Collaborative Research: DESIGN: Co-creation of affinity groups to facilitate diverse & inclusive ornithological societies

专业协会是建立网络、专业发展、财政支持、承认领导地位和传播科学的主要枢纽。多样性倡议可以增加进入与社会有关的领域的机会，但在改善缺乏社区意识或感到自己的声音没有被听到的边缘化成员的融入方面可能成效有限。从根本上推动文化变革的一个方法是建立亲和团体，使历史上受排斥的社区成员能够在共同经历和身份的基础上建立支持网络。这种亲密团体可以超越会议上的“一次性”社交活动，建立持久的社区和联系。该项目将开发一种机制，共同创建鸟类学内的亲和团体，可以帮助支持历史上被排斥的社区成员，放大他们的声音，并赋予他们帮助改变鸟类学文化的权力。该项目涉及美国三个主要鸟类学会（美国鸟类学会，威尔逊鸟类学会和野外鸟类学家协会）之间的密切合作，共同支持和提升鸟类学中的边缘成员。最终目标是将鸟类学转变为一门包容性学科，利用学习者，科学家和从业者的不同社区的人才来解决生态，保护和环境正义方面的紧迫问题。美国鸟类学会最近进行的一项多样性评估显示，许多来自历史上被排斥群体的成员的归属感较弱，觉得他们的声音没有被听到，他们没有受到重视。这些组成部分包括变革复原力的关键要素：一个不仅能提高边缘化群体个人的持久性，而且能为体制变革开辟道路的框架。该项目旨在设计一个共同创建亲和组的过程，即，由来自历史上被排斥的社区的成员创建并为他们服务的基于身份的团体，促进了变革性的复原力。共同创造过程使边缘化的成员想象一个他们所属并受到重视的鸟类社区，然后通过与社区新兴领导人举办一系列研讨会，根据这些愿景创建亲和团体。该项目为开展活动创造了巨大的潜力，这些活动扩大了对历史上被排斥的社区的支持，包括有针对性的专业发展、领导能力发展、改善沟通和社会支持。该项目将产生其他四类更广泛的影响：（1）促进三个鸟类学会，非营利组织，政府机构和少数民族服务机构和社团之间的利益相关者参与;（2）为博士后学者和夏季多元文化学术机会计划本科生学者提供多样性，公平，包容和正义（DEIJ）的教育和培训机会;（3）在学术界以外传播项目的成果;（4）扩大从事DEIJ研究的学者的多样性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Professional societies serve as major hubs for networking, professional development, financial support, recognition of leadership, and dissemination of science. Diversity initiatives can increase access to the field associated with the society, but they may have limited success in improving the inclusion of marginalized members who lack a sense of community or feel their voices are not heard. One way to instigate cultural change from the ground up is to develop affinity groups where members of historically excluded communities can develop support networks based on common experiences and identities. Such affinity groups can go beyond “one-shot” social events at conferences to build long-lasting communities and connection. This project will develop a mechanism to co-create affinity groups within ornithology that can serve to support members of historically excluded communities, amplify their voices, and empower them to help change the culture of ornithology. This project involves close collaboration between three major US ornithological societies (American Ornithological Society, Wilson Ornithological Society, and Association for Field Ornithologists) to jointly support and elevate marginalized members in ornithology. The ultimate goal is to transform ornithology into an inclusive discipline that leverages the talents of the diverse communities of learners, scientists and practitioners to solve urgent problems in ecology, conservation and environmental justice. A recent diversity assessment conducted by the American Ornithological Society revealed that many members from historically excluded groups feel a weaker sense of belonging, feel that their voices are not heard, and that they are not valued. These components comprise key elements of transformative resilience: a framework for not only increasing the persistence of individuals from marginalized groups, but to create paths for institutional transformation. This project aims to design a process for co-creating affinity groups—i.e., identity-based groups created by and for members from historically excluded communities—that facilitate transformative resilience. The co-creation process engages marginalized members to imagine an ornithological community where they belong and are valued, and then creates affinity groups based on those visions through a series of workshops with emerging leaders of the communities. The project sets up vast potential for implementing activities that broadens support to historically excluded communities, including targeted professional development, leadership development, improved communication, and social support. The project will have four other categories of broader impacts: (1) fostering stakeholder engagement among three ornithological societies, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and minority-serving institutions and societies; (2) providing educational and training opportunities in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) for a postdoctoral scholar and summer Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program undergraduate scholars; (3) disseminating findings of the project beyond academia; and (4) broadening the diversity of scholars who are engaged in DEIJ research.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.