143rd Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society

September 08 - 14, 2013

Increasing professional diversity and outreach to underrepresented groups has been emphasized among government, academic, corporate, and nonprofit organizations for over a decade. These efforts have been fueled by the realization that professional diversity has similar advantages to diversity in the nature; it increases the ability of entities to adapt to a constantly changing environment, it builds capacity, and often opens new opportunities to take advantage of available resources. Diversity initiatives have led to an increase in the number of students and professionals from underrepresented groups (e.g., ethnic minorities and women) participating in fisheries-related sciences. Just as importantly, outreach initiatives have created new avenues for individuals from the majority population to take advantage of education and research opportunities at traditionally minority-serving institutions (MSIs) that were largely overlooked or unavailable in the past. Collectively, these students and professionals have positively impacted the fisheries profession and enriched their own personal and professional development by stepping into a previously unoccupied “niche”. This symposium will showcase the work of these individuals and their contributions to AFS and fisheries science. We invite all student researchers from underrepresented groups and/or MSIs, along with any professionals actively involved in diversity outreach efforts, to showcase their work at this symposium. Special emphasis will be placed on student research, but we also welcome professionals who wish to share their experience developing science initiatives with MSIs or other vehicles for increasing diversity. Speakers are encouraged to highlight how these experiences have put them and their institutions in a position to play an active role in meeting the future challenges in fisheries science and within the Society.