Plant Biology

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Making conferences in the plant sciences more inclusive through community recommendations

ROOT & SHOOT Research Coordination Network, United States
American Society of Plant Biologists, United States
Folsom Lake College, United States
Chicago Botanic Garden, United States
Northwestern University, United States
University of Washington, United States
University of Minnesota, United States
Geneshifters, United States
Pennsylvania State University, United States
Untangled Resolutions, United States
Botanical Society of America (BSA), United States
Alchemy Psychology Colectivo Inc, United States
AgBioData Consortium and Phoenix Bioinformatics, United States
Wisconsin State Herbarium, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States
Indiana University Bloomington, United States
Oklahoma State University, United States
Cornell University, United States
University of Missouri, United States
University of Tennessee, United States
Botanical Research Institute of Texas, United States
North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee, United States
Oregon State University, United States
University of California, Merced, United States
University of Helsinki, Finland
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, United States
Plant biologist, United States
University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States
University of California, Davis, United States

Aug 20, 2025

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.106877

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2 figures, 3 tables and 4 additional files

Figures

Figure 1

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Inclusive Conference Working Group: demographic information.

Membership of the Working Group broken down by gender identity (top left), ability status (top right), race/ethnicity (bottom left), and career stage (bottom right).

Figure 2

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Timeline of the Working Group.

The Inclusive Conferences Working Group ran from July 2022 until April 2023. The report containing the group’s recommendations underwent three rounds of review: (i) internal review by the subgroups of the Working Group (November 2022); a strategic assessment by the ROOT & SHOOT steering committee, which contained at least one representative from each society (December 2022); (iii) a final evaluation by representatives from all seven participating societies, (January 2023).

Tables

Table 1

Information on six of the societies that were involved in the Root and Shoot project.

The ASPT and the BSA co-host their annual conferences, so the figures for attendance are the same.

Name	Acronym	Total membership (2024)	Conference cadence	Attendance at last conference
American Society of Plant Biologists	ASPB	2384	Annual	1417
American Society of Plant Taxonomists	ASPT	NA	Annual	852
Botanical Society of America	BSA	3126	Annual	852
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions	IS-MPMI	3801	Every other year	1133
Maize Genetics Corporation	MGC	477	Annual	441
North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee	NAASC	450	Annual	540

Table 2

Summary of the major recommendations in the five areas addressed by the Inclusive Conference Working Group, based on a survey of the ASPB, BSA, IS-MPMI, MGC and NAASC.

Recommendations in place before 2023 are indicated by an open circle (one per conference), and those implemented in 2023 or later by a filled circle. See Supplementary files 1 and 2 for more information.

1. Community agreement	4. Conference accessibility	5. Inclusive speaker selection and equitable programming
Create and share an aspirational community conference agreement ○○●	Provide low-cost options for accommodation and registration ○○○○	*Make a commitment*
Should be a collective vision of our values ○●	Have a point person who reports on barriers and arranges accommodations ●	Commit to inviting a diverse group of speakers; set measurable goals ○○○●
Set expectations for conduct ○○○○	Website, presentations, and signage should be accessible ●●●	Commit to transparency: share these goals with speakers and participants ○●
Define measures for accountability ○○○	Ask participants about their accommodation needs in advance ○○○●	*Form a diverse organizing committee*
	Be welcoming to parents and children ○○○●●	Emphasize commitment to diversity ○○○●
2. Reporting structure	Provide lactation room, childcare, and family-friendly spaces ○○●	Recognize the organizing committee ○○●
Provide bystander intervention training ●●●●●	Indicate allergens on food, and provide vegan and vegetarian options ○○○●	*Assess equity goals*
Provide easy, confidential access to a reporting system ○○●●	Provide quiet, fragrant-free spaces ●●	Measure, track, and share progress ○●
Provide an independent ombud onsite ●●●●●	Offer social events that don’t include alcohol ○●	Survey the participants’ experiences: do they feel respected, valued, and safe? ○●
Have a clear system for dealing with transgressions ○○○●	Check and consistently use correct speaker pronouns ●	*Broaden the scope of the meeting to provide space for all voices*
Conduct post-conference surveys ○○○○	Use diacritical markers (like accents and tildes) appropriately ○	Don’t have inclusion events run solely by people with historically excluded identities ○●●●
	Ask about and use correct name pronunciation ○●	Treat speakers as scientists first ○○●●
3. Transparent site selection		*Create an equitable schedule*
Provide guidance and transparency for site selection ○●		Be mindful of religious and cultural calendars, weekends ○○●●
Costs: facilities rental, lodging, transportation ○○○○		Plan for people to have breaks ○●●
Accessibility: are the facilities ADA-compliant and able to provide additional accommodations if needed? ○○○○●		Avoid scheduling conflicts, especially with those promoting a culture of inclusion ○
Safety: availability of reproductive services ●●		When possible, include hybrid options ○●●
Safety: are the streets safe to walk in after dark? ○○○●		*Provide necessary accommodations to speakers*
Safety: provide information about local LGBTQ +organizations ○●●●		Physical access to stage, hearing loops, sign language interpreters ●
Consider convenience: are food options available nearby? ○○○●		Gender neutral bathrooms at the venue ○●

Table 3

Summary of some challenges that have occurred during scientific conferences, and their proposed responses.

Category	Example issue	Proposed response
Presentations	Offensive or stereotypical images, jokes, or language on slides	Speaker guidelines with content review
Presentations	Dismissive tone toward certain demographics during Q&A	Define a response beforehand and train the session chairs to intervene
Accessibility	Lack of captioning or sign language interpreters	Pre-event accessibility survey
	No accommodations for mobility or sensory needs	Provide multiple modes of participation
	Inaccessible venue layout	Visible signage and support at venue
Q&A sessions	Overly aggressive questioning, tone-policing, dismissive or personal attacks on speaker’s competence or identity	Moderator training to set respectful tone
Networking events	Exclusion from informal groups, inappropriate jokes, harassment, or alcohol-related misconduct	Ombudsperson or advocacy ambassadors (with bystander training) at social events
Poster sessions	Harassment or inappropriate questioning during poster presentations	A clear system for reporting misconduct. Provide advocacy ambassadors with distinctive lanyards (with bystander training) at poster events
Social media and online platforms	Live posts or messages targeting individuals in harmful or sarcastic ways	Create and promote moderated hashtags
Social media and online platforms	Dogpiling or doxing (involves publicly exposing someone’s private information)	Establish and promote a social media Code of Conduct
General conduct	Violation of Code of Conduct	Clear and visible Code of Conduct
	Public or private bullying	Advertise and make the ombudsperson role visible. Provide and advertise bystander intervention training
	Microaggressions	Consistent follow-up for violations, consider implementing restorative justice methods
Power dynamics	Abuse of power by established figures (inappropriate comments, gatekeeping, retaliation against dissent)	Policy outlining professional boundaries and recourse for abuse. Provide and advertise bystander intervention training