The Advanced Photon Source
a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council

PSC digital Suite

“A diverse workforce, with a variety of perspectives and experiences, working in an inclusive environment where all voices are heard and contributions are valued, will unlock new scientific and technological frontiers to positively impact our community, nation and world.” – Argonne Director Paul Kearns

The future success of Argonne depends on our ability to recruit and train a diverse workforce. The Photon Sciences Division (PSC) and its user community represent a wide spectrum of ages, races, abilities, gender identities, national origins, religions and experiences. It is the combination of all of those backgrounds, plus our different research disciplines, levels of education and academic affiliations, that help make this a collaborative and innovative division to work in.

The laboratory’s core values of Impact, Safety, Integrity, Respect and Teamwork are the foundation for this community. It is up to all of us to build on those core values to create an equitable and inclusive culture. Argonne is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion for all employees, and the laboratory has launched an action plan to address systemic issues of inequality.

Each of us can help to ensure that all PSC employees and users have the opportunity to work in an equitable and inclusive culture, and to advance to the fullest extent of their skills and abilities.

The PSC DE&I council is composed of representatives from all four PSC divisions and reports to the Lab Director's Council. Our mission, vision and FY2021 Goals can be found here. 
Everyone has a place in the DEI space™

This month's Voice of PSC


March's Voice of PSC : 

  • Date: March 16th, 2023 at 1PM
  • Speakers: Dr Jess Wade, Imperial College London
  • Topic: Jess Wade is creating inclusion in STEM, one page at a time: Meet the person who added 1,700+ underrepresented scientists to Wikipedia
  • Meeting info: Join on Zoom
  • Abstract: Jess Wade is a British physicist in the Blackett Laboratory at Imperial College London, specializing in Raman spectroscopy. Her research investigates polymer-based organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Her public engagement work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) advocates to increase gender equality and diversity in science as well as tackling systemic biases such as gender and racial bias on Wikipedia. Since the start of 2018 she has written the Wikipedia biographies of women and people of color scientists every single day.

 

Jess Wade

Upcoming events


April's Voice of PSC : 

  • Date: April 20st, 2023 at 1PM
  • Speakers: Dr Lou Strolger, Johns Hopkins University
  • Topic: Reducing systemic biases through anonymized application processes
  • Meeting info: This seminar is part of the APS/CNM User Meeting: Registration Link (registration is free and only takes 2min!)
  • Abstract: Dr. Louis-Gregory (Lou) Strolger is an Observatory Scientist and Deputy Head of the Instruments Division at Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), and a Research Scientist in Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University. His scientific research explores supernovae, cosmology, and dark energy, where he primarily works on the nature of supernovae progenitors. Dr. Strolger has been involved in science policy for much of his professional career. Notably, he had a key role in developing the dual-anonymous peer review process for observing time on the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been adopted at many astronomical observatories, and is rapidly gaining interest in physics communities and with federal granting agencies.

 

lou2


April's Voice of PSC - Extraordinary session : 

  • Date: April 19th, 2023 at 1PM
  • Speakers: Dr Kristen Liesch, Forbes “D&I Trailblazer” and co-founder and co-CEO at Tidal Equality, & Dr. Sonali Mohapatra, Quantum Innovation Sector Lead at the National Quantum Computing Centre, Director of the Prospero Space Fellowship, and Founding Member and Chair of New Voices in Space Working Group on the Scottish Space Leadership Council.
  • Topic: The power of small disturbances, the promise of ‘domino dynamics,’ and how to innovate for a more equitable future.
  • Meeting info: This seminar is part of the APS/CNM User Meeting: Registration Link (registration is free and only takes 2min!)
  • Abstract:

    The grand challenges we face today - like climate change and inequality - can seem intractable. After all, the systems we live, work, and learn within are imbued with implicit bias and continue to produce inequitable and unjust outcomes. The field of science is no exception. Today, because bias, discrimination and inequity continue to prevent the full diversity of voices - and their ideas, questions, and solutions - from reaching the world’s megaphones and shaping what happens inside and outside the laboratory, we are necessarily stymying our progress toward a more equitable and sustainable world.  

    But this doesn't have to be our story.  

    With the need for innovation more urgent than ever, and a collective imperative to create the conditions where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential, small systemic disturbances have the power to create seismic change. And each of us can play an active role in creating those disturbances.In this session, you’ll hear a guest perspective from Dr. Sonali Mohapatra who will describe why now is the time to innovate the systems in the field of science for greater equity and equitable scientific innovation. Dr. Kristen Liesch will explore how small disturbances and ‘domino dynamics’ have the power to transform our systems and drive a more equitable and innovative future. She will share insight drawing on the science of behavioral change and the art of social change, and provide practical examples and tactics you can use to create “small disturbances” of your own.

 

tidal

Working with Chronic Illness and Reasonable Accommodations: March 22nd, 10am

  • Millions of people all across the globe are living with chronic diseases and the Argonne community is not immune. We have colleagues who manage their chronic illness every day while being active contributors to the mission of the lab. A few examples of chronic illness include diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune diseases such as Celiac, Lupus and MS, coronary artery disease, kidney disease, Lyme disease, COPD, osteoporosis to name a few.
    People living with a chronic illness face unique challenges. ABLED has created a group specifically for Argonne employees who are living with a chronic illness. The group will meet monthly to discuss how to improve working abilities, share personal stories and coping mechanisms, and hear from experts and motivational speakers. We welcome Argonne employees who are personally impacted with a chronic illness to join the group.
  • Who: The Working with Chronic Illness support group will kick off with an open seminar sponsored by ABLED. We will hear from Mark Rentz from Human Resource Services and Cheryl Luce Fuga from Argonne Legal on their presentation of Reasonable Accommodations and Working with Chronic Illness: 
  • When: March 22nd at 10am
  • Note: Virgin Pulse Points will be given to those in attendance. To attend the meeting and learn more about requesting an accommodation or to join the Living with Chronic Illness group email: abled@anl.gov

 Past Events

“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” – Verna Myers 


January's Voice of PSC : Disability Equity in the Workplace

  • Speakers: Carolyn Tomchik, ABLED Employee Resource Group & Chris Gorman, PSC DEI Council Member
  • Topic: Disability Equity in the Workplace
  • Abstract: Carolyn and Chris introduce the concept of disability equity, different workplace situations that can present challenges for people with disabilities, and best practices for workplace disability inclusion. Following the presentation, we invite open discussion and reflect on how we can apply the concepts to promote a more inclusive and equitable workplace in PSC.
  • Slides in box
  • Recording from 2021 in box
  • Resources:
    • A to Z of Disabilities and Accommodations: askjan.org
    • IFES Inclusion Inside
    • ABLED seminar on March 22, 2023 at 2PM (CT):  Mark Rentz from Argonne’s Employee Relations office will talk about Reasonable Accommodations and Working with Chronic Illness: Join on Teams 
    • ABLED email address: abled@anl.gov

 

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 PSC DEI Quarterly E-News
03.09.2023