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Initiatives for Building Inclusive and
Diverse Communities

Our lab is deeply committed to fighting systemic injustice and biases against race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, religion, and experience in our laboratory, department, institution, social community, and community at large.

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Science as an institution was founded on structural and institutional racism, inequality, and exploitation, some of which still persists today. We passionately believe that diversity, inclusion, and equity in the workplace and community at large stimulates creativity, innovation, engagement, and success.

We pledge be anti-racist, anti-sexist, and pro-LGBTQ+, and anti-discrimination. We will do so by actively standing up against forms of injustice and intolerance including, but not limited to, statements and acts of overt racism, sexism, and other prejudices; language and action rooted in innate biases; and suggestions of othering, tone-policing, reverse racism or sexism, discursive racism or sexism, and privilege.

 

We pledge to continue educating our social and workplace communities on the crucial need to acknowledge and understand the difference between ideals or goals for a more just society and the actions that lead to true inclusion and respect for diversity. 

 

We will continue to devote ourselves to identifying and executing structural and institutional solutions that will provide equal access to tools and opportunities for people of all races, genders, religion, and experiences. 

 

We will remain humbly committed to increasing our tolerance for feedback by not being afraid to ask questions or to receive feedback, by evaluating our reactions to feedback, and by accepting the discomfort of giving and receiving "call outs" for the benefit of learning.

To  promote equality, equity and justice, we commit to the following initiatives and programs:

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STEM Middle School Visit

  • Writer: Tracy Larson
    Tracy Larson
  • Feb 29, 2020
  • 1 min read

Updated: Aug 27, 2022


We held our first annual STEM Middle School Visit in February 2020, in which more than 130 students from two regional middle schools visited the UVa Department of Biology. Students toured two laboratories and visited several learning booths.


Learning booths included:

Comparative neuroscience of vocal learning

Talk to a scientist

Natural selection (with M&Ms and Skittles)

Genetics of model organsisms

Build a neuron

Backyard brains (video game controller with muscle movement)


Feedback we received from student and parents:


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