Studying microbial interactions in the ocean is one of my passions as a scientist, however not the only one. As a Puerto Rican in Marine Sciences, I’ve been a first-hand witness to the lack of diversity in the field. These experiences have made me aware of the challenges that ethnic minorities face in biogeochemical sciences, and how difficult it can be for underrepresented and marginalized groups such as Latino, Black, and others in science to be successful scientists in such a demanding field. These open access articles talk about some of the issues underrepresented and marginalized groups face in science and how together we could work towards creating a more equitable environment for all scientist.

Bernard, R. E., & Cooperdock, E. H. (2018). No progress on diversity in 40 years. Nature Geoscience, 11(5), 292-295. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0116-6

Chaudhary, V. B., & Berhe, A. A. (2020). Ten simple rules for building an antiracist lab. PLoS computational biology, 16(10), e1008210. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008210 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008210

Marín-Spiotta, E., Barnes, R. T., Berhe, A. A., Hastings, M. G., Mattheis, A., Schneider, B., & Williams, B. M. (2020). Hostile climates are barriers to diversifying the geosciences. Advances in Geosciences, 53, 117-127. https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-53-117-2020

Mattheis, A., Murphy, M., & Marin-Spiotta, E. (2019). Examining intersectionality and inclusivity in geosciences education research: A synthesis of the literature 2008–2018. Journal of Geoscience Education, 67(4), 505-517. https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2019.1656522

Hernandez, P. R., Bloodhart, B., Adams, A. S., Barnes, R. T., Burt, M., Clinton, S. M., Wenyi, D., Godfrey, E., Henderson, H., Pollack, I.B. & Fischer, E. V. (2018). Role modeling is a viable retention strategy for undergraduate women in the geosciences. Geosphere, 14(6), 2585-2593. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES01659.1

Weissmann, G. S., Ibarra, R. A., Howland-Davis, M., & Lammey, M. V. (2019). The multicontext path to redefining how we access and think about diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. Journal of Geoscience Education, 67(4), 320-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2019.1620527

Riggs, E. M., Callahan, C., & Brey, J. (2018). Research on access and success of under-represented groups in the geosciences. https://doi.org/10.25885/ger_framework/6