Meeting Location and Dates
The Advancing IDEA in Planetary Science conference will be held virtually on April 25–29, 2022.
Purpose and Scope
Recently, there has been a transformation of thought in the planetary and astrobiological sciences regarding the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). NASA and other planetary science stakeholders have committed to fostering IDEA principles throughout their agencies and funded programs. NASA has added language to standard Announcements of Opportunity, requested information and feedback from the community on agency practices, and added inclusion as a core value. Additionally, for the first time, the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey requested white papers on the state of the profession from the community and will include those findings and recommendations in the survey report. The Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics, which partially includes planetary science, has already released IDEA-related recommendations to advance the field. In the wake of these activities, the LPI’s IDEA conference aims to leverage this momentum to ensure that the planetary science community can take giant leaps in advancing IDEA principles in the workforce over the next decade.
Conference Objectives
During the conference, we will work to acknowledge and pay particular attention to the many lessons learned and best practices from the experience of other STEM fields. For example, the social sciences have revealed some of the psychological and sociological challenges that communities can face when confronting and dismantling structural and systemic problems and have provided evidence-based solutions. As such, the goal of the workshop is to bring together the planetary, astrobiological, and social science communities to (1) lean into lessons learned to date, (2) identify opportunities for improvement by listening to those most impacted in our community, and (3) make recommendations for actionable and tangible measures for advancing IDEA principles within planetary science. The conference will facilitate conversations and develop recommendations centered around the core principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility. We invite abstract submissions that help to address these issues such as:
- Inclusion - work that discusses evidence-based practices to create and sustain inclusive work environments
- Diversity - abstracts that review the current state of the profession at all career levels and those that make recommendations on the best practices to assess the field’s demographics
- Equity - work that identifies opportunity gaps faced by members of the community and mechanisms to bridge those gaps, to create, and sustain an equitable system
- Accessibility - abstracts discussing best practices for making activities in the workforce accessible to all in the community
Additionally, we encourage abstracts at the intersection of IDEA core principles, such as those presenting proposed IDEA activities for missions and those reviewing lessons learned and best practices from planetary science and astrobiology adjacent fields. In particular, we encourage abstracts and attendance from members of the social sciences with whom we hope to work to leverage the insights from the social and psychological sciences to improve the state of the planetary science and astrobiology community.
Code of Conduct
USRA/LPI is committed to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, race, religion, or other protected status. We do not tolerate harassment of meeting participants in any form. USRA/LPI expects that all participants will abide by this Code of Conduct, creating an environment free from harassment, discrimination, disruption, incivility, or violence of any kind. We expect participants to exercise consideration and respect in their speech and actions and refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior. Report issues, concerns, or violations of this Code of Conduct directly to USRA/LPI management at USRA-LPI Meetings Code of Conduct. The full USRA/LPI Code of Conduct can be found here.
