The Meek Lab strives to increase and be a safe space for diversity in STEM. We aim to foster a lab culture that is inclusive and values diverse backgrounds and perspectives. We strive for each member of our lab to feel supported as their authentic and whole self, and we aim to spread this value to our broader scientific community. We do this for basic human decency, and secondarily because diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to our ability to use science to generate knowledge that makes the world a better place.
Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the university resides on land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Native Nations, historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and those who were forcibly removed from their homelands. In offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history and experiences.
We are united in our support of the Department of Integrative Biology Vision Statement:
“The Department of Integrative Biology includes and serves faculty, staff, academic specialists, postdocs, students, and alumni from a wide range of cultural and professional backgrounds. We feel that diversity of perspectives strengthens our ability to advance science and enhances our ability to effectively serve our educational and research missions. Integrative Biology is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace that enriches our learning environment and innovative research. We believe that a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion leads to new ways of thinking, behaving, and caring. We embrace the diversity of our department and community, including persons of varying ages, disability, ethnicity, family status, sex, gender identity, geographic region, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, and other varied backgrounds and life experiences.” (See more here: https://integrativebiology.natsci.msu.edu/dei/)
We adhere to the Dept. of Integrative Biology Code of conduct: https://integrativebiology.natsci.msu.edu/about/code-of-ethics-professional-conduct/
The College of Natural Sciences, of which our lab is a part, has an excellent website with resources and information: https://natsci.msu.edu/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reading Group:
Isabela Borges, Heather Eisthen, Gideon Bradburd, and Mariah Meek are running a department-wide journal club focusing on studies relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion in science. If you’re interested in joining, please email IBIODEIREAD-request@LIST.MSU.EDU to be added to the list.
