Collaborative Research: IMPLEMENTATION: C-COAST: Changing the Culture of our Occupations to Achieve Systemic Transformation

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Coastal counties are more diverse than non-coastal counties; however, the culture and identities of those who study and manage estuaries and coasts do not reflect these communities. This mismatch diminishes the quality of science and management provided; many coastal professionals lack the lived experiences and knowledge to prioritize issues most impactful to people in coastal areas. Despite widespread recognition that increasing the participation of groups underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is essential to sustaining the nation's capacity for innovation and discovery, there is a widening gap between the total number of marine science graduate degrees granted and degrees granted to those underrepresented in the field. Professional societies play a unique role in facilitating culture change within STEM disciplines by establishing and reinforcing norms and practices that advance greater diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (DEIJA). They are also important avenues for training students and professionals in relevant skills and in developing networks necessary to progress in their careers. Culture change in professional societies scales up to impacts on members, their home institutions, and beyond. The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) will assist the next generation of coastal and estuarine biologists and related disciplines in navigating the current culture while simultaneously dismantling inequities at the root of low DEIJA in the disciplines through the Changing the Culture of our Occupations to Achieve Systemic Transformation (C-COAST) program, which will provide professional development, mentoring, and networking to students and professionals at all career stages.The C-COAST program will harness evidence-based strategies to mitigate inequities and shift culture in the coastal and estuarine sciences through two programs: Rising TIDES Conference Program (RTCP) and Leadership Development Program (LDP). The RTCP is geared towards recruiting and retaining a new generation of estuarine and coastal science professionals. It consists of a 16-month program that supports attendance at the CERF and two additional coastal and estuarine conferences, with virtual meetings in between. The program provides professional and near-peer mentors, training, and networking, in addition to the full suite of scientific conference offerings. The LDP will provide leadership and DEIJA training for current and future leaders by building a dynamic learning community that will prepare emerging leaders to become agents of change while helping current leaders use existing power to address systemic inequities. The goals of C-COAST, from short- to long-term, are to 1): recruit and retain diverse undergraduate and graduate students and provide them professional development, mentorship, and peer networks to support a sense of belonging and identity; 2) educate current leaders on how to be more inclusive and change policies and practices that lead to inequities; and 3) increase the leadership skills of and opportunities for future leaders and prepare them to make policies and practices of CERF and their home institutions more inclusive when they are elevated to positions of power.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.