Webinar on February 20: Connecting the Dots: Diversity, Inclusion, and Collaborative Networks in Fisheries

Connecting the Dots: Diversity, Inclusion, and Collaborative Networks in Fisheries
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
1:00 pm Eastern Time
Register Now!

Presented by:

Brooke Penaluna https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/lwm/aem/people/penaluna.html

Ivan Arismendi https://fw.oregonstate.edu/users/ivan-arismendi

Just like the fishes that we study, the resilience and adaptability of the fisheries profession is dependent on a robust and diverse conglomerate of fisheries professionals. As the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to the fisheries profession, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) has a unique opportunity to be an active agent of change for the fisheries community by diversifying its membership and preparing future leaders in the fisheries workforce worldwide. Here, we examine the current demography of the fisheries profession; we evaluate trends in published fisheries research; and we examine the structure and composition of the US fisheries academic collaboration network focusing on gender and race/ethnicity. Women hold 26% of federal fisheries scientist/manager positions and less than 30% of tenure-track professor positions and non-Whites hold less than 12% of tenure-track or federal fisheries scientist/manager positions. But, what does it look like for fisheries publication trends and the fisheries academic network? Do we see the same type of trends? We will answer questions about where fisheries professionals are publishing, and who is publishing fisheries articles. We will describe changes in the fisheries academic network over time and talk about strategies for success that are being used by fisheries professionals. Benefits of increasing the diversity of members in fisheries and AFS depends on each of us helping to expand our demographic profile to include more talent from underrepresented groups in our research, networks, and communities.