In this episode, Ivan and Liz talk with Gina Baucom, Assistant Professor in Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. Gina earned her PhD and completed a postdoc at the University of Georgia. She joined the faculty at University of Cincinnati in 2010 before moving to the University of Michigan in 2013. Gina’s lab integrates ecology, evolution, and genetics in order to understand the persistence of noxious agricultural weeds as well as the evolution of important plant functional traits.
In this episode we discuss a recent paper from the Baucom lab: “Shifts in outcrossing rates and changes to floral traits are associated with the evolution of herbicide resistance in the common morning glory” Kuester et al., Ecology letters 20(1), 41-49, 2017). Gina describes how she became interested in morning glories and how their recent work illustrates ways in which herbicide resistance can influence mating and thereby evolution of non-agricultural systems.
We also talk about how Gina unintentionally “broke Twitter” with a tweet about sexism in academia. We go over some of the data that demonstrate an unfair disadvantage for women and minorities pursuing careers in science. Gina outlines four major areas surrounding this issue and discusses a number of concrete actions men and women in positions of power can take to invite women scientists into the room AND give them a seat at the table.

SHOW NOTES
Paper:
Kuester, A., Fall, E., Chang, S. M., & Baucom, R. S. (2017). Shifts in outcrossing rates and changes to floral traits are associated with the evolution of herbicide resistance in the common morning glory. Ecology letters, 20(1), 41-49.

Baucom Lab Website: https://baucomlab.wordpress.com/

Diversify EB: https://diversifyeeb.wordpress.com

Dynamic Ecology Blogpost: The Day @gbaucom Broke Twitter

Possible Responses to Gender Discrimination: https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/guest-post-the-day-i-broke-some-twitter-feeds-insights-into-sexism-in-academia-part-2/

@NeedhiBhalla “What can I Do? Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/NeedhiBhalla/status/924383367704993793

Adrienne LaFrance article about gender differences in sources for her reporting: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/02/gender-diversity-journalism/463023/

Ed Yong did a similar analysis: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/i-spent-two-years-trying-to-fix-the-gender-imbalance-in-my-stories/552404/

Gender Bias in Science--a Short Bibliography

Clancy, K. B., Nelson, R. G., Rutherford, J. N., & Hinde, K. (2014). Survey of academic field experiences (SAFE): Trainees report harassment and assault. PLoS One, 9(7), e102172: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102172


Zeng, X. H. T., Duch, J., Sales-Pardo, M., Moreira, J. A., Radicchi, F., Ribeiro, H. V., ... & Amaral, L. A. N. (2016). Differences in collaboration patterns across discipline, career stage, and gender. PLoS biology, 14(11), e1002573: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002573


Sex assaults, harassment reported in science fieldwork by Hoai-Tran Bui: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/16/sexual-assault-harassment-science-fieldwork-studies-research-study/12735343/

Google Doc Sexual Harassment In the Academy: A Crowdsource Survey. By Dr. Karen Kelsky: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1S9KShDLvU7C-KkgEevYTHXr3F6InTenrBsS9yk-8C5M/htmlview#gid=1530077352

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