<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><div style="margin:0px auto;max-width:600px;width:600px"></div><div style="margin:0px auto;max-width:600px"><table width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><tbody><tr><td align="left" style="border-collapse:collapse"><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-stretch:normal;font-size:17px;line-height:25px;font-family:georgia,serif">“I go to conferences, and I’m often the only person of color in the room. You sit in a classroom and all the scientists that are being introduced are white, white, white,” she said. “And then you sit there as a black student, and you ask, ‘Do I even have a place in science?’”</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-stretch:normal;font-size:17px;line-height:25px;font-family:georgia,serif">The voices rising up in protest across America against police brutality and systemic racism have been clear: Black lives matter. Now scientists are bringing that cry to their labs and research centers. On Wednesday, thousands of researchers across the country are on strike, forgoing research, classes, meetings and other work to instead spend the day calling for actions to protect the lives of black people.<br></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-stretch:normal;font-size:17px;line-height:25px;font-family:georgia,serif">The strike follows a reckoning, on social media, of how a lack of diversity in many scientific fields make black students often feel unwelcome, unsupported, or even unsafe. “Every time one of us is rejected, beat down, dismissed, ridiculed, or murdered, I question why I am still in academia,” <a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/WUeSRmE9R6ywUhWTWQdLRw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgw55oP0TSaHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9yZWRtYWtlZGEvc3RhdHVzLzEyNjcxOTQ4MTQxMjgyODc3NDQ_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9NTQmZW1jPWVkaXRfY2xpbV8yMDIwMDYxMCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD0xOTI3MSZubD1jbGltYXRlLWZ3ZCUzQSZyZWdpX2lkPTQ5ODY3MDkwJnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MzA1NzYmdGU9MSZ1c2VyX2lkPTZmMDhiMmFmMGYzN2E5YzE2MmUxZmE5ZGEwMmYzYjY5VwNueXRCCgAfaBnhXuRTt2pSFm1lcmxlbGVma29mZkBnbWFpbC5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="color:rgb(40,110,208);font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(40,110,208);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">wrote Cassandra Extavour</a>, an evolutionary and developmental biologist at Harvard University. “I love science, but justice is more important.”<br></p><table width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse"><tbody><tr><td align="left" style="border-collapse:collapse"><p style="margin:0px 0px 15px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-stretch:normal;font-size:17px;line-height:25px;font-family:georgia,serif"><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/6E5rq1qPAvbSd7s6AiesaA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgw55oP0TgaHR0cDovL3Jlc2VhcmNoLnBvbW9uYS5lZHUvc2NpL2ZpbGVzLzIwMTQvMTEvUGVhcnNvblNjaHVsZHQyMDE0TkNDLnBkZj9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD01NCZlbWM9ZWRpdF9jbGltXzIwMjAwNjEwJmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTE5MjcxJm5sPWNsaW1hdGUtZndkJTNBJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NDk4NjcwOTAmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0zMDU3NiZ0ZT0xJnVzZXJfaWQ9NmYwOGIyYWYwZjM3YTljMTYyZTFmYTlkYTAyZjNiNjlXA255dEIKAB9oGeFe5FO3alIWbWVybGVsZWZrb2ZmQGdtYWlsLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" class="gmail-m_-2925271330786565939css-1sybz1k" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(40,110,208);border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(40,110,208);text-decoration:none;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit">Research has shown</a> that “green STEM fields” — the science, technology and math disciplines that span climate, conservation, environmental, earth and atmospheric sciences — are <a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/nc5J7p3c5Nu7mLKpVIku5A~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgw55oP0T8aHR0cHM6Ly9ncmlzdC5vcmcvYXJ0aWNsZS9lbnZpcm9ubWVudGFsLXNjaWVuY2UtZGl2ZXJzaXR5LWFzdGhtYS1hcmFkaG5hLXRyaXBhdGktZXN0ZWJhbi1idXJjaGFyZC8_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9NTQmZW1jPWVkaXRfY2xpbV8yMDIwMDYxMCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD0xOTI3MSZubD1jbGltYXRlLWZ3ZCUzQSZyZWdpX2lkPTQ5ODY3MDkwJnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MzA1NzYmdGU9MSZ1c2VyX2lkPTZmMDhiMmFmMGYzN2E5YzE2MmUxZmE5ZGEwMmYzYjY5VwNueXRCCgAfaBnhXuRTt2pSFm1lcmxlbGVma29mZkBnbWFpbC5jb21YBAAAAAA~" class="gmail-m_-2925271330786565939css-1sybz1k" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(40,110,208);border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(40,110,208);text-decoration:none;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit">among the least diverse</a> in science. That lack of diversity sits uneasily with findings by numerous studies that people of color are more likely to live in places that suffer from pollution, and are more at risk of developing associated health problems, like asthma or heart disease.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:600px"><tbody><tr><td style="border-collapse:collapse;direction:ltr;font-size:0px;padding:0px;text-align:center"><a href="https://messag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