Our commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion

We are unequivocally committed to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) individually and collectively and aim to include people with diverse abilities and racial, gender, religious and cultural identities. Our research and engagement mission requires respecting and working with diverse communities. And regardless of our research mission, we also consider working to advance EDI a moral imperative. We are inspired by and committed to the following EDI practices that are consistent with UVic's Aspiration 2030 impact area of social justice and equity and the Equity Action Plan goal of creating an equity-centred culture:

1.  Maintain an inclusive, supportive culture

We have a flexible, family-friendly schedule with group meetings and social activities at times that respect personal commitments. Through collaborations and partnerships we consciously and strategically provide access to diverse role models and mentorship styles. EDI is considered in allocating administrative roles, opportunities, equipment and assistance. Tom meets with all students weekly to foster open channels of communication. He strives to work with each student to understand their long-term goals and build a training program that fulfills both of our needs and sets the student on a path for success. Finally, we strive to have all of our research output be accessible through publishing in open journals and accessible to people of various visual abilities. ​

2.  Reduce bias in recruitment

We have developed a recruitment equity statement for our website and job ads, and promote job postings on multiple platforms including LinkedIn and Twitter as well as several STEM initiatives for women to encourage women applicants. All candidates complete an online application that significantly reduces implicit bias from hiring practices by evaluating candidates based on their self-reflection of strengths, weaknesses, goals and interests rather than their name, country or institution. To further reduce implicit bias, we interview candidates with diverse members of the research group with standardized interview questions and an evaluation rubric.

3.  Sustained training, development, and engagement

We integrate EDI training and engagement into the annual planning for all group members, and revisit plans each term to ensure we are continually making effort and progress. We organize one EDI workshop per year for our research group, and also encourage everyone attend at least one other workshop in UVic’s Anti-racism Education Program per year with a follow-up discussion at a group meeting to further integrate EDI learning. Tom has completed UVic’s Anti-Racism Awareness training and White Awake’s Defecting from Supremacy. We also engage in EDI actions such as developing a teaching module for environmental racism in groundwater hydrology and leading a diverse video education initiative called ‘Water Underground Talks’.

4.  Partnering with Indigenous communities

We partner with First Nation organizations and governments on their priority issues. We aim to follow the Calls to Action to natural scientists working in Canada especially seeking meaningful relationships, collaborations, knowledge sharing and knowledge co-production. We are currently partnered with Cowichan Tribes on the Xwulqw’selu Connections project. In the past we partnered with the TTQ Economic Development Organization and Xa’Xtsa First Nation on investigating Sloquet Hot Springs.
Finally, we aim to do a bi-annual EDI audit, first of ourselves and then by colleagues at UVic to ensure that we are meeting these commitments.
Image sources: thenounproject's parent giving support, recruitment, learning, and community icons.
​Text credit: some of the EDI text modified from Sam Zipper. Inspired by NSERC's Best Practices in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Research.