The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections would like to express our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
We are listening to our friends and colleagues within the science and broader community, we will continue to listen and are committed to meaningful and sustained actions to directly address systemic racism in our community. We acknowledge that museums and academia have played a role in the oppression and discrimination of marginalized groups. We recognize the lack of diversity and inclusion within the collections based sciences and acknowledge we can do more as a society to root out racism and create an inclusive academy.
We are a community of thinkers and problem solvers. We can bring our full effort into creating the kind of meaningful change being called for. We will be intentional in our steps moving forward. As a community we define ourselves by our ability to work collaboratively and embrace challenges. We are listening to our colleagues in the geosciences and the recent Call to Action (notimeforsilence.org). We are in the active stages of forming a committee and developing a strategic plan for inclusion, diversity, and equity within SPNHC. We will bring our full resources to bear on implementing this strategic plan, and we will be identifying and tracking meaningful metrics to assess change. We will examine leadership roles, invited speakers and sessions, and society awards to assure representation from underrepresented racial/ethnic, cultural, and ability groups. These are our first steps in a long walk towards meaningful change that will result in a stronger, more resilient, inclusive, and supportive society.
Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections
President, Paul Mayer (president@spnhc.org)
