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program manager. These resources will bolster program evaluation, Letters
streamline volunteer efforts, and coordinate partnerships with orga-
nizations interested in participating with OTF. The following letters to the editor concern the November 2014
GSA Today Groundwork article, “Evolution of paleontology:
An innovative idea boldly brought forward by GSA members, Long-term gender trends in an earth-science discipline,” by R.E.
OTF has become a leading component of meeting the Society’s Plotnick et al. (v. 24, no. 11, p. 44–45, doi: 10.1130/GSATG219GW.1;
mission to increase diversity to the geosciences. If you value the online at http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/24/11/
importance of GSA’s role in building a diverse geoscience work- article/i1052-5173-24-11-44.htm).
force, I welcome your financial support of GSA’s On To the Future
Program. Sex =/= Gender
Comments from OTF participants: First, thank you for doing this study (Plotnick et al., 2014). It’s
good to see some numbers on conference participation quantified
“The OTF mentorship program was phenomenal. Thank you so much for our field. There is one issue, however, that I want to point out.
for putting that together.” In your study, you conflate gender and sex. Sex is a person’s phys-
ical state (male/female/intersex). Gender is what they are mentally
“I was extremely happy with the exposure to both other students as (man/woman/non-binary). In most people’s cases it will be a
well as the scheduled speakers that came to talk to us. The moot point, but it’s still an important distinction to make in order
information they provided was exactly what I needed to begin to be accurate. At least one of the NAPC presenters you counted as
pursuing my interests. Prior to the OTF meetings, I was completely both female and a woman is not cisgender, but this would not be
clueless on how to even begin. They provided a direction, and I was evident from their name or even necessarily personal knowledge
able to ask questions of the right people. I feel much better about my as they are non-binary. It would be unreasonable to expect you to
options academically and professionally!” check with every single person in your study, but a statement in
your methods noting that you do recognize the distinction and are
using sex and gender as proxies for one other given the low odds of
them conflicting would have been prudent.
Jess Miller-Camp, Univ. of Iowa, 14 Nov. 2014
The On To the Future (OTF) Program is an initiative of Reply to Jess Miller-Camp GSA TODAY | www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/
GSA’s Diversity in the Geosciences Committee and adminis- We thank Miller-Camp for her thoughtful and thought
tered by the GSA Education & Outreach Department. OTF
aims to fulfill GSA’s strategic goal to “develop and foster a provoking comment. We agree that we should have clarified our
robust, diverse, and sustainable professional geoscience terminology for the reasons given. Additional studies that focus
community” (G.3). OTF has emerged as a pivotal program on gender identity would be a great contribution to understand
working toward increasing diversity in the geosciences. The the dynamics of participation in science.
overall goal of OTF is to enable a cohort of diverse students to
attend their first GSA Annual Meeting and engage these Roy E. Plotnick, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago,
students in ongoing career development and leadership and Alicia Stigall, Ohio Univ., 25 Nov. 2014
opportunities that will lead to an increasingly diverse work-
force. Visit the On To the Future webpage to support OTF at Send letters by e-mail to gsatoday@geosociety.org or by post to
http://community.geosociety.org/OTF/home/. Managing Editor, GSA Today, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-
9140, USA. Please keep your letter to 300 words or fewer; letters
longer than 300 words will not be published. The GSA Today
managing editor will edit letters for length and clarity. All letters
will be forwarded to the GSA Today science editors for review
before publication, and GSA Today reserves the right to reject any
letter at the discretion of the science editor. Opinions presented do
not reflect official positions of the Society.
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