We are excited to start a new blog highlighting stories of GLOBE members and their commitment to help GLOBE become an increasingly welcoming, diverse, equitable and inclusive community. If you want to share any of your efforts in making GLOBE more welcoming and inclusive, make sure to use the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” category for your GLOBE blog posts!
My name is Rosalba Giarratano and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I’m originally from Mexico City and I currently live in New York City with my husband and our son. I work for NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), supporting NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. Most GISS scientists do research about climate change; therefore, GLOBE data is very relevant to GISS’ work! My passion both for GLOBE and for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was ignited a couple years ago, when I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Margaret Pippin (GLOBE Air Quality Campaign Lead / NASA LaRC) and different groups of students in Virginia and in New York. Working with students from different backgrounds and with different abilities has enriched my life deeply. I have learned to see the world from new perspectives, and I am very grateful for that. I am especially passionate about advocating for accessibility and I am committed to learning about how I can help make the world a bit more accessible and inclusive each day.
Almost a year ago, GLOBE announced its initiative to start the GLOBE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force. GLOBE encouraged people to apply to be part of this group and work towards a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive GLOBE. Twenty-two people were selected, representing six countries.
It is now hard to believe that we still had the opportunity to have our first GLOBE DEI meeting in person, in Boulder, CO, back in February, before all our meetings became virtual…More than ever do we treasure the chance we had to exchange handshakes and hugs!
After our first in-person meeting and our subsequent virtual meetings, we worked on the proposal of our mission and vision statements, as well as the definitions of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also worked on the development of an action plan. We presented our work during GLOBE’s 2020 Annual Meeting, and we recently sent out a survey to the whole GLOBE community, asking for feedback regarding these statements, definitions, and action plan.
We are grateful for the enthusiastic response to this initiative and, while we recognize there is a lot of work ahead of us, we are excited to be moving towards a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive GLOBE community, together.
Please stay tuned to learn more about GLOBE DEI efforts, and about how GLOBE members are helping shape the most welcoming community!
