Our group and lab have a track record of mentoring underrepresented minority and female students. Please see the TRaIL lab’s diversity statement.
In 2022, I spearheaded the launch of the AGeS-DiG (Diversity in Geochronology) program as a new component of the AGeS initiative. DiG is a pilot program aimed at expanding access to geochronology for those underrepresented in the Earth sciences. During its first proposal cycle AGeS-DiG funded 6 projects averaging ~$14,350 each and saw 16 submitted proposals.
Our lab has directly mentored and/or hosted 6 interns in the RESESS (Research Experiences in Sold Earth Science for Students) summer program. All interns produced first-authored abstracts that they presented at national meetings. With one of the interns, Wes Weisberg, we published the second first-author publication by a RESESS student in the RESESS program’s 14-year history. Another intern, Fatima Niazy, is an author on a 2022 publication that includes data that she generated during her internship.
RESESS intern Wes Weisberg and former RESESS director Aisha Morris ready to collect samples for Wes’ project on the McClure Mountain syenite in Colorado. Wes worked with Jim and Becky and published his results in Chemical Geology.
In addition, as part of Becky’s CAREER grant, we organized a 1.25 day short course on thermochronology at the African Earth Observatory Network in Port Elizabeth, South Africa that was attended by 19 diverse African graduate students and postdocs in August 2013. This grant also financed the visit of Maggie Manoko, a South African black female graduate student who comes from a severely disadvantaged background, to our lab for two months. During this visit, Manoko generated a key dataset for her MSc thesis that was presented in multiple scientific venues.
Participants in Thermochronology short course at the African Earth Observatory Network, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa. Thanks to Maarten de Wit for working with Becky and Jess to coordinate the short course.
We also promote greater representation of women in the Earth sciences through mentorship of numerous women in our group.
Thermochronology & Geochronology Group 