OCEANOGRAPHY

FROM THE REP

Engagement within the scientific community

Even before the pandemic, a crucial question that many communities asked themselves was how to engage people. Academic departments provide coffee or cookies to encourage seminar attendance. Scientific societies give their members discounted registration for in-person meetings. Companies give away free stuff at exhibitor booths. All of these are ways to incentivize you to spend your precious time and mental energy on connecting with some community or network.

And there are big benefits to investing time and energy in scientific communities. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m still working from home, and I really miss campus—not the physical space but the sense of being part of a team, the serendipity of bumping into friends and collaborators, the feeling of helping my labmates solve a problem. That sense of community is what helped me to keep working on the tough days.

We don’t have to be in person to feel connected in that way. One of my goals this year, since the TOS Strategy Retreat in February, has been to start a TOS Student Committee that would help build community despite our geographic separation. Thanks to Srinivas Kolluru, TOS President Martin Visbeck, and TOS President-​Elect Andone Lavery, we’re ready to launch. This committee will give student members a clear way to get involved in TOS activities and, through increased communication, improve the ability of TOS to serve the needs of student members.

If you’re thinking you’d like to get involved, then please don’t hesitate! We are committed to building an inclusive committee that operates with JEDI principles. You are valuable—your voice, your experiences, your ideas, your personalities, and your dreams. I hope you’ll join us!

— Chrissy