As a lab, our main goal is to better understand the natural world and the organisms that inhabit it. Including people of all backgrounds in that endeavor is important not only for furthering our understanding of nature, but also for communicating it to others. Diverse perspectives and experiences bring unique insights, approaches, and questions to science and as such, it is critical for students of all backgrounds to participate in and contribute to the advancement of science. However, STEM labs often do not embody or reflect the diversity of communities as a whole. We commit to involving members of different races, ethnicities, gender identities and sexualities, religions, educational backgrounds, and other identities in STEM to propel science forward. This stance is a central value of the Hedrick Lab.

 

If any members feel that they are being harassed or discriminated against, they should contact Dr. Brandon Hedrick (bphedrick1@gmail.com) or the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (https://diversity.cornell.edu/).

 

The Hedrick Lab’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is re-evaluated once every year given that contributing to DEI efforts is an ongoing and ever-changing process and to make sure all lab members are aligned with the Lab’s vision.

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Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

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This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ leadership.

In addition to the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ land acknowledgment but separate from it, the AIISP faculty would like to emphasize: Cornell's founding was enabled in the course of a national genocide by the sale of almost one million acres of stolen Indian land under the Morrill Act of 1862. To date the university has neither officially acknowledged its complicity in this theft nor has it offered any form of restitution to the hundreds of Native communities impacted. For additional information, see the Cornell University and Indigenous Dispossession website here.

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