non-white.听Ninety-one percent of Woods Hole Research Center staff identify as white, according to a spokeswoman.

NOAA and USGS, the two federal institutions, declined to provide demographic data due to privacy policies.听

The data mirrors broader trends in STEM professions, particularly earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences, known collectively as geosciences. Racial diversity at the doctoral level in these fields has , with 86% of doctorates awarded to white people.

A mounting body of research shows that socially diverse groups are than homogeneous groups. Yet a by the National Academy of Sciences found that while U.S. doctorate recipients in the sciences from underrepresented groups were more innovative than those from majority groups, their contributions were more frequently听discounted and less likely to result in academic positions.听

Homogeneity often self-perpetuates.听鈥淭he less diverse a field, the less welcoming it is to minorities, and the more prevalent implicit biases become,鈥� wrote diversity and inclusion researcher Kuheli Dutt of Columbia University in a .听

One Change.org with over 21,000 signatories calls for all professional geoscience societies and organizations to develop concrete anti-racist action plans. Started by geoscientist Hendratta Ali, the petition offers 15 suggestions including diversified nominations and awards committees, accountability for income parity, and the publishing of annual, data-rich reports to measure progress on serving and retaining minority geoscientists.听

For Woods Hole鈥檚 institutions, diverse representation is critical to building trust with communities affected by their research. Many of the topics Woods Hole鈥檚 scientists study 鈥� including climate change and the management of coastal and marine ecosystems and resources 鈥� disadvantaged populations.

鈥淚f we as a scientific community want to have a broader impact and relevance across a range of communities, we must be willing to expand our professional demographic composition,鈥� says Larry Alade, research fishery biologist at NOAA.听

As one of the few Black scientists in Woods Hole, where he has worked since 2008, Dr. Alade says he has had an overall positive professional experience, but that it took time to feel he could be his authentic self. Cape Cod itself 鈥� the census estimates more than 90% of residents are white and only 3.5% are Black.听

鈥淭here is a psychological effect that comes with feeling visible at all times. As an African American, there is a cognitive dissonance trying to navigate the culture when you are the only one who looks like you,鈥� he says of his time at Woods Hole.听

Allies

On June 5, the leaders of Woods Hole鈥檚 six institutions, who have collaborated formally through a Diversity Initiative since 2004, published a acknowledging 鈥減rofound issues of lack of diversity and systemic racism and bias present in our scientific community鈥� and pledging to take measurable steps to address these issues.

Rob Thieler, a white scientist who is the diversity initiative chair and center director of the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, says the local science community 鈥渘eeds to create a climate where diversity is an explicit and well-supported goal, visible and accountable to all.鈥�

鈥淲e can aspire to being more than just a safe space for diversity. We need to become a courageous space where we acknowledge the hard truths and work as a community to address them,鈥� he says.

Yet change has been incremental, say the four advocates interviewed. Over the past decade, one听听under the diversity initiative has brought in more than 150 undergraduates 鈥� most听from racial minority backgrounds 鈥撎齠or summer internships. Only 12听participants听went on to work at a Woods Hole institution.听听

In 2018, the institutions commissioned qualitative research in Woods Hole to inform diversity and inclusion efforts. The ensuing , written by Robert Livingston of Harvard University, describes a predominant perspective among respondents that Woods Hole is 鈥渁n unhealthy work environment for people of color.鈥�

鈥淭he Livingston report revealed some uncomfortable and disturbing truths,鈥� says Dr. Thieler. He says the institutions have been working to follow the report鈥檚 recommendations, and that unraveling systemic issues takes sustained, multilayered efforts 鈥� and time.

Hauke Kite-Powell, a white research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and chair of a diversity initiative committee, hopes the current social movement will push individuals to challenge their implicit biases more deeply.听

鈥淭he big shift has to come from individuals, who have to recognize the filters through which they see the world,鈥� says Dr. Kite-Powell.听

Demonstrators at the June 10 rally appeared eager to look inward and work toward creating and sustaining a more diverse and supportive community.

鈥淚 have never really been a part of anything like this, but you see [systemic racism] day in and day out, and the suffering that鈥檚 caused, starts to click,鈥� said Ryan Null, a white researcher volunteering at the Marine Biological Laboratory. 鈥淚鈥檝e been trying to educate myself.鈥澨�

鈥淚鈥檓 out here protesting for my colleagues of color and future colleagues of color, which I hope are more, because diversity in science matters,鈥� said Suzanne Thomas, a white laboratory technician at the Marine Biological Laboratory.听

鈥淵our heritage, your background, everything, contributes to science, because when we have a diversity of lives and diversity of minds, science is stronger.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: This story was updated to include staff demographic data from the Woods Hole Research Center received after publication.