tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post5029037534811674653..comments2024-03-17T21:38:11.530-07:00Comments on The Tree of Life: The White Men's Microbiome Congress #YAMMM #Manel #Boycott Jonathan Eisenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-5517559020399267242016-10-26T11:00:30.478-07:002016-10-26T11:00:30.478-07:00I'm guessing that this field, like many in sci...I'm guessing that this field, like many in science, is currently white male dominated at the higher levels. What in your opinion would the "ideal" speaker composition be for a conference like this? Should it be representative of the field, or the planet as a whole, or something different? Should we try to account for equal representation of other individual characteristics besides gender and ethnicity (or in this case, your estimation of gender and white/non-whiteness, which may or may not be accurate)?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08660431980984338000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-6080615795377745652016-10-11T12:50:33.256-07:002016-10-11T12:50:33.256-07:00Well interesting that I just saw this thread. I wa...Well interesting that I just saw this thread. I was just contacted to come give a talk at this conference. So it appears they really are trying to improve their gender ratioAngelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977492964308944225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-86590185679758821642016-10-11T07:19:35.945-07:002016-10-11T07:19:35.945-07:00thanks for this - I hope that you are able to achi...thanks for this - I hope that you are able to achieve thisJonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-90323452626059114482016-10-11T07:03:50.437-07:002016-10-11T07:03:50.437-07:00OMG - what a ridiculous messOMG - what a ridiculous messJonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-82219601626865884502016-10-11T03:16:46.339-07:002016-10-11T03:16:46.339-07:00The same is true for the European Microbiome Congr...The same is true for the European Microbiome Congress 2016 - http://microbiomecongress.com/ Henrik Munch Roagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08463622140364528625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-61239933972178581512016-10-10T03:56:29.586-07:002016-10-10T03:56:29.586-07:00The process of choosing a speaker faculty has many...The process of choosing a speaker faculty has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our choices should have been more diverse. I sincerely apologize to those who are offended by the decisions we have made.<br />We recognize that it is our responsibility to help ensure that the speaker faculty reflect the diversity and culture of the field and science as a whole. In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologize. Kisaco Research is deeply committed to producing events that represent the diversity of the scientific fields we work with. We are embarrassed that this has been previously overlooked and are currently working to make this, and all other programmes, ones that the top scientists are proud to be a part of. <br />Stephanie Jaczniakowska-McGirr <br />Conference Director <br />Kisaco Research <br />sjm@kisacoresearch.com <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-74040729904109490652016-10-09T07:17:06.466-07:002016-10-09T07:17:06.466-07:00The meeting organizers agree with my assessment th...The meeting organizers agree with my assessment that this is a biased line up. They are working to improve it. I think that is good enough for me in this case.<br /><br />But yes, studying why conferences end up with skewed lineups is interesting and I have connected with many people who are studying this issue. So thanks for that suggestion it is a great idea. <br /><br />As for a null hypothesis finding, actually I am also working on efforts to publish more negative results so that we do not get a biased sample of science from only publishing positive results. So thanks for pointing that out here. It is an important issue. Jonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-586513586512650002016-10-09T01:48:41.213-07:002016-10-09T01:48:41.213-07:00Don't you have friends in social sciences at U...Don't you have friends in social sciences at UC Davis who can find out why? Perhaps you can ask them to investigate? They may even get a paper out of it if they discover something evil. A pity a null hypothesis finding leads to no publication but that's life in academia for you! I imagine a host of reasons for this state - none involving what I'd call 'sexism'. I've attended conferences, with no signs of sexism, where all the important speakers were men too. That, of course, in a male dominated industry. I have no idea what proportion of microbiome research are female. You did not tell us.Jack Eddyfierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00546379110958307956noreply@blogger.com