Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

The MIT AeroAstro Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee comprise faculty, staff, and students interested in advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The goal of the DEI Committee is to represent the many different perspectives of our community. The DEI Committee will listen, gain feedback, and provide updates and actions related to our commitment to improving department culture. In order to ensure that diverse voices and opinions are represented at the meetings, the DEI Committee meetings will be open to the entire AeroAstro community.

• Members of the AeroAstro community can log in (via Touchstone) to view the AeroAstro Diversity Dashboard, DEI meeting minutes, upcoming events, and more.

Committee Members (2022-2023)

The AeroAstro Diversity Fellowship is awarded to two currently enrolled Ph.D. students. Two Fellows are selected each academic year in the AeroAstro Department. The Diversity Fellows must have demonstrated passion and commitment to improving and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the AeroAstro community. This fellowship aims to build an inclusive community within AeroAstro and support historically underrepresented groups in aerospace engineering. Specifically underrepresented minorities, LGBTQIA+, low-income, and first-generation students, and students with disabilities. This prestigious fellowship is an excellent opportunity to develop skills critical to a leader in industry or academia.

Meet the 2023 Diversity Fellows

Kristen Ammons

Kristen (she/her) is a PhD student in STAR Lab with Professor Kerri Cahoy. She is a lover of all things CubeSat-related and is currently exploring how these tiny tools can be utilized for monitoring infrastructure and the impacts of climate change in economically distressed regions of the United States. Kristen is also an active organizer at MIT where she prioritizes understanding the issues that directly impact the graduate student body and working with her peers to implement solutions to these problems. When she’s not working or hosting events, Kristen can be found knitting, hiking, or talking about her home region of Appalachia. 

Jessica Todd

Jessica (she/her) is a Ph.D. Candidate in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, working in the Human Systems Lab in AeroAstro with Professor Dava Newman and in the WHOI Autonomous Robotics and Perception Lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with Dr. Dana Yoerger. Jessica loves working at the intersection of science and engineering, developing autonomous systems to support the scientific exploration of Earth and space. Her research focuses on path planning and decision-making algorithms for scientific robots in the ocean and on other planets to increase the amount of science data that a mission can return. Jessica has been a passionate student advocate at MIT, leading both GA^3 and GWAE, and is always working to build a strong and happy grad student community. Jessica is a passionate SCUBA diver, avid traveler, and vintage sci-fi film lover outside of MIT.

The AeroAstro Diversity Fellowship is awarded to two currently enrolled graduate students who must be PhD candidates at the start of their tenure as a Diversity Fellow. Two Fellows are selected each academic year in the AeroAstro Department. The Diversity Fellows must have demonstrated passion and commitment to improving and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the AeroAstro community. The goals of this fellowship are to build an inclusive community within AeroAstro and to support historically underrepresented groups in aerospace engineering, specifically gender minority, underrepresented minority, LGBTQIA+, low-income, and first-generation students, as well as students with disabilities. This prestigious fellowship is an excellent opportunity to develop skills critical to a leader in industry or academia.

Scope of Fellowship

• Support the efforts of the MIT AeroAstro Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
• Support the efforts of the MIT AeroAstro Diversity Officer
• Participate in event planning
• Participate in recruitment and outreach
• Work with the leadership of MIT AeroAstro student organizations (AIAA, WAE, GWAE, GA^3, AeroAfro, dREFS, RPA^3)
• Educate the AeroAstro community on diversity best practices in aerospace, academia, and in general

Commitment

Diversity Fellows must commit to two semesters. The estimated time commitment is 10-12 hours per week. This Fellowship may also continue over the summer term.

Compensation for the Academic Year

This Fellowship covers expenses equivalent to those covered by a half-RA for one academic year. The Fellowship may also continue over the summer term.

