Why it is important to consider language in EEB

As members of the ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) community it is important to learn, understand, and reflect on words that may change meaning over time. Words can cause harm in all facets of in EEB, including research, teaching, and mentoring. Terminology in EEB can have the following negative impacts:

1. Create environments conducive to micrograssions

2. Reinforce oppressive systems, discriminatory tropes, and offensive terms

3. Inadvertently send messages about who belongs and who does not belong in EEB

Project Timeline

Distribute survey

As a first step to bringing the community together, the EEB Language Project has launched a survey for community members to contribute their experiences and insights into specific scientific terminology with harmful impacts.

Perspective article (published February 6, 2023)

In this piece, we provide background on how terminology influences inclusion in EEB, describe existing community-based initiatives and a new grassroots effort to champion inclusive language in EEB, offer guiding questions and considerations for readers, and situate this work in the broader context of equity and justice.

Analyze survey results

The survey is now closed and the results are currently being analyzed to determine harmful language and terminology in EEB.

Create repository

Our repository will include a list of words that may be harmful in EEB and an open google form where anyone can anonymously provide additional suggestions.

Follow-up article

Based on this crowdsourcing, we will share insights through social media, this website, and presentations and workshops at society conferences about how members of the EEB community experience harmful disciplinary terms. We will also use ideas shared in the survey to identify community-based solutions and leverage points for change.

Future meetings

We are currently planning for presentations at conferences and a collaborative gathering in 2023/2024. Check back for updates.

Team Statement of Positionality

“Our positionalities influence our science and experiences as members of the EEB community. Our multidisciplinary team of authors is composed of graduate students, staff, postdoctoral scholars, and assistant professors currently based throughout the United States and Canada, with personal ties to several other countries. Our group formed organically through Twitter, email invitations to relevant EEB organizations, and existing professional relationships. Members of our team identify with various marginalized communities, and our identities and experiences in EEB inform this work. We hold varying degrees of privilege as members of institutions of higher education and on the basis of some of our identities, and recognize that not all perspectives are captured in this piece. We also acknowledge the limitations of our focus on English as the dominant language in EEB, and hope that our framework can be applied to scientific terminology across languages and disciplines. We enter into this work to emphasize that language is incredibly powerful and can produce harm. We also hold that language can create a sense of inclusion and safety and it is our hope that this article contributes to larger conversations about inclusion in the sciences.” - Cheng et al. 2023