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These were among the key takeaways from a virtual conversation Nov. 24 with Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Dr. Bala Chaudhary, researchers and authors of 10 Simple Rules for Building an Antiracist Lab. A closed-caption video recording of the 90-minute webinar is available online.

In her closing remarks, Dean Maureen MacDonald called on leaders within the Faculty of Science to initiate important conversations that will lead to equity, diversity, inclusion and antiracism strategies. “The onus for starting these important conversations shouldn’t fall on our graduate or undergraduate students. As leaders, it’s important that we be the ones to initiate these conversations and act on what we hear.”

The webinar was presented by the Faculty of Science, the McMaster Science Society and the McMaster Science Graduate Student Association. MSS President Nicole Wong and SciGSA President Rhea Desai joined Maureen and Juliet Daniel, Acting Associate Dean Research & External Relations, in talking with Asmeret and Bala.

A second event on guidelines for preventing harassment during fieldwork is planned for the winter term with Amelia-Juliette Demery and Monique Pipkin, Ph.D. candidates with Cornell University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.