Eligibility & Application Requirements

The application process opens on Oct. 23, 2023. Please direct any questions to the AeroAstro Diversity Officer. To be eligible, applicants must be current Ph.D. candidates in AeroAstro at the start of their Fellowship tenure. Applicants must submit:

• Resume
• One page written Diversity Statement that speaks to your commitment to and experience with advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts
• One letter of Recommendation from someone (not necessarily AeroAstro) who can speak to your involvement with community building
• Signed form from advisor accepting terms of Fellowship

MIT Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
ERGs are one example of the variety of MIT-sponsored activities that all staff, including support staff, are encouraged to attend. Participation in these kinds of activities may provide long-term business benefits for MIT and professional and personal development for the participants. Participation in ERGs also contributes to a strong sense of “one community” at MIT.

LGBTQ+ Services
LBGTQ+ Services supports numerous student, employee, and alumni groups as well as other departments and initiatives on campus aiming to foster equity, intersectionality, and the continuum of social justice. From individual student support to organizational development and institutional policy advocacy, LBGTQ+ Services’ support, programming, and educational endeavors aim to enhance the experiences of MIT’s LBGTQ+ community.

QuASAR
The Queer Advocacy Space in AeroAstRo is a group for all members of the AeroAstro community that are part of the LGBTQ+ community and our allies. This group has two primary goals; to create a space where LGBTQ+ students, staff, and faculty can make connections in the department and improve the department culture around queer and trans-related issues.

Veterans
MIT and the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics welcome veterans, service members, dependents, and affiliates from the US and abroad! In addition to graduate and undergraduate students, we count several veterans among our staff, faculty, and administration. As veterans may have unique circumstances and needs, we have linked some resources below to assist you with your journey to, though, and beyond MIT. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our student groups or the Department for additional assistance.

MIT Veterans Student Association
This group provides outreach, community-building, and advocacy to foreign and domestic MIT community veterans, active duty service members, national guard, and reservists.

Graduate Veterans Benefits
Learn about the resources available to graduate student veterans from MIT Student Financial Services.

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) sponsors a wide range of events, activities and initiatives for the AeroAstro community. From courageous conversations on specific topics related to race to co-sponsored large-scale celebrations of diverse cultures in the AeroAstro community. 

Events organized to promote ongoing DEI efforts include:

• Blindspots Dialogue Series
  The Blind Spot Dialogue Speaker Series is a platform to provide a space to bring the AeroAstro community together with an invited faculty scholar who present and discuss evidence-based DEI relevant topics related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Gender, and LGBTQ+ issues. Each talk has a centralized theme.
• Fireside Chat
  The Fireside Chat Series is a platform for the AeroAstro community to come together to increase cultural awareness through discussing relevant Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion topics in Higher Education. Additionally, we explore current events and DEI evidence-based literature, and selected books on the topic of race.
• Promoting Inclusive Office Environments (PIE)
  In collaboration with the Institute Discrimination and Harrassment Response Office, AeroAstro provided PIE lab trainings to all AeroAstro labs
• #ShutDownSTEM
  Denise Phillips and Raina K. Puels worked together with other members of administrative staff as well as GA^3 to host a virtual day-long program to engage the entire AeroAstro community in a discussion about systemic racism, which included topics such as unpacking privilege and addressing microaggressions in the classroom.

• Black Graduate Students Association
• Black in the Ivory Twitter Feed
• Black Lives Matter syllabus
• Committee on Race and Diversity
• MIT Disability and Access Services
• MIT HR DEI Resources
• Institute Community & Equity Office
• Institute Discrimination & Harassment Response Office
• International Student’s Office
• MIT LatinX Graduate Students Association
• MLK Visiting Professors and Scholars Program
• MIT Nondiscrimination Policy
• NASA Science For Researchers Inclusion Plan Resources
• National Center for Education Statistics
• National Science Foundation supplements and other opportunities
• Office of Graduate Education
• Ombuds Office
• Pronouns Matter
• #ShutDownSTEM
• Wellness and support resources: for students and for faculty & staff (Touchstone required.)