The Jornada Basin LTER (JRN) strives to uphold high ethical standards and create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive scientific community for its researchers, students, staff, and collaborators. At the individual level this also commits that persons associated with the Jornada Basin LTER must abide by the policies of the institutions that employ them and follow the ethical standards of the research organizations and professional societies to which they belong. To give a few examples:
- Employees of New Mexico State University (NMSU) must follow NMSU policy during all work-related activities.
- Professional ecologists at Jornada should follow the ESA Code of Ethics if they are members.
- All Jornada personnel attending LTER-sponsored meetings must follow the LTER Network Meeting Code of Conduct.
The Jornada Basin LTER is a coalition of many people and institutions, so other policies and standards also apply. The examples above, however, are generally representative of policies and standards in our academic and scientific community, and thus inform the core values that JRN adheres to. Those values, and the code of conduct for JRN program leaders, investigators, students, staff, and collaborators, are described more fully below.
Conduct expectations
At all times
- Abide by principles of academic integrity and ethical professional conduct.
- The ESA Code of Ethics provides excellent guidance on this topic.
- Encourage a culture of respect, safety, and cooperation among all researchers, staff, and students.
- Refrain from discrimination, intimidation, or harassment of any kind.
- See NMSU equal opportunity and Title IX policy for commonly accepted definitions of these behaviors.
- Be proactive advocates for, and supporters of, diversity, equity, and inclusion in science.
In JRN meetings
- Follow the LTER Network Meeting Code of Conduct.
- Practice kindness, respect, and consideration in all interactions.
- Create a supportive atmosphere for early-career scientists.
- Model positive behavior for new members of the JRN community.
- Acknowledge the power dynamics in the room and work to minimize their negative effects.
- Harassment, intimidation, and discrimination are unacceptable.
In Jornada facilities and the field
The programs and facilities of the Jornada, including JRN LTER and the Jornada LTAR site, are committed to ensuring a safe, inclusive, and productive work environment for all participants that come to do research there. We maintain a Safety Handbook and Code of Conduct document that is regularly updated with input from our community. If you will be visiting the Jornada, or any of our affiliated facilities, please read the document and follow all relevant guidelines. Some important sections of the handbook are:
Reporting Violations
If you are the target of, or a witness to, any incident of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or other forms of misconduct while participating in Jornada Basin LTER activities, it is mandatory to report it. You should report these incidents to your team leader, project PI, or the Jornada Basin LTER Lead-PI or Co-PIs. You should also report incidents to the appropriate institutional authority, law enforcement, or campus resource. Some guidelines and resources are below.
Reporting Title IX, Discrimination, and Harassment
For Title IX violations, and all discrimination, harassment, and related incidents, which are described by NMSU policy, it is required that the incident be immediately reported to the institutional Title IX and/or Equal Opportunity/Equity office that represents the individuals directly involved in the incident. If involved individuals come from more than one institution, then the incident should be reported to the Title IX office for each institution involved. The two most prominent institutions participating in the Jornada Basin LTER are NMSU and the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range. Resources for reporting Equal Opportunity and Title IX incidents at these institutions are below.
- For incidents pertaining to NMSU personnel or campus facilities, the Office of Institutional Equity investigates complaints of sexual misconduct and sexual violence (Title IX), protected class discrimination and harassment, and related retaliation. They have incident report forms, Title IX report forms, and other resources on their website.
- For incidents pertaining to USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range personnel or facilities, please contact the Research Leader. Complaints can also be addressed to the USDA-ARS Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity (ODEO).
Reporting Other Forms of Misconduct
- Concerns or complaints about data misuse, data fabrication, or other academic misconduct should be brought to the attention of the relevant Jornada PI, or the Jornada Information Manager (jornada.data@nmsu.edu).
- Activities sponsored by the LTER Network have their own code of conduct. To report incidents occurring at these activities, you may contact a member of the LTER Network Executive Board or the LTER Network Office.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy
The Jornada Basin LTER is hosted by an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer (NMSU) and strongly values diversity and equity among our investigators, postdocs, students, technicians, and collaborators. Beyond diversity, the Jornada Basin LTER is convinced of the moral and academic value of justice, equity, and inclusion. We are therefore committed to providing an inclusive and safe work and learning environment for persons of any age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, serious medical condition, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, spousal affiliation or protected veteran status. Beyond passively supporting these ideals, we have adopted a proactive stance towards achieving diverse and equitable outcomes by:
- assessing our program’s diversity and inclusion and reporting progress on an annual basis
- allocating resources to meet desired diversity, equity, and inclusion outcomes
- using outreach, mentoring, paid fellowships, and other initiatives to support the participation of under-represented and disadvantaged groups in science
- creating open opportunities for training and discussion on subjects impacting the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the Jornada Basin LTER
- recruiting scientists, staff, and students from diverse backgrounds to work at and collaborate with the Jornada Basin LTER
Related resources
- The Jornada LTER program has a DEI committee that meets regularly and aims to be a JRN community advocate and resource. Points of contact are Greg Maurer (gmaurer@nmsu.edu) and Madeleine Soss (msoss@nmsu.edu).
- The Jornada Basin LTER is funded by the National Science Foundation. The NSF statement on harassment is available at their website.
- The LTER network has a Diversity Committee and maintains an extensive listing of resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.