In the School of Integrative Biology, we strive to create an atmosphere and institutional culture that is welcoming to all individuals, inclusive of their race, ethnicity, religion, spirituality, gender, gender identity/expression, age, sexual orientation, ability/disability, socioeconomic class, and national origin.
We are committed to providing the help and support needed for all members of our community to succeed. Please refer to our resources below to find out more and email the committee members with additional suggestions.
I Want To:
Refer a student that is having a mental health crisis, facing bullying, etc.
Please use this referral form provided by the Office of the Dean of Students.
If this is an emergency that involves an imminent risk of harm to self or others, please dial 911 or contact campus police at (217) 333-1216 BEFORE filling out this referral form.
Report an incident.
Please select the office to which you would like to report the incident.
- University's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Report an Incident
- School of Integrative Biology - Anytime Anonymous Feedback Form
Learn more about who to talk to concerning DEI in SIB.
- Anytime Anonymous Feedback Form
- SIB Advising Office, advising@sib.illinois.edu
- SIB Administration, sib@life.illinois.edu
- SIB DEI Taskforce:
- Carla Cáceres, Director of SIB, cecacere@illinois.edu
- Steven Burgess, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology, sjb287@illinois.edu
- Dominic Evangelista, Assistant Professor of Entomology, dominice@illinois.edu
- Eva Fischer, Assistant Professor of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, efischer@illinois.edu
- Becky Fuller, Professor and Head of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, rcfuller@illinois.edu
- Katy Heath, Professor of Plant Biology, kheath@illinois.edu
- Mark Lara, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology, mjlara@illinois.edu
- Allison O'Dwyer, Assistant Director of Academic Affairs in SIB, aodwyer@illinois.edu
- Directors of Graduate Studies
- Entomology: Adam Dolezal, adolezal@illinois.edu
- Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior: Phil Anderson, andersps@illinois.edu
- Plant Biology: James O'Dwyer, jodwyer@illinois.edu
- Program in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology: Angela Kent, akent@illinois.edu
- It can be challenging to trust someone when sharing a confidential topic. Ombudspeople are available and encourage all to reach out to other leaders in the SIB community. Different types of problems require different types of answers.
Build a more inclusive research lab.
As with all scholarship, this is a rapidly evolving landscape and lab groups are encouraged to continually consult the literature. Below are a sample of resources selected by the DEI Taskforce.
- Provost Comm 9 Resource
- Understand diversity statements
- Create an effective lab website
- Academic writing guides
- Creating a lab manual
- Implicit Association Test
- Rubric for Assessing a Candidate's Contribution to DEI
- Fostering growth through Individual Development Plans
- See a sample Experiential Survey to measure growth
- Select publications:
- Lee, M.J., Collins, J.D., Harwood, S.A. et al. “If you aren’t White, Asian or Indian, you aren’t an engineer”: racial microaggressions in STEM education. IJ STEM Ed 7, 48 (2020).
- Lewis, J. A., Mendenhall, R., Ojiemwen, A., Thomas, M., Riopelle, C., Harwood, S. A., & Browne Huntt, M. (2021). Racial Microaggressions and Sense of Belonging at a Historically White University. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(8), 1049–1071.
- Puritty C., Strickland L.R., Alia E., Blonder B., Klein E., Kohl M.T., McGee E., Quintana M., Ridley R.E., Tellman B., Gerber L.R. Without inclusion, diversity initiatives may not be enough. Science. 2017 Sep 15;357(6356):1101-1102.
- Halsey, S.J., Strickland, L.R., Scott-Richardson, M. et al. Elevate, don’t assimilate, to revolutionize the experience of scientists who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 1291–1293 (2020).
Learn more about field safety.
Learn more about inclusive pedagogy for course development.
Learn more about resources for students and parents at UIUC.
Please refer to this resource list from the Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS).
Find more resources to become more involved in the SIB community.
Learn more about human gender and human "racial" variation.
- Sexuality as a spectrum
- The science of the transgender identity
- Race is a biological myth
- Human race and genetics articles: Time, Harvard
- Recommended reading: Racism, Not Race