Article Recaps Work of Root & Shoot Ombuds

An association of plant science societies, Root & Shoot, collaborated on an article in the open-access journal eLife about their new guidelines for making conferences more inclusive for scientists with marginalized identities. As part of this effort, Root & Shoot hired Bathabile K.S. Mthombeni and Laura Minero to provide on-site Ombuds services at three conferences in 2023. Their work is prominently featured in the eLife article, "Making conferences in the plant sciences more inclusive through community recommendations."

Here is the abstract: 

An unwelcoming climate and culture at scientific conferences is an obstacle to retaining scientists with marginalized identities. Here we describe how a number of professional societies in the plant sciences, mostly based in the United States, collaborated on a project called ROOT & SHOOT (short for Rooting Out Oppression Together and SHaring Our Outcomes Transparently) to make conferences in the field more inclusive. The guidelines we developed, and our efforts to implement them in 2023 and 2024, are summarized here to assist other conference organizers with creating more inclusive conferences. 

(eLife.) 

Related post: Root & Shoot to Fund Ombuds for Three Plant Conferences.