Blog
Leadership in Action
Diversity and Destiny with Deepsea Dawn
Dr. Dawn Wright is Chief Scientist at Esri, and a former COMPASS board member. Dawn is a globally recognized expert in marine geographic information systems and is also known as ‘Deepsea Dawn’ for her adventures underwater. Dawn is also the first Black woman to explore the ocean floor in the submersible ALVIN. After a major career transition, Dawn wrote ‘The ...
Announcements
#BlackinMarineScience Week
The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others at the hands of police are a reminder of what Black people have known for some time; Black lives are not valued. In the United States, being a visible descendent of Africans automatically comes with excess baggage. Remnants of slavery and Jim-Crow era segregation are visible in almost every facet ...
Policy Tips
Roles for Scientists in Building Back Better
After a long and tumultuous election year, we look ahead to starting 2021 with a new President, whose administration will be worlds different from the one that came before. The incoming Biden-Harris Administration has a lot of work to do to repair, rebuild, and re-envision the role science can play in society. From restoring dismantled and understaffed scientific a...
Reflections
Candles For Dark Days
“I can't be a pessimist because I am alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter. So, I am forced to be an optimist.” —James Baldwin
We have had many dark days this year. There have been days when it has, both figuratively and literally (on the West Coast at least), been hard to see any light at all.
Humans di...
Leadership in Action
What Civically Engaged Science Can Look Like: Our Work Doesn’t End With Elections
The 2020 Presidential election is occurring within a context unlike any other. Over the past few months, the U.S. has experienced unprecedented wildfire and hurricane seasons, threatening communities and ecosystems across the country. And, looming over this election is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that predominantly impacts communities of color. As the current adm...