83: Petition for a Robust Anti-Racism Plan for the Geosciences with Hendratta Ali

On June 5, 2020, Hendratta Ali released the "Call for a Robust Anti-Racism Plan for The Geosciences" petition. In the petition, Dr. Ali and her collaborators outline 15 action steps for societies, organizations, companies, and individuals to take to strive toward anti-racism and equity. In this conversation with Andrew Geary, Dr. Ali discusses how the petition originated, what it means for a professional society to be anti-racist and equitable for all members, her personal experiences of racism in the geosciences, and concrete steps organizations can take to better support Black, Indigenous, Latinx People and other minoritized groups in the geosciences. As of June 19, over 19,000 have signed the petition. Read the petition at https://www.change.org/p/geoscientists-call-for-a-robust-anti-racism-plan-for-the-geosciences. For all the resources Dr. Ali mentions in this conversation, visit https://seg.org/podcast. BIOGRAPHY Hendratta Ali is an Associate Professor in the Geosciences Department at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and is the coordinator of the Petroleum Geology program and student club advisor/mentor. Dr. Ali established and developed a petroleum geology program in the Department of Geosciences at FHSU. She supervises the FHSU geology apprenticeship program for students and mentors students to gain industry experience before they graduate. In addition to teaching and supervising apprenticeships, Dr. Ali has a vibrant research group that typically includes several undergraduate students, advises the student chapters of the SEG (Fort Hays State University Geophysical Society) and AAPG petroleum club. She is also the faculty sponsor of the Fort Hays State University IBA team. Dr. Ali’s research interests are in magnetic susceptibility and chemo-stratigraphy applied to petroleum systems and the use of stable isotope applied to surface and groundwater systems. She is very active in SEG, AAPG, and other professional organizations. She has served in key leadership roles including serving as president of the Kansas Geophysical Society, chair of the SEG Youth Education committee, and member of several committees. She offers petroleum-related short-courses and workshops to working professionals and non-geosciences professionals. Dr. Ali was honored with the SEG Outstanding Educator Award in 2018 and the AAPG Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award in 2017. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Crockett, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.