Dr. Kelsey Byers, group leader at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, will be the inaugural speaker of the CBS Community Seminar Series. She will present “Disabled in the Field: Navigating Nature and Academia as a Disabled Scientist,” from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 4. The event will be held in the SSC Atrium and online (visit uoguel.ph/disabled-in-the-field to request a link to the online version of the event).

The CBS Community Seminar Series is designed to promote the work and visibility of biologists from equity-deserving groups, increase awareness of barriers to inclusion facing biologists, and provide opportunities to learn about equity, diversity and inclusion. There will be two seminars per year, each presented by departmental EDI committees, with support from the college.

Byers is an evolutionary chemical ecologist studying the evolution and diversification of floral scent, from genus-wide evolutionary patterns to floral scent evolution of pairs of species with different pollination systems (e.g. hummingbird versus bumblebee). Byers has presented in the past about doing fieldwork as a disabled scientist and is an advocate for inclusion of scientists with disabilities in both formal and informal scientific contexts.

Registration is not required. However, visit uoguel.ph/disabled-in-the-field to request a link to the online version of the event, a one-on-one or small group meeting with Dr. Byers, or an accommodation.