Scientists from these communities mark the start of Pride Month by describing how colleagues and collaborators can better support them in lab and fieldwork settings

How to deliver a safer research culture for LGBTQIA+ researchers

Scientists from these communities mark the start of Pride Month by describing how colleagues and collaborators can better support them in lab and fieldwork settings

LGBTQIA+ scientists describe the changes needed to make workplaces more welcoming to members of their communities.

A professor invites colleagues and their partners to a Christmas party but reacts negatively when a young gay researcher asks to bring his future husband along. A Black carnivore researcher conceals their bisexuality and personal pronouns when doing fieldwork in sub-Saharan Africa.

These two experiences are among those recounted in this Working Scientist podcast about the challenges faced by researchers from LGBTQIA+ communities.

Paleantologist Alison Olcott, who co-authored a 2020 study of 261 LGBTQIA+ geocientists and their experiences of fieldwork, tells Adam Levy how some academic institutions are changing fieldwork policies in light of the study’s findings.

They are joined by Florence Ashley, a bioethics and legal scholar whose research on trans youth care at the University of Alberta, Canada, has resulted in death threats and accusations of grooming.

This is the sixth episode of a seven-part podcast series about freedom and safety in science. This episode and the five earlier ones conclude with a follow-up sponsored slot from the International Science Council about how it is exploring freedom, responsibility and safety in science.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01400-7

Paid content: International Science Council (ISC)

The International Science Council is exploring freedom and responsibility in science. What are the responsibilities of scientists in the twenty-first century? How can scientists be protected from threats to scientific freedom?

We’ll hear perspectives on freedom and responsibility from the global scientific community.

In episode 6, Elisabeth Bik, Science Consultant, delineates the growing problem of scientific misconduct and how it is damaging public trust in science.

And Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, contemplates the ways in which trust can be enriched, including lessons learnt from the recent COVID-19 global health emergency.

Find out more about this type of paid content.

This story originally appeared on: Nature - Author:Adam Levy