DO-IT Director Helps Plan Five Conversational Webinars Around Accessibility in STEM

DO-IT Director Sheryl Burgstahler recently worked on one of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s ad hoc planning committees to arrange and hold a series of talks about best practices for enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities in fields that do field and laboratory research. The following topics were discussed:

Framing the discourse (for example, which disability should be the focus of these first discussions? What are the experiences of persons with various forms of impairments when it comes to field and laboratory work? What has changed since the epidemic of COVID-19? What are some of the most prevalent issues?)

• Eliminating barriers to full involvement in field and laboratory research by people with disabilities;
• Accommodations that are promising for expanding accessibility;
• Commonalities and variations among options for field and laboratory work that handle accessibility challenges;
• Individually successful approaches that can be scaled up into a generalizable practice;
• Mentoring or other support networks that have the potential to improve inclusion; and
• Leading sustainable practices and policies for accessibility and inclusion in field and laboratory science.

Learn more about the topics of each of the five webinars, as well as find links to the webinars and supporting keynote talks from the main presenters, online.