In December, during our in-person project meeting in Ithaca, NY, we updated our ICBO Working Agreements. These are based off of the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing.
Here are our NOISE Project Working Agreements:
ICBO Working Agreements
Be Inclusive
Emphasis on Bottom-Up Organizing
Let People Speak for Themselves
Work Together In Solidarity and Mutuality
Build Just Relationships Among Ourselves
Commitment to Self-Transformation
Practice Deep Listening and Loving Speech
Practice empathy, love, curiosity, and humility
Use ICBO research to guide us in all aspects of the project, including within our group
Makeda Cheatom and Bobby Wilson talk about the importance of equity and inclusion in the sciences at a PBS Nature meeting at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in November 2018. This video was produced by Isabella Armas León, an undergraduate Engaged Cornell student working with the ICBOs.
Our research shows that community-based organizations don’t feel like
they can be honest with partners when they see institutional racism.
They feel like they are “walking on eggshells,” because addressing
inequity might harm their organization or community.
In this video, Jose Miguel Hernandez, actor, artistic director and one
of our community researchers, interprets one of the results of our
research, "Walking on Eggshells" using body expressions.
Video by Marilu Lopez Fretts, edited by Guava Rhee.
The ICBOs workbooks for Community-based Organizations MEANINGFUL COLLABORATIONS and for Informal Science Educators PARTNERSHIPS FOR IMPACT are now available for download!
The workbooks are a product of research conducted by
the ICBOs and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology over three
years, focused on how to create equitable partnerships between community-based organizations in underrepresented communities and informal science
institutions.
The objective is to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion
in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The research comes
from questions asked by community researchers to more than 30 other community
organizations. It represents the community perspective.
Raj Pandya, one of the advisors of our AISL NSF Project focused on
creating a continental Community Science project on noise pollution,
visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on February 19, 2019. He
presented a seminar about Community Science and how it relates to the
Independent Community-based Organizations (ICBO) Research in
collaboration with the Lab.
We are so excited to welcome Cecy Alvarez and Juan Flores from Green Jay Mayan Birding in Cancún, Mexico as our new ICBO partners and collaborators.
Estamos súper contentos de dar la bienvenida a Cecy Alvarez y Juan Flores de Green Jay Mayan Birding en Cancún. Ellos se suman a nuestro proyecto I asumen el rol de ICBOs representando a México.
Check out the wonderful stop-motion video created by one of our students, Isabella Armas-Leon, describing our research results focused on inequitable collaborations between more resourced Science Institutions and Community-based Organizations.
Bobby Wilson ready to share our wonderful workbooks!
Bobby Wilson and Karen Purcell showcased our new NOISE project's poster during this year's Principal Investigator meeting in Washington, D.C.
This event, organized by the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) is for
PI's of projects supported by the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program and others who take an active interest in broad strategic
issues that cut across the informal science education field.
These PI Meetings
offer an opportunity to discuss trends and issues in the field and we are excited that this time one of our community researchers who is also a Co-PI attended.
Bobby and Karen also presented at at the NSF PI Panel on Public Participation in Scientific Research/Citizen Science as a Force for Change along with two other researchers committed to community led participatory research.
Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, whose project is focused on building capacity in underserved communities and informing the safe and sustainable production of food sources, and Lucy Robinson who is reaching out to community-based orgs in London to work on bioblitzes as part of their Science Learning + project.
The panel PPSR/ “Citizen science” presents opportunities for authentic science engagement and science learning. Employing this approach in a more than cursory way raises fundamental questions about who determines what science is being done and for what purpose. How can addressing these questions, and engaging communities at the outset, create opportunities for new forms of science learning, and new models of scientific research?
What a nice way to start this year! Keeping it up with the ICBOs.
Bobby and Karen on a selfie ride.
Karen, Bobby and Tina proudly pose in front of our original poster.
