The most recent murders of Black people in United States have created a nationwide call for justice in nearly every pocket of society, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is no exception. Institutionalized racism within STEM education, research, and culture has created and prolonged a system in which people of color are alienated and placed at significant disadvantages in obtaining degrees, training, and careers in these fields. The 2020 campaigns of #ShutDownSTEM and #NoTimeForSilence have demanded attention from the STEM community. The Colorado Local Science Engagement Network (CO-LSEN) plans to advance these movements through public dialogue, network strengthening, and action.

On Wednesday, September 30, 2020 via Zoom, CO-LSEN will host A Discussion on Institutional Racism in STEM featuring a panel of local and national experts and policymakers. The panel discussion aims to:

1. Confront how anti-racist actions emanating from STEM research, teaching and engagement in the US; and how Colorado can foster dialogue, and make progress at the science-policy interface.
2. Strengthen science, policy, and society networks as resources to discuss pressing challenges that require evidence and science-based information, shared through trusted and equitable processes.

The event will be split into two segments, focusing on challenges of institutional racism on the national level, followed by these same challenges at the Colorado state level.

Speakers include:

• Dr. Karen Bailey, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, CU Boulder
• Dr. Vernon Morris, Professor, Director, Arizona State University
• Ms. Holly Olivarez, Environmental Studies & INSTAAR PhD student, CU Boulder
• Dr. Valerie Otera, Professor, Science Education, CU Boulder
• Dr. Sudip Parikh, Chief Executive Officer, AAAS
• Dr. Paty Romero-Lankao, Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, University of Chicago & CO-LSEN Advisory Group
• Dr. Wendy Smythe, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, Duluth 
• Ms. Kadidia Thiero, SOARS Program Lead, UCAR | SOARS & CO-LSEN Advisory Group

CO-LSEN is a local and state advocacy program supported in partnership by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The full agenda is available here. More Information.