June 24, 2021
Cheryl Barnes receives WDASD Diversity and Inclusion Service Award
The Western Division of the American Fisheries Society recently awarded Cheryl Barnes, SAFS Postdoc and NOAA Affiliate, their Diversity and Inclusion Service Award in recognition of her leadership in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in fisheries. Cheryl has been involved in DEI work in the Alaska Chapter AFS and more broadly in WDAFS: she is a member of the DEI committees for both WDAFS and the Alaska Chapter AFS (and also for the Western Society of Naturalists).
Cheryl has chaired the Alaska Chapter AFS DEI committee since 2019, and has helped dramatically expand its scope and goals. In collaboration with others, she has also developed a mentorship program for folks with underrepresented identities, facilitated film screenings and discussions, administered a workshop on unconscious bias, and increased leadership participation in DEI activities. Cheryl has also helped identify additional goals for advancing equity within WDAFS, including reviewing procedural manuals and bylaws with a DEI lens, developing partnerships with state agencies and other professional societies, establishing voting roles for DEI on AFS executive committees.
Cheryl also shared that “mentorship has been very important to me (probably because I was a first generation college student without many mentors of my own). I’ve been mentoring students (45+ to date) since 2008.” Cheryl began involving herself in broader diversity, equity, and inclusion work in 2015, with a focus on advancing LGBTQIA+ rights and building community. Going forward, her dream for SAFS ” is to see hierarchical barriers broken down so that students, faculty, and staff can have more honest conversations about equity, inclusion, and belonging in STEM.”
Congratulations, Cheryl! We’re proud of your hard work to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we’re grateful to have you in our community!
You can read more about the WDASD Diversity & Inclusion Service Award and Cheryl here.